Do you wash your hands before you play? - Poll

[polarred21]

Only if dirty. I pick mine up spontaneously as already mentioned.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned softening of the finger tips being an issue .

[JakeStone]

I wash my hands when they are "dirty"... Not necessarily prior to playing. But I do wash may hands after eating as a rule. So my hands are normally pretty clean.

When performing... I do wash my hands prior to playing, Mainly because they are dirty after loading in.

[Mooh]

I answered "often", but I'm pretty fastidious about hand washing generally so I'm very unlikely to have excessively dirty hands at any time, especially while in the act of playing instruments.

In the lesson studio, at least once a day, I get kids who arrive from school or afar on their own and can't carry their own instrument. For this purpose I have a couple of guitars around as loaners. I try to catch them between KFC and their warm-up exercises but don't always manage that. Between grease and just simple dirt, those loaners take a beating. They go through twice as many strings as my personal instruments which get played a lot more. Boys are worse than girls in this regard.

[Mbroady]

Most of the time, especially after eating.......and other messy hand activities........no it is not what you think . Then again, I do not know what you think.

[jersey]

Rarely, but if I do, I'm obsessive about it and I'll do it every time after putting a new set of strings on. It really does extend string life and prevents buildup of crud on the fretboard. But the downside is that it dries out the skin, and I hate playing while feeling like my skin is tight and dry. So for most sets of strings I put on a guitar I just say the hell with it and accept the gunk.

[kydave]

Either a lot of people have some interesting fetishes, and/or a lot of people seem to have inordinately dirty hands most of the time.

[roylor4]

I put always but "almost always" is closer. I'm a heavy sweater and my body oil is highly corrosive to strings and finishes. Fingerprints and such on the finish don't bother me but i cannot abide a "sticky" or less than slick neck.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by roylor4

I put always but "almost always" is closer. I'm a heavy sweater and my body oil is highly corrosive to strings and finishes. Fingerprints and such on the finish don't bother me but i cannot abide a "sticky" or less than slick neck.

Hi royler…

I agree and I checked almost always, trying to be as honest as possible.

I'm retired, and may have just walked in from mowing, or digging in the dirt (pulling weeds), or have sticky hands from grabbing a handful of granola to munch on etc. Then they get washed.

Often I've not gotten them dirty since the last time I washed them, so I may be walking through the formal living room (my music space) and I just spontaneously sit down, grab a guitar and play for a minute or two.

If I'm in doubt I wash them off quickly.

I do the same thing before jumping into my SUV and driving too. I Hate sticky steering wheels and radio knobs!

[Denny B]

I can't vote because my answer is:

Only if my hands are dirty.

[Long Jon]

I NEVER wash my hands !

[lizzard]

A more interesting OP might have been: "Why do you wash your hands before playing?"

I'm going to vote "sometimes" now, because I'm not able to garden or wrench bikes, so my hands don't get that dirty. I get that for some they do - cool.

I am however, a nearly Monk-like germophobe when I cook - which I also enjoy. I probably wash 12 times in the prep of an average meal. Just don't let me play my guitars between cooking your meal and serving it to you

[DesertTwang]

Originally Posted by bozz_2006

I almost always do. I wear traditional style oil-based pomade in my hair, so my hands get greasy/waxy. It kills my strings and my speed if i don't wash up real well prior to playing.

Are you a Dapper Dan man? :-)

[Zhoffritz]

I wash my hands any time they're getting dirty, so I've never specifically washed them prior to playing. I let them stay dirty for awhile while gardening, but I've never decided to grab the guitar in the middle of that.

In case my fingers are oily enough to affect the guitar, I do wipe the strings when I'm done.

[TBman]

Never, not immediately before for the purpose of playing the guitar. I do wash my hands when I come home though and when I come in from doing yard work, before I eat, etc.

Recently I got some good advice to "wash the dishes" before playing guitar to ease soreness in the hands (age related). This is so your hands are immersed in warm/hot water for an extended period.

[acoustic rabbit]

I make sure my hands are clean before I play my guitars, use the computer or my keyboards, oh yeah, and before I eat...but, sometimes I go to GC to try out acoustics, and I don't even want to touch them because the necks, and sometimes the bodies are so grody...I don't know how many times I asked the guys there to clean the neck and fretboard for me...it's like the previous player just came from eating at the TGIF's or Chili's across the street without cleaning the chicken wing sauce from their hands...gross...