Yep. Almost all the “lemon oils” are actually scented mineral oil.
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But then why is the Lakland faq explicitly telling me to use pure orange oil…
This whole thing is confusing af.
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Because the term “Orange Oil” can have multiple meanings.
1] Orange Oil = A pure oil extracted from oranges. Slightly acidic, breaks down oils, smells nice.
2] Orange Oil = Mineral Oil mixed with Orange oil as per ‘1’ above. Traditionally used to clean and nourish wood.
3] Orange Oil (modern) = Mineral oil that smells of oranges.
In the context of cleaning a sealed maple neck, #1 makes the most sense as the neck will never require oiling. So it’s just something natural that will help break down contaminants on the surface of the lacquer.
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Yep that makes sense, and the corollary is it is absolutely not something you would want on an unsealed fretboard (i.e. most fretboards except glossy maple).
I wasn’t joking when I said I heard some people use windex on lacquered maple. I wouldn’t though 
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F-One is one of the best out there. D’addario hydrate is good too. Hydrate seems like it works a bit better as frequent cleaner and is very light and goes a looong way.
There are two separate thing one might want to do, cleaning and “hydrating”.
Whatever cleaning you do, it’s generally going to require some kind of solvent because you need to dissolve the substance you’re trying to remove. This solvent could be oil, it could be water, it could be a petrochemical. Naptha is commonly used as a cleaner, because it’s a good solvent, it evaporates quickly and it doesnt soften wood. Citrus is a good cleaner but it doesn’t evaporate quickly and it can soften wood.
You don’t want to use a strong cleaner like citrus oil unless you really have to clean some heavy gunk off and even then it would not be my first choice. If it’s not that bad, you can use any of the common fretboard treatments or common mineral oil. The majority of “lemon oil” that you see is mineral oil with some lemon scent added. There are other oils like nut tree oils that are good for “hydrating” a fretboard. You do not want to use any common cooking oils like vegetable or coconut as they will go rancid and become sticky. Silicone is only a problem as far as refinishing is concerned and even then there are products that make that issue pretty insignificant.
If you’re going to any of the products relatively frequently for cleaning, you just want to use them sparingly and wipe them on/off without allowing them to soak into the wood. If they soak into the wood, some of the products can soften the wood and cause your frets to pop out.
I live in a very dry area, i have fretboards made of pau ferro, laurel, rosewood and ebony and only ebony seems to have much of an issue staying hydrated, the others seem pretty bulletproof and don’t require much of anything besides maybe an annual oiling.
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Yeah I do it on string change and even that is probably overkill.
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I wouldnt use windex on nitrocellulose but if it’s poly then it’ll be fine. I have a black matte finished ibanez and i use window cleaner to clean it… man i hate black matte finishes 
. Gloss poly clear is pretty much bulletproof, i just use car care products on them. For a sealed neck i’d just use water or water with some mild soap. People should just not let their instrument get so dirty that they need harsh chemicals 
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I just did my AES the other day, i’ve had it for about 3 years and i dont think i’ve ever cleaned the rosewood fretboard. I also have never changed the strings 
Ive never cleaned my pacifica that i got for free 4 years ago… if i clean it, i’m going to have to fix the fret sprout because i think the built up skin has filled in the gaps around the fret ends 
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We have this thread also… Fretboard Oil.
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I use dunlops lemon oil for all of my dark wood fretboards and works well, as far as I know maple fretboards, especially lacquered ones doesnt require anything, just clean the muck.
It is always so interesting to me how we can (as people interested in a subject) really dive deep and overthink all this stuff. It is also interesting how a manufacturer’s website may actually lead you down the wrong path (not saying that is the case here, but sure seems it).
In the sax forum, they really beat things to death, so one day I started a topic “Let’s talk about cork grease” just to see…it is still going strong over a year later. Quite the debate.
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