How to clear and care for an acoustic or classical guitar?

After playing, put a dry microfibre cloth through the ropes and through where you support your arm and put your guitar in your case or a secure support. Each time you change strings, you completely clear the diapason and watch the moisture: it does more damage to a wooden guitar than daily use.

Almost everything applies equal to the classic nylon guitar and metal string acoustic but there are important differences in the finish, the strings and the tuning we point at each point.

To sum up

Dry the ropes and body after each practice: sweat oxidizes the metal strings and opates the finish.
Clean up the diapason at length with a change of string and the oil for diapason goes only to wood without varnish, very little and once or twice a year.
Never use alcohol: dissolve the lacquer with many classical guitars and damage other varnishes.
Stretches that tap at edges, sink or abombate cover and tipping strings are signs of moisture problems.
The soul of metal guitars, cebula, bridge and cracks are the work of the luthier.

The one-minute routine after playing

Fold each string with a microfiber cloth, a part of the cloth above and a part under and scattering from the mouth to the clamp.
Pass the cloth through the border where you support the forearm and through the back of the mast.
Take a quick look at the bridge and the cover: nothing tipsy, nothing up.
Keep it in your case or cover or a firm support far from passing.

Wash your hands before you play more for your strings than any cleaner. If your hands sweat a lot, you'll see that the metal ropes get dark in a few weeks and with this routine they last quite a while longer.

Classical or acoustic guitar: what changes care

care differences between nylon and metal guitar
Aspecto	Classic (nylon)	Acustics (metal)
Acabado	Many have lacquer gum or fine varnishes: no alcohol or abrasive products	It's usually a more resilient, bright or satin varnish.
Cuerdas	Low voltage and fringes lose shine before premiums	High tension and rusty with sweat and moisture
Soul (stick inside the mast)	Most have no adjustable soul	Almost all have an adjustable soul to correct the curvature of the mast
Typical risk	Retiring bridge and thin cover with dryness	A cover that pits behind the bridge by the tension, and a bending mast

A common mistake is to put metal strings onto a classical guitar "so that it sounds tougher." His mast and his bridge are not made for that tension, and the bridge can be tipped or the mast fold. If you are looking for that sound, you have to have another guitar and we have to compare them with how to choose your first acoustic guitar..

How to clear body and diapason

The body

Take the powder with dry microfiber. For prints and fat, moist barely a corner of the cloth, clear and dry at once. If you wear a guitar cleaner, put it on the cloth, never on wood, and only in bright finishes: at mates or satin, rubbing with product leaves bright patches that are no longer removed.

The diapason

The mog accumulate right next to every trast. The best time to clear it is when the guitar's without strings:

A moist cloth passes through the whole diapason and dry.
For the moat glued next to the scattering, use the edge of a plastic card or a wooden stick, without a scrape.
If the diapason is pink stick, ebony or other wood without varnish (matt and with pore), apply some drops of oil for diapason with a cloth, wait a few minutes and remove all the excess.
If the diapason is clear and bright (maple with varnish, rare in acoustic), do not put oil: only moist and dry cloth.

Do not use cooking oil or Vaselin: they are grown or are sticked. And care with the steel wool: strap the varnishes and drop particles. If the tires have furrows or are very opaque, they polish them or level them a luthier.

Wet, case and where to leave her

The guitar's wood moves with moisture, especially if the cover is solid (solid) and non-laminated. These signs notify you before a crack appears:

Fur sign on a wood guitar
Signal	What does that mean?	What to do
The scattering at the edges of the diapason	Dry environment: diapason shrinks	To put up moisture in the box, if it isn't corrected, luthier
Rings that come down and get all of a sudden, cover sink in front of the bridge	Dry environment	A box or with a moisture regulator
Rings up and up, cover up behind the bridge	Wet environment or excessive tension	Dehumidify space and if it persists, review of the luthier
Rust rods in a few days, smell of stocking, spots in the box	High and low ventilation moisture	Roast the case, wear absorbent sachets, do not save them moist

In Bogotá, the risk appears at dry seasons and in rooms with warmer. On hot ground and at the coast we have the opposite: high moisture throughout the year and salitre that oxidizes ropes and clamps. There are regulatory envelopes that work both ways and we have been deeper [how to save instruments according to climate in Colombia].](/blog/como-guardar-instrumentos-humedad-y-clima-en-colombia).

Fitted or supported

A rigid case protects more from blows and climate changes and a padded cover will be good for daily care.
If you prefer to have her put up with you to practice more, use a firm floor support or a hanger on an inner wall.
Don't leave her lying against a wall, a chair or a bed: just a push to get her back and get her back and leave her sewer, one of the most common repairs.
Never leave her in a car's trunk to the sun: the heat softens the tails and can take off the bridge.
Some low-cost rubber stands have some varnishes and if yours's delicate, put a cotton cloth onto the backrest.

When to get her to the luthier

Clean up, tuning and changing strings you do. To do this, do not improvise:

The bridge's leaking out: if you see a run between the bridge and the cover, loosen up and carry them. It's urgent.
A crack at his cover, his rings or his bottom, however small.
Cords so high that playing hurts, or I constantly scattering that it doesn't fix with new strings.
The guitar's dregal at 12, even if the arms are tuned.
Tight, loose or with play.
The cebula (the white piece between the clapper and the diapason) broken, or strings that come out of their slots.

One review a year, or as you move with climate, keeps your guitar comfortable. Many times what looks "shortness of finger power" is a guitar with far too high strings.

Common mistakes that damage a guitar

Clean with alcohol, cleaners or kitchen cleaners.
To leave old and rusty strings because they "still sound."
Keep it with wet cloth inside the box.
To stick his stick or tape into his body: by removing them they rip his varnish.
Reaping the screws of the clamps.
To leave her with a window or a warmer.

If you're learning, your [acoustic guitar] teacher](/clases/guitarra-acustica) and as soon as it's time to renew the strings, here's the guide to change the guitar's strings.

Frequently asked questions

What's with with a wooden guitar?

with a dry microfiber cloth for powder and barely moist for fat, and with an instant drying. If you want a product, that's a specific guitarist cleaner, applied to the cloth. Avoid alcohol, cleaners, silicone waxes and cooking products.

How often do you put oil into the diapason?

Once or twice a year, it's good to have a good time, with a few pits without a varnish and with a few more cuts. Excess oil doesn't hydrate more: it softens wood and can loosen up the scattering.

Is it bad to leave his guitar out of his case?

No, if she's on a firm stand, an inner wall, far from the sun, windows and heaters, and if the moisture of your house is stable. To have her put to light helps to practice more. With small children, pets or extreme climate, better the case.

Do we have to loosen the ropes while we don't have to wear the guitar?

For regular use, no: the guitar is made to be tuned. If you are not going to play it in months or you are going to send or carry it by plane, we have to put the tension down a little while and leave the ropes completely loose.