Cleaning Albums

[Freddy58]

Hiya folks

In the old days, cleaning albums was just a case of using a cleaning cloth (Emitex?). I seem to get the impression that there are more thorough ways of doing this now?

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/turntables-and-lps/homemade-cleaning-fluid-for-knosti-record-cleaner

http://www.conrad-electronic.co.uk/ce/en/product/345296?WT.mc_id=googlebase&insert=8V&adcampaign=googlebase&CAWELAID=357703974&catargetid=1921805620&cadevice=c&cagpspn=pla&gclid=COifsofDqbwCFWT4wgodXXMAFw

 

[Freddy58]

Thanks Big fella

 

[Freddy58]

Been meaning to come back to this. This Disco Antistatic Record Cleaner thingy, is this what you folks use? How often do you use it (per album)? How come albums get so dirty? Is it just dust build-up?

 

[Al ears]

I have one and use it now and again. Some people advocate cleaning brand new vinyl with it but I do not feel this is necessary.

I use it to clean albums of old that I have not played for some time, and then don't bother cleaning for some time.

Dirty albums can come about from a variety of reasons dust being just one of them. Depending on how well they are stored the paper inner sleeve can actually start to break down and they can even develope a mould. It is possible the vinyl itself breaks down over time but I cannot say I've witnessed this myself.

 

[Freddy58]

I have one and use it now and again. Some people advocate cleaning brand new vinyl with it but I do not feel this is necessary.

I use it to clean albums of old that I have not played for some time, and then don't bother cleaning for some time.

Dirty albums can come about from a variety of reasons dust being just one of them. Depending on how well they are stored the paper inner sleeve can actually start to break down and they can even develope a mould. It is possible the vinyl itself breaks down over time but I cannot say I've witnessed this myself.

Thanks Al. Another question. Does it make economic sense to do a batch?

 

[stevebrock]

i use a Disco Antistat Knosti- once the solutiuon is gone - make your own plenty of recipes about but i use

90% distilled water

10% isopropyl alcohol

a few drops of dishwasher rinse

this is cheap and i change every 4-5 records

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

I clean my records in the Knosti, then spin all the cleaning fluid off using a drill (honestly, I do). For the best results, I repeat the process with new clean fluid, though I don't throw away the old fluid, I filter it into a seperate bottle, and use it for first cleaning particularly dirty records.

I tend to clean in batches of 6 or 7

 

[MajorFubar]

It is possible the vinyl itself breaks down over time but I cannot say I've witnessed this myself.

I remember reading years ago in I think HiFi Choice that a vinyl record should last about 1,600 years assuming no misfortune befalls it. This was back in the early days of CDs, when doom-mongerers were predicting that none of these new-fangled silver discs would be still playable by the year 2000 or thereabouts. Don't know about 1,600 years but some LPs of mine are heading towards 60 and they haven't deteriorated beyond natural wear and tear, so ok so far lol.

 

[Al ears]

It is possible the vinyl itself breaks down over time but I cannot say I've witnessed this myself.

I remember reading years ago in I think HiFi Choice that a vinyl record should last about 1,600 years assuming no misfortune befalls it. This was back in the early days of CDs, when doom-mongerers were predicting that none of these new-fangled silver discs would be still playable by the year 2000 or thereabouts. Don't know about 1,600 years but some LPs of mine are heading towards 60 and they haven't deteriorated beyond natural wear and tear, so ok so far lol.

Think I read the same article Major and it's a load of tosh. Wherever did they pluck the age of 1600 years out of the bag from? Anyone actually measured the decay rate of vinyl? It's not a radioactive isotope but it certainly decays. Ultimately it is a tar with a few additives.

It's going to decay alrigt but like the 'silver disc' probably not enough to worry you over your, or my, life span.

 

[Freddy58]

Well, if I live long enough, I'll get back to you

 

[Nikphillips]

I have to say I use the Knosti and I get great results! Eventually I will invest in a machine of some description but for now I find it a great substitute!

half the battle I find is getting in the habit of giving all records a quick once over with an anti static brush every time you play them. This really helps!