record cleaning

[gregory]

after reading on other forums and the net on how to best clean records, i thought i would try out my own experiment and report back here. Lot's of people suggest that a record cleaning machine is the best way, making up their own solutions to cut down on costs, i'm all for that but rcm's are not cheap and other people suggest just to let the stylus pick up any crud and clean the stylus afterwards which has been my norm for years but some records really are ground in with dirt cutting down on the enjoyment of listening. with this in mind i stumbled across impega cleaning solution for plastic and metal finishes so with an old warped and very dirty copy of jailbreak i thought I'd give it a go. i played emerald and warriors before applying the solution through headphones and surface noise was to say the least awful, then i used the solution and hey presto no surface noise, crackles and pops although still there were greatly reduced everything was clearer and much nicer to listen to. i don't think it improved sound quality, i.e better bass or more sparkling treble but it did sound nicer. after playing each track i noticed a lot of crud on the stylus more so than if i had not used the solution so i am going to experiment further with an old cartridge and more records, i will say that 99% of my records are really clean and sound great but for those of us who still scour the 2nd hand shops it is nice to have a clean record. i know some may say with cd's you don't have to worry about surface noise but i enjoy vinyl more. to me Cd's are just to cold sounding, although i still use them but only occasionally. i will report back in a week or so, so keep watching.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

[quote user="gregory"]Lot's of people suggest that a record cleaning machine is the best way,[/quote]

Cue Mr.Duncan!

 

[Tear Drop]

[quote user="gregory"]people suggest just to let the stylus pick up any crud and clean the stylus
afterwards[/quote]

That it fine up to a point but the biggest problem I have ever founds with LPs is mould release agent, the small amount of liquid which is applied to each LP surface to make it come away cleanly from the press. This leaves a residue on the LP surface which can only be removed with proper wet washing via a cleaning machine. Brand new LPs are the worst offenders. Cleaning this off not only does wonders for the music, but will help keep your stylus in top shape, as the gradual accumulation of mould release agent on a stylus is very difficult to clean off properly. A friend of mine keeps his LPs in top shape with a cleaning machine and is just getting his stylus replaced - it has lasted him 8 years with an estimated 6000+ hrs use! A cleaning machine is essential to keep both LPs and stylus in great condition for longer, and will improve your listening pleasure too as you will be hearing plenty of details in recordings which you previously had not thought was there. It may seem like a slightly pricey outlay initially (I thought so too before I bought my VPI 16.5 a few years ago), but in no time you will wonder how you ever lived without it. Promise!

 

[John Duncan]

[quote user="Charlie Jefferson"][quote user="gregory"]Lot's of people suggest that a record cleaning machine is the best way,[/quote]

Cue Mr.Duncan![/quote]

I should do an FAQ

Search this site for my comments on the Knosti Disco Antistat (it's too late for me to do a full response

)

 

[fatboyslimfast]

I have a potentially cheap but effective solution, that has transformed some of my worst 2nd hand buys

Feel free to shoot me down if this sounds horrendous, but...

Get yourself a pack of baby wet wipes (ideally ones without moisuriser or perfume), and a couple of decent quality microfibre cloths (the ones you use for dusting etc - a yellow-liveried northern-based supermarket does a pack of 3 fantastic ones for a quid).
Fold the wet wipe in quarters, so there is enough surface to wipe the vinyl but avoiding the label. Wipe from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock clockwise keeping the cloth parallel with the grooves, then do the same anti-clockwise. Repeat. Then perform the same with one side of the microfibre cloth, repeating with the other (dry) side of the cloth.

By using the dry side, all moisture is removed and the record takes on an as-new sheen without watermarks, and plays lovely.

It works for me, but as always, exercise caution before doing it on your gold-and-black version of Please Please Me...

 

[John Duncan]

(gulp). You're right, this sounds horrendous.

 

[fatboyslimfast]

I don't know if I would do it on my most prized albums, but trust me, on a recent batch of local-ad-rag specials (12 albums for £10 that had lived with a smoker), it made a gigantic difference. Obviously the surface scratches were still there but all the detritus (two albums had noticably coloured the white microfibre brown) had been removed and 90% of the surface noise had gone.

I must admit I did play both sides of the disc on my dual before chancing it on the Rok...but the result was still excellent.

 

[Anonymous]

After having the contents of a glass of wine jump a huge amount (7ft in length and 4+ in height) I had to quickly attack the playing record (and hifi and projector screen) with kitchen roll to clean it up. I wouldn't recommend it, but at the time i didn't know what else to do.

Thankfully it was a Majik Markers record so random noise could be part of the recording