Cleaning strings

You can and you can also use lighter fluid. Avoid getting any on the fretboard.

I just wipe them down with a cloth , in the book I'm studying it says to boil them!!!!!!!! :( Never tried that!, but also in the book it says to never wash your fretting hand, because it might get soft. :cry:

I don't know boiling guitar strings, but for bass strings it works very well. What you do is put them in a pot of water with some vinegar, and boil them for 15 minutes. This effectively gets most of the dirt out from between the windings and makes them sound almost new. It really works!!!

I once read that Eddie Van Halen boiled his strings to change the tone. It supposedly took the brightness out of new strings and gave him more of a “brown” sound. But I have never heard of boiling them clean.

I like to boil mine somewhat longer than 15 minutes and then they go very well with a Putanesca sauce.