Hello!
I’m new here—thanks for taking me on board.
I was given a zither by a nice lady in my church. I think it’s one of those “guitar zithers”, one with sets of strings in chords on the left and melody strings on the right. It’s old, and really in very good shape. No cracks or splits. The strings are all there, but they’re (of course) very old. They’re basically black. I looked into what it would cost to replace them—ouch! It would cost at least $100, maybe upwards of $200. I want to restore and clean up the zither, but that’s pretty steep.

Is there a way to clean up the old strings so they’ll be useable/playable?

Thanks!

Until others with more knowledge chime in, I'd say cleaning old strings would be for looks only.

They'd look better, but the age - and possible damage by cleaning - could make them much more likely to break when tuned up.

If you're really interested in playing that wonderful instrument, invest in a good set of new strings.

A photo or two of your zither might help us in making recommendations.

Be well.
Tom M.