derek123 Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 I need a good, affordable, record cleaning kit. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Blowing on them. Make sure your mouth is kinda dry so you're not accidentally spitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhulud Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 The only appropriate way to clean records is using dry vacuum cleaning compressor. Everything else (brushes, various oils, cleaning liquids) only stick the dust parts to the record surface, which are then "burned" into the grooves. But if you're not prepared to shell out big bucks for a vacuum cleaning machine, no cleaning is better than using any kind of cleaning kit. A much more important factor is keeping the needle clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek123 Posted January 5, 2010 Author Share Posted January 5, 2010 I already blow on them. And I also make sure I don't spit How much is a vacuum cleaner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 From $1k on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonbeams Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Audio Technica's record cleaners are great for removing dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 A VPI 16.5 is $550. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattstrike Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 A VPI 16.5 is $550. Less if you find one on Audiogon… Got mine, virtually brand new, for $325. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I'm not too familiar with it, but isn't that one for wet vacuum cleaning only? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattstrike Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Yes it does wet cleaning - however, I wonder if you could us it dry? Never tried… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 They do dry as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattstrike Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 No offense Slinch, but I think think the dry-only theory is just opinion. Done correctly, wet vac cleaning is extremely effective at cleaning the groove thoroughly and resurrecting 99¢ bin records to Mint minus status. Speaking from experience, I've cleaned a few LPs on the VPI that I had pretty much given up for dead, and they came back to life gloriously! I do think wet cleaning can be more laborious - you really need to do it right to not, as you said, end up "burning" the dirt, oils and mildew into the bottom of the grooves. The nice thing about the VPI is that you can swap out the vacuum pick-up tube - meaning that you can have one for the initial solution scrub and one for the rinse cycles. This is how I do it, which gets all the dirty solution that may remain in the grooves by flushing it out with 1-3 pure water rinse cycles (depending on how dirty the LP was to begin with). It may take 5 minutes to clean the dirtiest of LPs, but the end result is 100% worth it. It is, hyperbole aside, the single greatest upgrade to my system I've made yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I completely agree, with old beat up records they do magic. I've heard records that seemed literally useless before cleaning, play like VG - VG+ afterwards. I forgot to clarify before, my comment went to new records, properly handled and taken care of. In this case there's no need for any kind of cleaning, especially for those $50 cleaning kits. But I have also never noticed an improvement with a wet-vacuum cleaned "well taken care of" record, whereas with dry cleaning the surface "imperfections" noise was reduced by a small margin. I do not have a lot of experience with them though as I do not own any cleaning machine, but this is what I gathered from time spent with oldtimer audio nerds But as I said, for resurrecting older records I agree 100%, this thing is a must for anyone owning a decent amount of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattstrike Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Yep - I agree, new LPs hardly need wet-vacuum cleaning. I have, every so often, come across a new LP that has a lot of residue from the mold-release chemical left on the surface and in the grooves from the manufacturing process. That shit definitely effects the sound and the stylus and needs to be scrubbed off with a machine like the VPI. Doesn't happen often, but when it does, I can hear a definite improvement in playback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattstrike Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Derek - check this out: http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=SPINWASHER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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