Tips To Clean Your Violin; Simple Guide for Beginners
A question I am often asked is: “how should I clean my violin?” Players normally have a very close relationship with their instrument and want to look after it in the best possible way. At the same time music stores sell a wide collection of violin cleaning preparations and polishes. Players are faced with a bewildering choice to choose the best one for their instruments.
Fortunately the answer is simple in the vast majority of cases: a soft rag! If you wipe your violin every time after playing, you will never need any special cleaning liquids or polishes.
If the violin has some old grime and dirt, you can also try lukewarm soapy water on a soft rag. One caveat: make sure there are no exposed wood, open cracks or seams first — you don’t want to wash oily residues into any openings or cracks. Any grime that does not respond to this treatment needs to be removed by your local violin repair person to be safe.
There are two main reasons for not using any cleaners/polishes. Firstly, there are many types of violin varnishes that were used over the years and some of them are very delicate and can be damaged by commercial cleaners. Secondly, most cleaners leave a residue behind on the varnish, and after many uses it will act as an additional layer of varnish and trap more dirt and grime.
If you have a very valuable violin, it is advisable to get professional help for any cleaning job that involves anything more than a soft rag. To clean an old violin safely is a specialised skill that should be left to the professionals.
Albertus Bekker is a violin maker and restorer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. His website is filled with interesting stories, articles, pictures and videos related to violins and other stringed instruments. For more information, please refer to http://www.bekkerviolins.com