My dad still has several old records lying around. He often decides against cleaning them out of fear that he will break the records. Eventually he only wipes it with tissues or dry cloth. I've heard that using detergent to clean them is not a good idea. Is it okay to only use water?
gofar99 Messages: 1955 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, you should look at the forum on vinylengine.com for info on this. There are lots of ways to clean LPs. Some quite simple like using non-concentrated Dawn dish soap and water. It gets more complicated from there. I personally use an ultra sonic bath type cleaner (with a water, wetting agent, drops of Dawn and some isopropol alcohol. This is followed by a distilled water rinse and a vacuum dryer. It will take a really grimy LP and make it quite nice in a matter of minutes. A popular LP cleaner is "SpinClean" Google it. For about $75 you get all you need to do about 100-150 LPs. Refills are cheap as well. It works pretty well.
Hi, you should look at the forum on vinylengine.com for info on this. There are lots of ways to clean LPs. Some quite simple like using non-concentrated Dawn dish soap and water. It gets more complicated from there. I personally use an ultra sonic bath type cleaner (with a water, wetting agent, drops of Dawn and some isopropol alcohol. This is followed by a distilled water rinse and a vacuum dryer. It will take a really grimy LP and make it quite nice in a matter of minutes. A popular LP cleaner is "SpinClean" Google it. For about $75 you get all you need to do about 100-150 LPs. Refills are cheap as well. It works pretty well.
Hi, thanks for the information. I'll look around for more info. I see some methods are more complicated than others. Is it related to the age of the records or how 'dirty' it looks?
gofar99 Messages: 1955 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, Yes there are many methods and some are rather complicated. For one batch of sticky LPs I first used Simple Green on them followed by my normal ultra sonic process. They had some gunk on them that was resistant to pretty much everything. The good news is that except for the labels LPs are pretty much immune to most cleaning processes. Do not use solvents on them though as some will dislove the vinyl.
How much effort to use...it depends on the individual LPs. If it looks clean then just some minimal procedures are in order. Something like a "Spin Clean" ought to be fine. Really cruddy ones...as much as you can do. The key is when you play the LP. If it plays well and you don't get a build of gunk on the stylus then it probably is fine. Just use a LP dust brush on it before playing. BTW, it is important to keep the stylus clean as well. I use VP Dust Buster. It is a small container of what looks like a gel. It works great. I trust it with my $1000+ Dynavector Ruby Karat cartridge so you can be pretty sure it is OK. It runs about $20 and does not ever need replaing.
Great information. I have a few records left and I'm deathly afraid to clean them because I don't want them to get ruined since they are so old. I'm going to look into getting a "SpinClean" and try it out.
They say old is gold and I can imagine how angry your father would be if he found some of these records faulty.
I was once cautioned against using just water as a cleaning medium and thanks to the internet, I discovered the ultra sonic bath type cleaner. I have never been disappointed.
I never thought of using Simple Green. That's pretty crafty. Didn't there used to be a brush you could put on the stylus to clean a record after each use?
gofar99 Messages: 1955 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi The brush was a clever idea at the time when turntables tracked at 3-6 grams. With most now in the 1-2 gram range and added mass to the tone arm is almost never desired the brushes have died off. You can still obtain a "Dustbuster" though. It is an external brush on its own arm that you set on the record so it will clean the record before that part gets to the stylus. When set up properly they track the record and also perform an anti static function. I have tried them and really find them unsatisfactory. A good microfiber cleaner brush used before you put the needle on the LP works as well and is not so finicky to set up and use.
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