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Cleaning Your Records


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2 hours ago, YouTwo said:

Just a curious question, what does everyone do about cleaning a record with an etched reverse side?  Do you clean the etched side?  It seems like it would need some kind of cleaning or else you could be putting dirt back into the sleeve.  

I just dry-brush it. Seems silly to give it the wet treatment.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I wanted to add a revelation I come to recently and then ask Help.

 

FIrst off, I had been fairly content with my Spin Clean when cleaning new discs and VG+ records though recently I noticed crust on a few records while drying. Because the climate here is crazy dry, I've been air drying as mf cloths will generate some surface static noise. 

At the advice of this thread I bought 2 cases of Aquafina and sub'd that for the gallon jugs of Kroger distilled water I had been buying. The result is very noticeable. Add me to the list of people who advise this. A definite difference.

Now to the question(s). I picked up a bottle of AI #6 as I had a Marley record I wanted to bring back from the dead as well as. Milestone davis record I bought under the premis it was VG+. I would grade it G+ do to some fairly hairy clicks and pops.

I do not have a vacuum RCM currently but wanted to see what the enzymes could do with these records and more.

My method is the following:

Spin Clean (w/Aquafina)

Apply AI#6 to record and use paint edger to spread. Pulling the pad backward clockwise seemed to glide easy and spread the solution nicely. Paint pad moving forward counter clockwiSe seemed to make the bristles enter the gRooves against the grain and so a few revolutions to work it in. 

Let sit 2-4 mins and then rinsed with Aquafina (from old Iso prop bottle with spout top). 

Spin Clean in Aquafina (no SC solution).

Dry and repeat for 2nd side.

 

(open to advice on my method. Yes I will get a RCM when cash allows)

 

Results:

Marley - definite improvement. Natural Mystic was loaded with pops. There are maybe 50% less and the remaining ones are much muted. Pre-enzyme I'd have rated it as poor, now Good-.

Miles - as I said, I felt it was Good+ and would now rate it VG-. Most of the pops are gone and what's left is muted. Pretty happy. I still want a mini copy but it's now playable.

 

Both records are now playable at Least. The Miles record will last me until I breakdown get a mono copy. The Marley will last until I get around to replacing it. IVe been far more into Burning Spear and Upsetters lately so who knows that I'll get around to it.

 

So question time: both records made some improvement and maybe they have nothing left to give. But I'm wondering if it'd be a worthy idea to use the paint pad and some cleaner to scrub these records down and then run the enzyme treatment again?

 

Any thoughts on improving my process?

 

Thanks

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Figured I'd give a shout in this thread, as I have discovered a great new method of cleaning for my records.  I had bought GruvGlide and while it worked well for a while, the pads eventually started to deteriorate a bit and when I would use them, they would deposit little black fibers on the record I was cleaning.  Not helpful!  But one day, I was cleaning my storage area for a lot of my music and stumbled on this smaller handheld vacuum that I have, and a thought dawned on me.  

 

First, I thought "oh hey, I'll just clean off the pads!" and suck off whatever loose fibers there are.  So, I go and do that.  And I discover that the pads are porous enough that the vacuum will suck through them, and hold the pad against the nozzle and still have suction force against the pad.  So then I think "Oh snap!  I can VPI!"  

 

Sure enough... it works.  It's super bootleg, and it's taken me a few times to get the best orientation of the pad on the suction nozzle and the best angle on the record, but it's been taking off so much dirt and dust.  My next step is to try it with some wet cleaner I got from my local record shop.  But it's been doing a great enough job as it is.  

 

Would you guys suggest spraying the records with a few sprits, letting it sit, and then vacuuming?  I'm not super familiar with the exact process for wet cleaning records so much.  

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10 minutes ago, Gumbo72203 said:

Figured I'd give a shout in this thread, as I have discovered a great new method of cleaning for my records.  I had bought GruvGlide and while it worked well for a while, the pads eventually started to deteriorate a bit and when I would use them, they would deposit little black fibers on the record I was cleaning.  Not helpful!  But one day, I was cleaning my storage area for a lot of my music and stumbled on this smaller handheld vacuum that I have, and a thought dawned on me.  

 

First, I thought "oh hey, I'll just clean off the pads!" and suck off whatever loose fibers there are.  So, I go and do that.  And I discover that the pads are porous enough that the vacuum will suck through them, and hold the pad against the nozzle and still have suction force against the pad.  So then I think "Oh snap!  I can VPI!"  

 

Sure enough... it works.  It's super bootleg, and it's taken me a few times to get the best orientation of the pad on the suction nozzle and the best angle on the record, but it's been taking off so much dirt and dust.  My next step is to try it with some wet cleaner I got from my local record shop.  But it's been doing a great enough job as it is.  

 

Would you guys suggest spraying the records with a few sprits, letting it sit, and then vacuuming?  I'm not super familiar with the exact process for wet cleaning records so much.  

you will want to spread it around and get into the grooves of the record so the cleaner can lift any dirt/gunk and you can vacuum it up

you can use a brush like this (i do not use that exact brush but one just like it) or if you want to go the cheaper route you can get a 3-4" paint brush with soft bristles and use that.

