Electric Guitar Strings Nickel vs Nanoweb Acoustic Guitar Strings: which is safer?
D'Addario Electric Guitar Strings Nickel is the clear pick. Elixir Nanoweb Acoustic Guitar Strings carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.
Our pick
D'Addario
Electric Guitar Strings Nickel
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
PossibleNickel skin contact sensitivity
ReportedCoating degradation and core exposure
Elixir
Nanoweb Acoustic Guitar Strings
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
PossiblePolymer coating composition (unknown)
PossibleMicroplastic shedding from degraded coating
Where these two actually differ
- We flag Nickel skin contact sensitivity and Coating degradation and core exposure on the D'Addario and not on the Elixir.
- We flag Polymer coating composition (unknown) and Microplastic shedding from degraded coating on the Elixir and not on the D'Addario.
- The D'Addario is Nickel-plated steel core with nickel-brass wound exterior where the Elixir is Polymer-coated steel strings with proprietary nanoweb coating, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
- The gap is 45 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the D'Addario is the one to buy.
- We are less certain about the Elixir grade, at 45% confidence against 82%, because it discloses less.
Both products run through the same public rubric: materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →
More guitar strings: see the full ranking