What can I use instead of lemon oil on my fretboard?Plain mineral oil is your best lemon oil substitute — baby oil works too. Here's what the forum's experts recommend: Mineral oil for cleaning: Alan Ratcliffe, our Guitar Doctor, says any non-drying mineral oil does everything lemon oil does — clean the board without deep penetration. Great at every string change. Luthiers' lemon oil is basically mineral oil with lemon scent anyway, so plain baby oil also works 1,3. Deep conditioning once a year: Non-drying plant oils like walnut oil condition deeply and darken the wood, but over-applying lets oil seep into the neck and affect stability. Apply once, maybe twice a year, max 1. His top pick: Alan swears by Fret Doctor (a high-quality bore oil for woodwind instruments, bought direct from its maker) for rosewood, ebony and pao ferro boards — conditions, darkens and lasts well. Reinhard and VellaJ also use it on their rosewood boards 1,2. What to avoid: Skip "teak oil" — most are actually wiping varnishes that seal the wood rather than treat it 1. Boiled linseed oil is a no-go too; it's a drying oil that forms a hard finish, and users have reported it oozing back out of the fretboard later 3. If you want to condition raw maple instead (e.g. a kit guitar neck), that's a different job — boiled linseed or tung oil as a finish is fine there 7. Don't oil more than twice a year — fret slots full of pooled oil make luthiers grumpy 6. From these forum threadsAlternative to Lemon oil for fretboard? (2014): Alan Ratcliffe's rundown of which oils treat vs seal fretboardsbest oil for rosewood fretboards ? (2011): Fret Doctor recommendations for rosewood, ebony and pao ferro boardsBoiled linseed oil for rosewood? (2011): Why boiled linseed oil is a finish, not a fretboard treatmentFret Cleaning (2008): Alan's twice-a-year oil warning and fret polishing tipsUnfinished Fretboard - Please help :( (2014): Oiling an unfinished maple fretboard on a kit guitar
