The 5 Best Guitar Cleaning & Polishing Kits (2023)
Cleaning and maintaining your guitar regularly is a key action that helps you prolong the life of your guitar. This list includes guitar polishes, as well as other useful cleaning tools that can make the job easier.
My top pick is the D’Addario Accessories Instrument Care Kit, which offers everything you might need to take care of your guitar.
As an alternative, a really decent affordable option is the Dunlop Body & Fingerboard Cleaning Kit.
Contents
- The 5 Best Guitar Cleaning & Polishing Kits (2023)
- 1. D'Addario Accessories Instrument Care Kit
- 2. Jim Dunlop Body & Fingerboard Cleaning Kit
- 3. Fender Guitar Super Care Kit
- 4. MusicNomad The Nomad Tool Set
- 5. MusicNomad Total Fretboard Care
- What is the best guitar cleaner?
- What’s the best thing to clean my acoustic guitar?
- What is the best way to clean a guitar?
- What household items can I use to clean my guitar?
- Conclusion
The 5 Best Guitar Cleaning & Polishing Kits (2023)
Let’s compare these in more detail:
1. D'Addario Accessories Instrument Care Kit
D’Addario is a household name when it comes to guitar equipment, so it’s no wonder they are on the top of this list. This instrument care kit has 5 different types of polishing and cleaning items and it all comes neatly packed in one nice travel kit.
Pros
- Travel bag
- Neck stand
- Non-slippery mat
Cons
Apart from the three-step polishing system from D’Addario, it also come with some additional items, including a neck cradle, a non-slippery mat for you to place your guitar on, and a polishing cloth.
| Items Included | The 3-step polishing system, fretboard cleaner, headstand, microfiber polishing cloth, fret polishing system, and XLR8 |
2. Jim Dunlop Body & Fingerboard Cleaning Kit
This cleaning kit by Jim Dunlop does all of the essentials at an affordable price.
Pros
- Small and compact
- High-quality polishing and cleaning
- Price
Cons
In this kit, you will find Dunlop’s Formula 65 polish liquid and Fretboard 65 Ultimate lemon oil, which is all you need to keep your guitar nice and clean all the way. Also, there are two polishing cloths included.
| Items Included | Formula 65 Polish (4oz), Fretboard 65 Ultimate Lemon Oil (4oz), 2 x Polish Cloths |
This is a great buy if you’re a home musician and you only want the essentials.
3. Fender Guitar Super Care Kit
The Fender Guitar Super Care Kit is an all-in-one cleaning and guitar care kit that has anything you might need to keep your guitar cleaned and polished all the way through
Pros
- Includes string cleaner
- Four-step polishing and cleaning system
Cons
In this kit, you can find a 4-step cleaning and polishing pack, which includes four different items: Cleaner, Polish, Quick Clean, and Fingerboard Remedy. These items contain no silicones, resins, polymers, bonding agents, or alcohol and won’t damage your guitar in any way possible
| Items Included | Custom Shop Deluxe Guitar Care System 4 Pack, Speed Slick Guitar String Cleaner, Super-Soft Dual-Sided Microfiber Cloth, and Fender Factory Microfiber Cloth |
Apart from the cleaning agents, you also get a string cleaner for quick string cleaning in seconds and two microfiber cloths as well. This is a great all-in-one, high-end kit, with the only downside of no travel bag included in the kit.
It’s easy enough to find cleaning agents on the market, but if you’ve ever taken to cleaning the guitar you know how tricky that can be. If you really want it done right, you have to remove the strings, which is in itself a chore, and if you don’t want to hassle with that, these MusicNomad tools are a great option.
Pros
- Multifunctioning tools for cleaning
- Gets to lots of the hard-to-reach areas of your guitar
Cons
This cleaning tools kit includes two two-sided tools, with two different-sized microfiber cloths, one brush, and one slim tool for reaching the tightest places on the instrument.
| Items Included | Two two-sided cleaning tools |
Please note that you don’t get any cleaning agents in this set, but only tools used for cleaning, with cleaning kits sold separately.
There are a lot of products out there for general guitar polishing and maintenance, but frets are a vital part of the guitar and deserve special attention.
Pros
- Multifunctioning tools for cleaning
- Gets to lots of the hard-to-reach areas of your guitar
Cons
This kit is doing just that – keeping your frets at their best with a special polish kit just for that.
| Items Included | FRINE Fret Polish, GRIP Guards Fretboard, F-ONE Oil |
A great addition is the three different sized tools which help you to apply the polish straight to the frets, without it going all over the place and focus just on them instead.
What is the best guitar cleaner?
The D’Addario Accessories Instrument Care Kit is our pick as the best guitar cleaner. However, it’s all down to your preferences. There is no single answer to this question, as all of the items on our list will help you clean your guitar and keep it in order. It’s really down to your personal preferences as to what you think is the best for your guitar.
What’s the best thing to clean my acoustic guitar?
It’s recommended to use a guitar polish, combined with a clean cloth to keep your wood clean and polished at all times. Other than that, cleaning the acoustic guitar is the same as cleaning any guitar – clean your strings and fretboards and you’re good to go.
What is the best way to clean a guitar?
You should always buy professional cleaning kits for your guitar and not mess about with household items, as they can damage the guitar itself. Cleaning kits nowadays are really not expensive and are readily available wherever you live, so there’s really no need to not get one.
What household items can I use to clean my guitar?
If you only have household items on hand to clean your guitar then keep it simple. Use simple cloths, Q-tips, and swabs to get as much dirt from the guitar as possible. If you want to use water then be sure to use only a small amount to dampen the cloths and don’t go overboard. Be careful not to use household cleaning agents that could damage your guitar.
Conclusion
I hope that you learned something new about guitar cleaning kits as well as some new information on how to properly clean your guitar. Guitar cleaning kits are an affordable way to keep your guitar in good shape while making sure it sounds great.
