Using the micro-mesh pads as a first step to remove tarnish and clean the fretboard is like waxing your car without washing the dirt off first.
it’s a two-part process: 0000 steel wool first to remove the dirt buildup and tarnish; micro-mesh second to polish the frets. (I do this on any guitar I buy used — most need cleaning when I get them, and some really, REALLY need it! More than one guitar I’ve picked up used has come with green or black frets and dirt caked like dry mud on the fretboard. Thankfully most aren’t that bad.)
I apply boiled linseed oil to the fretboard first, and remove it with the steel wool. It catalyzes after two applications (about a year apart) and you never have to do it again.
The whole two-step process takes me about 20 minutes, but I don’t suffer from arthritis or joint pain.
Gorgomyte is good stuff. I use it after the steel wool / micro-mesh treatment, not as a first step treatment, usually after a couple string changes.
If I were to skip the micro-mesh treatment, I’d only use the Gorgomyte after I’d gotten all the skunge off the frets / fretboard with the 0000 steel wool and boiled linseed oil.
There’s no one-size-fits-all method to keeping your fretboard and frets clean. Just saying this is what I do, and only as a first step on used guitars that come into my orbit.