 

What I personally do is I have two bottles.. One has my cleaner and the other has pure distilled water. First, I spray a few squirts of the cleaner onto my record and use my brush to distribute it around the entire record and into the grooves then I let it sit for a few seconds to a minute or so depending how dirty the record is. Then I vacuum that all up and do the exact same thing with the pure distilled water (Just make sure to have two different brushes for the cleaner and distilled water applications). I have cleaned 300+ records this way and have loved the results.. drastic upgrade from when I used a friends spin clean.

 

I use the MK-III

and this cleaner TergiKleen

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Awesome, thanks man.  That brush is basically like what the GruvGlide pads are, except in a round poofy form.  It's felt.... so I'm wondering if I could use one of those potentially.  They supplied 2 of them in the kit.  

 

This may be a dumb question, but if you've vacuumed up all the cleaning solution, what is the point of the distilled water?  To rinse in case any is left, and avoid damage to the needle upon playback?

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1 hour ago, Gumbo72203 said:

Awesome, thanks man.  That brush is basically like what the GruvGlide pads are, except in a round poofy form.  It's felt.... so I'm wondering if I could use one of those potentially.  They supplied 2 of them in the kit.  

 

This may be a dumb question, but if you've vacuumed up all the cleaning solution, what is the point of the distilled water?  To rinse in case any is left, and avoid damage to the needle upon playback?

I am not real familiar with those pads but from what I see of them they should work just fine. As long as it pushes your cleaning liquid in the grooves you are good.

 

You're right about the second pass through with the distilled water. It is just to make sure there is nothing left behind. You can probably do without it the majority of the time, it is just one of those things that since you are already going this far to clean your records right you might as well do that little extra bit.

 

Here is a demonstration video of the machine I use that might help a bit to see everything on video instead of just text. As you can see it is extremely simple but I know how it is when you start reading different things around the net it seems a lot more complicated then it should be.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally picked up a lovely Okki Nokki! Gave it a test run with the solution and it is superb.

I need to start getting to grips with a proper routing, best cleaning solution etc. I've been slowly reading through the thread and putting advice together. So hopefully, I can start to give to collection the treatment is deserves.

 

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  • 1 year later...

I need some advice regarding cleaning my vinyl. I have a pretty good DIY solution down (distilled water, 91% isopropyl alc., drops of pure dish soap, drops of rinse aid).

 

My problem must be the cloth I use to dry it, after cleaning. After I clean the record, and dry it with my microfiber towel (the kind you use to detail cars) it’s like there’s MORE dust than before! The needle picks up globs of debris during the first play through post-cleaning. So much that it sometimes causes skipping. I have to constantly brush off the debris from the needle. After that first play through, the record seems fine. No more dust globs. Because it all gets picked up by the needle after I play it once or twice.

 

So I guess it could be the cloth leaving debris on the record during cleaning? They’re clean towels, but obviously they’re shedding microscopically. Any recommendations on better cloths to use? I’ve heard a fresh cotton shirt works, haven’t tried it yet.

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4 hours ago, defectiveepitaph said:

I need some advice regarding cleaning my vinyl. I have a pretty good DIY solution down (distilled water, 91% isopropyl alc., drops of pure dish soap, drops of rinse aid).

 

My problem must be the cloth I use to dry it, after cleaning. After I clean the record, and dry it with my microfiber towel (the kind you use to detail cars) it’s like there’s MORE dust than before! The needle picks up globs of debris during the first play through post-cleaning. So much that it sometimes causes skipping. I have to constantly brush off the debris from the needle. After that first play through, the record seems fine. No more dust globs. Because it all gets picked up by the needle after I play it once or twice.

 

So I guess it could be the cloth leaving debris on the record during cleaning? They’re clean towels, but obviously they’re shedding microscopically. Any recommendations on better cloths to use? I’ve heard a fresh cotton shirt works, haven’t tried it yet.

Some or most of that dust might come from the air/environment after you static charge your record during wiping. That happens to me and I now use a Zerostat gun to remove static and a small handheld keyboard blower to blow off hair/dust that static pulled on to the record. If what you are seeing is lint or fibers from your microfiber clothes, I'd suggest trial and error testing with multiple brands of cloths until you find one that works best for you.

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6 hours ago, swb said:

Some or most of that dust might come from the air/environment after you static charge your record during wiping. That happens to me and I now use a Zerostat gun to remove static and a small handheld keyboard blower to blow off hair/dust that static pulled on to the record. If what you are seeing is lint or fibers from your microfiber clothes, I'd suggest trial and error testing with multiple brands of cloths until you find one that works best for you.

A Zerostat would be neat to try, but the price always keeps me away lol. Yeah, I must be seeing lint/fibers on the needle. If I play the record BEFORE cleaning it, the needle doesn't pick up anything really. But after cleaning, a crazy amount is picked up. To the naked eye the record looks fine though. Guess I'll have to try a different set of cloths or a clean cotton shirt instead. Shame, because these microfiber ones are soft & seemingly ideal. 

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