Since I've found myself with plenty of time on my hands recently, I've decided to clean my vinyl collection. I'm not sure what kind of soap to use, however. I'd appreciate any ideas.
gofar99 Messages: 2012 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, It is not quite as simple as you might expect. I suggest that you visit the vinyengine.com site and look in the section about music. Vinyl cleaning is a major topic there (probably a thousand posts). Generally you don't want to use anything that leaves a residue. No water softeners, no fragrances etc. I have used Dawn regular strength unscented dish washing soap. You need to rinse well after it. In an extreme case (insoluble gunk on a few second hand LPs) I used a citrus based cleaner followed by Simple Green (to get the citrus residue off) and then Dawn. Tedious but works.
Now I use a diy ultrasonic cleaner with a solution of 5% of 91% alcohol, 1 ounce of dawn and 1 ounce of dish washer wetting agent. The rest of the solution is distilled water (about 4 quarts). This is followed by a distilled water rinse and vacuum dry. Time consuming but worth it IMO.
A modest cost alternative is the Spin Clean record cleaner. With some solution it runs about $75. It works pretty good. I now use the Spin Clean as my rinse container.
Thanks for the informative reply, Bruce. I did not realize just how complicated the whole thing is. I'm sure perusing the site you mentioned will be extremely helpful. I don't mind tedious work (I quite enjoy it really) so I will try a recipe before opting for the prepared solution. Have a nice day!
I haven't cleaned my vinyl collection for ages and the information posted by Bruce is really invaluable. Do we normally have any other options other than doing it ourselves? Are there places you can take them for cleaning?
gofar99 Messages: 2012 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Once cleaned, LPs if played on good gear and dusted with a good brush before each play should not need cleaning again for a long time (if ever). Dust, and things like cooking grease in the air are the biggest problems. Candles (and their smoke), smoking, and anything else that produces vapors can cause problems.
Static discharges are a separate issue. Dry air is a principle cause and in some parts of the world difficult to deal with. A good brush may help. I have not found things like the Zerostat to be very useful. Worse if the volume is turned up and you zap the LP anywhere near some cartridges the blast from the speakers can be quite loud.
A related issue is the use of the dust cover while playing a LP. I don't as it seems to increase static. YMMV.
Wow, I think everyone out there normally assumes that this is a really simple task. I must admit that had I not read this, I would have done things haphazardly. Thanks for the info.
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