They don’t make moisturiser for guitars. It seems unbelievable, given that the merch companies seem to have invented a solution for every other guitar problem whether real or imagined. But it’s something to think about during the winter months when the moisture in the air disappears, our skin grows dry and cracked and we’re applying chapstick every five minutes.
In the absence of cocoa butter for guitars, the best we can do is try to manage the guitar’s environment. The easiest way–short of controlling the humidity in the whole building–is to keep the guitar in its case. By confining the instrument to a small space, we are more easily able to control its climate.
Once it’s in the case, we want to keep the interior space to around 50% RH. A case hygrometer lets us measure this, and if needed, we can add moisture to the environment through a humidifier. One nice, simple way of managing humidity inside the case is the D’Addario Humidipak which automatically maintains the humidity at around 50% RH.
If you’re whacking on the moisturising lotion every few hours, it’s probably worthwhile taking a look at your instrument. If your guitar has changed, maybe started fretting out or buzzing, maybe the fret ends have started to poke out, there’s a good chance it has started to dry out and you should take corrective action pronto!