When I first started playing guitar, I would wear out my guitar strings every two or three weeks. At the time, I thought this was just the normal lifespan of guitar strings.
However, this began to get annoying as I had to constantly get new strings. Or, I would be so tired of changing them out that I’d just leave them on my guitar, and then I’d have to play with gunky or rusty strings.
The good news is that there’s a much better way of doing things. I’m going to tell you what I wish someone told me: there are guitar strings specifically made for those with sweaty hands, and these strings last many months at a time. Since I’ve started using them, there’s been no going back.
Read on to discover the best guitar strings for sweaty hands.
Or listen here:
There’s a Better Way: Coated Guitar Strings for Sweaty Hands
Coated guitar strings have a thin polymer coating around the metal part of the guitar strings. This prevents sweat from seeping into the string, and ultimately helps these coated guitar strings last much longer than normal strings.
How much longer do coated guitar strings last?
Well, I’ve personally left these coated strings on my guitar for as long as THREE years. Here’s what they sounded like:
Now obviously I don’t recommend leaving the strings on your guitar for quite that long. I’m just lazy. But you can hear in the video above that the strings still sounded pretty amazing for being so old.
If you google around, it’s not uncommon to find people saying that these coated guitar strings last them 6 months or more at a time.
So what are these awesome coated guitar strings? I’m glad you asked.
Here are the best coated guitar strings for sweaty hands for acoustic guitar:
The Best Acoustic Guitar Strings for Sweaty Hands
There are several different kinds of coated guitar strings to choose from these days.
For acoustic guitar, I personally use and recommend the nanoweb series (on Amazon). That’s what I’m playing in my video above, and pretty much exclusively what I use on my acoustic guitars.
The nanowebs are the best acoustic guitar strings for sweaty hands because I find I can get at least 6 months out of them, and over a year if I really push it (aka: if I’m really lazy).
Elixir’s nanoweb coating will keep sweat from seeping into the wound metal of the strings, and help you get much more time out of your guitar strings, even if you have sweaty hands or practice a lot.
The Best Electric Guitar Strings for Sweaty Hands
But what if you have sweaty hands and play electric guitar?
Good news, there are also coated guitar strings for electric guitars.
I like to use elixir polyweb strings (on Amazon). The polyweb coating helps the strings last very long but is not so thick that it makes the strings overly slippery. It’s a perfect in-between that I think most electric guitarists will enjoy.
I actually recently got a new electric guitar here and ran through the brand new strings that were on it in 2 or 3 weeks because of my sweaty hands. I had forgotten how quickly I go through regular strings compared to Elixirs!
Needless to say I restrung it with elixir polyweb strings (on Amazon) and haven’t had to change the strings out since.
Need More Help Choosing the Best Guitar Strings?
If you need more help choosing guitar strings or simply want to learn more about Elixir strings, I have a bunch of articles on the subject.
Check out the guides below to learn more about the best guitar strings for acoustic and electric guitar:
- Elixir Nanoweb vs Polyweb vs Optiweb Strings: What’s the Difference?
- How Long Do Elixir Guitar Strings Last?
- Are Elixir Guitar Strings Worth It? (Pros and Cons)
- Elixir Acoustic Guitar Strings Review – 5 Things to Know
- The Best Elixir Strings for Martin & Taylor Guitars
Ready to Get Better at Guitar, Faster?
Whenever you’re ready to take your guitar playing to the next level, check out a few of my favorite resources below:
The Best Acoustic Guitar Strings – A unique polymer coating makes these guitar strings last for months or even years at a time, making for an exceptional value. They provide the perfect mix of boom, range, twang, and brightness that acoustic music is known for. — CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
The Best Acoustic Guitar – Beloved by everyone from Paul Simon to Gordon Lightfoot, the Martin D-18 is one of Martin’s most legendary guitars ever… It’s an excellent, premier quality acoustic guitar for bluegrass, country, folk, rock and more. This is also what I play myself — CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
Chords, Tabs & Video Lessons for 100 Epic Songs – This free guide that I created for fellow guitarists gives you chords, tabs, and video lessons for the 100 best songs to learn on guitar… I spent many hours putting this guide together to help you get better at guitar, faster. — CLICK HERE TO GET IT FREE
Fingerpicking vs Flatpicking Guitar – Learn which picking style is right for YOU by exploring examples, history, and popular players of each style. Discover essential techniques and pros and cons of each approach. — CLICK HERE TO GET IT FREE
