Freshen Up Rusty Corroded Guitar Or Mandolin Strings Using Copper Polish

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I recently grabbed one of my mandolins which I had quickly put away after a show. The strings were all coarse; corroded / rusty by sweat.

It will always pay off to clean your strings after playing to remove as much moist you can, because human sweat contains acids and salts that make metals corrode easily.

There are products like "Fret Fast" which you can smear across the strings and wipe off, which will protect your strings longer, and make playing slighty lighter during a short period of time.

I used a dab of generic copper polish on a paper towel, and cleaned the rust off the strings. Keep buffing the strings until there is no more extra black residue left on the paper towel. When the strings no longer smudge your paper, you can lube em up with a "Fret Fast" like product. Result: shining strings, all smooth again and ringing true; it didn't even get out of tune.

So save yourself a run to the music store, just clean your strings with copper polish!

Happy pickin'! - ThickShag

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