Tung oil works well when applied really thin on fingerboards. I go to great pains to keep all things silicone away from my work benches. If in doubt rub any suspicious wood surface with acetone. There are many fine paste waxes that are silicone free...Robert 

Thanks for the insight Ken. I have avoided lacquer on my finger boards, to try to avoid "sealing" them in rather than letting the wood "breathe." In general i treat the body of my dulcimers with a coating of sealant like polyurethane and just put oil on the fingerboard. In the past I have left a ton of fingerboards untreated, and typically the oil from my hands attracts grime, leaving a dark color to the areas that i fret the most often.

Silicone, which is contained in some furniture polishes, makes doing repair work on wood objects difficult. This is the main reason for not using it one dulcimers. It can mess up gluing and trying to match wood patches. I'm not familiar with orange oil other than what I've read online. If it dries hard I don't see why you couldn't use it on a fret board. Generally I do not use polish on my fret boards. They are coated with lacquer and I let the oil in my fingers polish them. On my guitars with rosewood fret boards I use a fret board conditioner. I don't use anything on ebony.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Hey folks I've heard before that furniture polish shouldnt be used on fingerboards. As best as I can tell, this is because they often contain silicone (like pledge for example) which apparently builds up on the wood or something like that. I have a can of orange oil based furniture polish that specifically says it doesnt contain silicone, so Im wondering if this can be used to clean fingerboards. Is silicone the only concern with using furniture polish? According to the online details, it contains orange oil and mineral oil, and specifically does not contain silicone or linseed oil.

Thanks

Nate

updated by @nate: 11/14/24 06:13:18PM