Guitar Maintenance & Repair

4 Ways To Keep a Guitar From Getting Dusty

By · 12 min read

4 Ways To Keep a Guitar From Getting Dusty

While dust by itself doesn’t necessarily hurt the performance of a guitar, excessive dirt and grime are unsanitary and can lead to rust, which will eventually affect the tone of your guitar pickups. Therefore, taking good care of your guitar often includes doing your best to prevent dust buildup.

Here are four ways to keep your guitar from getting dusty:

  1. Clean and polish your guitar regularly.
  2. Keep your guitar in a high-quality case.
  3. Cover your guitar with a dust cover.
  4. Wipe your guitar down every time you play.

In the rest of this article, I’ll take you through these four simple yet effective ways of keeping your guitar from getting dusty. Let’s get started!

Related: how to keep your guitar from cracking, 6 ways to keep a guitar cool in a hot car, and how to keep guitar strings from slipping on tuning pegs.

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If you want to find out what my recommended guitar gear is, then here is what I recommend on Amazon:

ways to keep a guitar from getting dusty

1. Clean and Polish Your Guitar Regularly

One of the best ways to keep your guitar in good condition and prevent excessive dust buildup is to clean it regularly and to use a high-quality guitar polish. Not only does a polish get rid of dust, but it also eliminates grime and fingerprints while helping your guitar look new again.

Here are some of my recommendations for the best guitar polishes and guitar care kits on the market. All links are to Amazon.com:

  • Fender Guitar Super Care Kit. This bundle includes a bottle of each Fender guitar care product: cleaner, polish, quick clean, and fingerboard memory. The polish doesn’t leave any streaks, and all of the products are made without silicones, resins, polymers, or alcohol. Finally, this kit also comes with microfiber cloths with two sides for precision cleaning.
  • Dunlop Guitar Polish & Cleaner. I recommend this one if you want to clean and polish with just one product. This affordable formula cleans quickly and efficiently, leaving a thin, stain-resistant layer that helps prevent dust buildup. This product is also gentle enough for daily use.
  • MPEDOUR Guitar Care Cleaning Kit. This kit contains everything that you need to keep your guitar clean and dust-free, including cleaner polish, lemon oil, string cleaner and lubricant, wax, a string winder, and microfiber cloths. The cleaner and the polish contain no wax, petroleum, or harsh chemicals that could damage your guitar.
  • Ernie Ball Instrument Polish. This formula is oil-free and won’t leave any powdery residue on your guitar after you clean with it. Furthermore, the polish has been perfected, so it always leaves a streak-free finish. I also like that the polish comes with a microfiber cloth, so you don’t need to remember to buy a cloth separately.
  • Careful-With-That-Axe Guitar Cleaning Kit. This kit only requires you to go through a quick two-step process. The polish is made with high-quality ingredients and nourishes the wood by restoring its natural oils. Furthermore, the fretboard oil effectively removes grease and grime and conditions the fretboard without leaving behind residue. These products are safe on any finish, including nitrocellulose, shellac, and polyester.  

How To Clean Your Guitar

You must clean your guitar properly to ensure that dust doesn’t build up and to ensure that you don’t cause any damage. You especially have to take caution with old or vintage guitars, as they are more delicate and breakable. Here is the best way to clean your guitar:

  • Acquire the proper materials. If you purchase one of the above cleaning kits, you’ll have everything that you need. If you don’t have a complete kit, you’ll need a microfiber cloth, guitar or glass cleaner, and guitar polish. Ensure none of the products you use include silicone or bleach, as these substances can damage a guitar, especially if it is particularly old.
  • Remove your strings. Your cleaning products could damage your guitar strings, so be sure to take them off before you start the cleaning process.
  • Use a cloth and cleaner to wipe the fretboard and the neck. This part of the guitar can pick up dust and natural oils from your fingers. Use your microfiber cloth to wipe away the grime gently.
  • Use a different cloth and cleaner on the guitar’s body. Apply cleaner to the cloth and wipe down the guitar’s front, back, and sides in circular motions.
  • Clean the tuning keys. The tuning keys can easily gather dust, so make sure you don’t forget to wipe them down.
  • If you use an electric guitar, use polish on the pickups. Pickups can quickly get dusty and rusty, so it is important to keep them clean. You can unscrew the pickups using an Allen wrench and wipe away all the grime.
  • Polish your guitar. Using polish is a great way to prevent dust buildup, but too much of the stuff can build up and influence the guitar’s sound. You shouldn’t use polish on vintage guitars because they have unique finishes that could be irreversibly damaged by polish.

I recommend the Amazon Basics Microfiber Cleaning Cloths  (available on Amazon.com) if you need a microfiber cloth. I especially like these because they are non-abrasive, so they won’t scratch the surface of your guitar. They can also be rinsed and reused hundreds of times so you won’t waste money on constantly repurchasing cloths.

clean and polish your guitar regularly

Alternatively, you could use t