CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Lobby => Vinyl Nutjob World => Topic started by: mikoss on September 02, 2015, 12:52:10 AM
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Vinyl people... Apologies if this info is elsewhere throughout the site, but I'm hoping for a list of options on how to clean records before use. Any/all info and suggestions would be super awesome.
Here is my personal struggle:
- new records have a bunch of shit on them. (Paper bits, dust, fluff, etc).
- I have a cheap-ass brush that I've been using, which removes 80-90% of the visible shit, while also conveniently creating tiny scratch marks all over my new records.
- I'm considering a vacuum, perhaps even a wet scrubber system, or glue.
- Would prefer a non scratching, easy to use method that would work in my living room. I live in a condo, so the wet methods would be a real pain in the ass... But I'm not completely lazy and willing to do what it takes.
- Also finding new records that come bent- fucking awesome! I saw some weight/heat method for fixing them, but that is another discussion. I've resorted to buying 2 copies of some records because they came scratched. What a pain.
Merci.
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This works OK short of a VPI cleaner. Time consuming though.
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I have a Spin Clean, and it makes a noticeable difference. I dry the records in a dish rack.
I'll be rigging up an ultrasonic cleaning system in the near future.
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Wood glue works well and is cheap
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Love the wood glue method. Eventually I'll get some ultrasonic device perhaps loaded with the Brook Berdan uber duper magic vinyl juice. As a mechanically oriented person, I don't see myself limited to proprietary vinyl/audiophile offerings.
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My understanding of the hierarchy for general purpose cleaning is:
Hand Wash/Passive Cleaner (Spin Clean) < Vacuum Clean (VPI/Okki Nokki etc..) < Ultrasonic (KLAudio, AudioDesk, DIY/Homemade)
Other general purpose stuff everyone should have:
Carbon fibre record brush
Oznow Zero Dust to dunk/clean the stylus every couple sides (can also use a magic eraser)
I own a VPI 16.5 and think it's one of the best things to ever happen to my record playback chain. Will add an ultrasonic eventually for sure. I'm hoping Harry from VPI releases the one he has been prototyping for a while and causes some downward pricing pressure.
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Yeah, new vinyl really sucks that way. Not to mention retailers really frown upon vinyl returns unless they are Amazon; I get that distributors seem to be dicking them over but still… it's 2015.
OCD shit?
-When unsleeving a new record; don't just let it slide out of the sleeve dragging all the new record crud with it. Puff out the sides best you can to minimize friction when sliding it out or if you are really nuts I've heard of cutting the inner sleeve open (the paper generic ones I would hope). After cleaning immediately use a new sleeve, like what Sleeve City or Mofi offer. I use a plastic outer sleeve then store the record in the replacement sleeve on the backside of the jacket and inside the plastic outer sleeve; no more jacket wear or seam splits.
-Vintage dishwasher brush in good condition, Distilled water + Isopropyl Alcohol mix (10:1) in a spray bottle. Personally not a fan of the "carbon fiber" junk they are peddling everywhere now. This should do OK for getting minor dust/fuzzies off for general playing.
-It's getting to a point where I am trying to avoid non-audiophile labels but even Mofi records aren't immune from pressing flaws. SHForum can help you weed out bad releases from the good but everyone has different definition of a good pressing.
I have a local shop that has a VPI RCM (good but not necessarily the best) and a Furutech flattener they offer to customers as a service. I buy what I can from them! I have also learned that if your new vinyl just plain has pressing flaws no amount of cleaning is going to make that "worlds better"; personally I have yet to have a new record improve dramatically from the VPI cleaning - a little better I might believe.
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Personally not a fan of the "carbon fiber" brushes they are peddling everywhere.
Same, they don't get as much macro stuff as velvet
Can we get some chemistry person to cook up a special Chang-xclusive washing fluid?
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(http://)
Same, they don't get as much macro stuff as velvet
Can we get some chemistry person to cook up a special Chang-xclusive washing fluid?
How about the Hunt brush? Has a row of carbon fiber, a thick felt/velvet portion, then another carbon fiber row...
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(http://www2.crutchfield.com.edgesuite.net/pix.crutchfield.com/ImageHandler/trim/555/312/products/2008/703/h703BRUSH-F.jpeg)
Probably a lot better than this thing.
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Personally not a fan of the "carbon fiber" junk they are peddling everywhere now.
Same, they don't get as much macro stuff as velvet
With the disclaimer that my turntable stands, these days, unused...
Microfibre Cloth. This is the best thing in the world for cleaning almost anything, and is absolutely wonderful for cleaning LPs. Don't give $£$ for vinyl gadgets made from exotic materials, give $-a-couple-of to your local household store for microfibre. It is as exotic as cleaning materials ever need to get (for everything, from car to bath) and only looks as if it isn't because it is cheap. Although, stuff like e-cloths (which I think were maybe the first makers of microfibre in UK) are actually not cheap.
I'm not saying that one can buy and use blind, especially with the very cheap stuff. It needs to have a pile, to get into those grooves, but it needs to not shed its pile. Try cleaning some glass to check this.
I'm also not saying that it rivals mechanical/fluid cleaners. I know that, when I used to make jewellery on a hobby basis, one of my dream tools was an ultrasonic cleaner, but I never had one (these days they can be had in cheep home versions). I'm sure they work wonders on LPs.
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With the disclaimer that my turntable stands, these days, unused...
Microfibre Cloth. This is the best thing in the world for cleaning almost anything, and is absolutely wonderful for cleaning LPs. Don't give $£$ for vinyl gadgets made from exotic materials, give $-a-couple-of to your local household store for microfibre. It is as exotic as cleaning materials ever need to get (for everything, from car to bath) and only looks as if it isn't because it is cheap. Although, stuff like e-cloths (which I think were maybe the first makers of microfibre in UK) are actually not cheap.
I'm not saying that one can buy and use blind, especially with the very cheap stuff. It needs to have a pile, to get into those grooves, but it needs to not shed its pile. Try cleaning some glass to check this.
I'm also not saying that it rivals mechanical/fluid cleaners. I know that, when I used to make jewellery on a hobby basis, one of my dream tools was an ultrasonic cleaner, but I never had one (these days they can be had in cheep home versions). I'm sure they work wonders on LPs.
I was about to post this. a FINE microfiber cloth that doesn't shed, like you would use for cleaning glasses. Cheap, catch a ridiculous amount of junk. First I use a damp one, then a dry one. My friend just got a VPI and I know it will be able to clean things up further on my noisy records - but this is good enough for cleaning your records enough to be confident in placing them in new, clean sleeves. The proof is in the pudding - look at the wet cloth when you clean a dollar bin find. Yep, it's working.
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Re: ultrasonic cleaners...this is as close to turnkey as you can get right now. $675+shipping.
https://www.tindie.com/products/VibratoLLC/vibrato-80khz-ultrasonic-cleaner-/
The best resource is this thread, and it's where I found the Vibrato dude. He used to work for Sonix, maybe, but he definitely is really experienced with ultrasonics and just made his own company. 80kHz is ideal for record cleaning and it only costs $50 more than 60kHz in his pricing. Many of the $2000+ ultrasonic systems are actually using 40kHz (and the designs from this thread).
Tons of good discussion - read as much of it as you want.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/218276-my-version-ultrasonic-record-cleaner-99.html#post4226898
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My technique is basically cleaning my velvet brush on a microfiber towel then wiping the records. Seems to minimize static