Just for fun...

..and curiosity hahahah

What do you wipe your violin/viola/cello with before putting it to bed? How often do you do this ?

I don't think I've ever seen a piece of 'muslin' - is it not used to make jam? I think the Frontier Canadians used it in the 19 hundreds to make dresses...

I use good quality cotton dusters, they don't shed many fibres and are very soft. They aren't yellow though I use a blue one to wipe the fingerboard, strings and bow-stick and a pink one to wipe the body of the violin.
No particular reason for the colours, it just makes it easy to remember not to wipe the varnish of the violin with the rosiny cloth.

I buy new ones every 6 weeks or so.

Where can you buy cotton dusters? I've only ever seen yellow ones (not that I spend much time consciously buying housework products - I'm usually on autopilot )

An orange polyester scarf that gets washed once in a blue moon.

I'd consider two options that may be on the beaten path:

1. The automotive department of a popular department store, one that sells vehicle waxes and related cloths for polishing.

2. A fabric shop that has a sale on fleece remnants. (I found a piece that serves as a blanket for my dog after he goes out in the snow for a walk.)

I've also simply used a few sheets of toilet paper to get between the strings on the fingerboard.

So far I've just left it on the inch or two of strings that are subject to the bow dust. I don't know if any harm can come of that (unless it completely coats the strings, which seems unlikely).

I wipe it down as often as i remember to - two or three times a week. I know i should wipe it every day after playing it but i go with the 'i'll do it when i play it later' etc... thing

I use the polishing cloth that came with my piccolo o_O haha! well, i don't play my piccolo very often so thought my violin needed it more. Though, im not quite sure it's suited to the job to be honest - it's meant to polish metal not wipe wood... and since reading all this about loose fibres i'm beginning to think i should find something else to wipe Fidelio with

but what...?

I use a cloth that is supposed to be used for cleaning glasses , but it is unusually large, so i use it for my violin. It does the trick!

I use a large yellow duster, which really does the trick rather well =)

I use a yellow duster too. I know it's bad for the strings but I like having rosin on my strings cos I squeak less, so I don't always wipe my violin after practicing. When I was younger and learnt the violin, I didn't wipe my violin so that my teacher would think I'd practiced that week

I use an old flute cleaning cloth. My cloths start in my flute case, then when they get a bit worn they move down the the recorders, and eventually to the violin to get covered in rosin before being thrown away.

I use a cotton tea-towel which doubles up as shoulder padding if I'm playing in shirt-sleeves.

My teacher recommends an old silk scarf. She said to buy one you don't like from a charity shop. Can't say I've got around to it yet, but I will one day.....

It's just as cheap to buy new silk scarves, I use scarves to wrap around my violins in their cases as silk is supposed to be an excellent humidity buffer.
Buy the plain silk scarves that are used for fabric painting etc. They come in different sizes and weights but a 90cmx90cm pure silk light weight one will only cost about £3.

I use a microfibre clothon my cello, which is brilliant for keeping it dust and rosin free.

You forgot the "liquid rosin removal kit" that you can buy from many places, including the internet.

If you're at the stage (that's generally, not you personally Neil) of needing any type of cleaner to remove rosing from your instrument than you've not been wiping down properly after playing and you're using too much rosin.