Spin-Clean is...

HI,

I've made a very thorough reserch of different record cleaning methods, from Doing-It-by-Hand to TOTL vacume machines. It included both listning and checking the cleaned records under a scope.
The spinning machines were the most efficient, and certainly most cost eficient way to clean records - easy and quick to clean records without doing damage to either records or labels. Records turn our cleaner than "handworked", and just as clean as those cleaned by multiple-thousends-dollars, TOTL vacume machines.

Mind that, Just as with the vacumes, the cleaning process is much more elaborated than advertise, and one needs quite a few rounds of turning the records, both ways, both in cleaning solution and in distilled woter - for it to be "almost totaly clean" - which is the best I have managed, cleaning VERY dirty records, using any method :)
do you, by any chance, have written data you can share?
 
Spin clean is easy for quick cleaning and pretty effective. I've done the hand cleaning with a diluted Fast ZEP 505 and brush and it does a great job for really grimy records, but it's a lot of work so I have to be desperate to do it that way.
 
I used the dusting e-cloth, I think the glass polishing one would work too. So 3 spins each way in the Spin-Clean, then I have 2 ways of drying and it depends on if I'm doing a bunch and go get the shop vac out or not. So after going through the Spin Clean, I lay them on a broken TT and hand spin them to vac dry or if I'm just doing 1 or 2 and am lazy to get the vac then, out of the spin clean and wiped dry with the e-cloths and put in a wooden dish drying rack to further air dry for 10-15 minutes.
 
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I also use a dual spin clean process (wash then rinse) with vacuum after each step. I ran out of spin clean fluid a while back and use a homemade fluid with distilled water, IPA, Triton and I recently added hepastat. It seems to be more effective and convenient than any hand wash method I used. If I have albums with lots of surface dust/particles I might spin it under the kitchen faucet first to keep from gunking up the wash water. If I have a really cruddy album with mold for instance then I'll give it a onceover in the sink with dawn and a paint pad first.
 
I forgot to add, I got both of my spinclean units for used off eBay for much cheaper than new. I just created a saved search with notifications and waited for them to come up cheapish.
 
I've never hand washed an album in the sink but I have cleaned them using an array of brushes, paint pads and micro fiber towels. I just received a Spin Clean for Christmas and I have cleaned about 20 albums with it so far. I would have to say it works much better than the way I used to clean them. It's much more convenient to use. Surface noise is greatly reduced. The towels they give you seem kinda cheesy but they work better than the micro fiber ones I had been using. My only complaint is that sometimes the rollers want to walk up a bit when spinning the LP, some spin better than others, it depends on how smooth the edge of the album is.
I've found that filling the tub so that the water level is a little above the fill line greatly reduces this tendency.
 
I've never hand washed an album in the sink but I have cleaned them using an array of brushes, paint pads and micro fiber towels. I just received a Spin Clean for Christmas and I have cleaned about 20 albums with it so far. I would have to say it works much better than the way I used to clean them. It's much more convenient to use. Surface noise is greatly reduced. The towels they give you seem kinda cheesy but they work better than the micro fiber ones I had been using. My only complaint is that sometimes the rollers want to walk up a bit when spinning the LP, some spin better than others, it depends on how smooth the edge of the album is.

I ran into the same problem. Slowing down the rotation and not putting any downward pressure on the record helps a lot. Also, I clean off the rollers good after using.
 
I used the dusting e-cloth, I think the glass polishing one would work too. So 3 spins each way in the Spin-Clean, then I have 2 ways of drying and it depends on if I'm doing a bunch and go gett the shop vac out or not. So after going through the Spin Clean, I lay them on a broken TT and hand spin them to vac dry or if I'm just doing 1 or 2 and am lazy to get the vac then, out of the spin clean and wiped dry with the e-cloths and put in a wooden dish drying rack to further air dry for 10-15 minutes.
I just ordered a 2-pack of e-cloths. Thanks for the recommendation!
 
I prefer handwashing using a groovmaster label saver, but I just clean the record before playing, if it hadnt been clean prior. Both have their merits.
 
I really am amazed that very few call out the fact that with this system, you potentially are recycling a dirty water/solution mix, over and over again. Additionally, you are letting that mix sit in the tank for a while, allowing it to become a breeding ground for unhealthy bacteria. Clean records are one thing, but breathing that crap in, sorry, there are better and healthier ways.
 
I really am amazed that very few call out the fact that with this system, you potentially are recycling a dirty water/solution mix, over and over again. Additionally, you are letting that mix sit in the tank for a while, allowing it to become a breeding ground for unhealthy bacteria. Clean records are one thing, but breathing that crap in, sorry, there are better and healthier ways.

this was one of my first remarks regarding - The solution gets SO dirty in the process, that no mater how much one filers it afterwards, it's not possible to use it again - certainly not in order to clean things.

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On the right is new clean solution, and on the left is the used one, AFTER filtering...
 
I used a spin-clean equivalent, with varied degrees of success. However, have switched to a Pro-ject RCM, and wish I'd done that years ago. So much easier, so much quicker but, above all, records so much cleaner.
 
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