CLEANING VINYL - The AK compendium of fact, fiction and collective wisdom

Have you ever used glue to clean a record?

  • Yes

    Votes: 231 19.9%
  • No

    Votes: 927 80.1%

  • Total voters
    1,158
My actual mix is composed of distilled water, Isopropyl alcohol, Dawn and Kodak Photo-Flo.
Hey Joe, you can probably remove the Dawn from this and get the same results (as far as I know).
The Dawn is acting as a surfactant, but the Photo-Flo is already doing this for you.
 
I am in the process of cleaning my entire album library with great success except for one issue. I have several cardboard album covers that the glue joints have failed on. It appears that originally a hot glue process was used during manufacture. I've tried glue sticks without success. Anyone have a suggestion for a quick drying glue that won't be too difficult to apply? Thanks.
 
I was wondering the same thing. I always have a lot of glue left over from those Simply Speakers refoam kits that I think may do a good job.
 
I was wondering the same thing. I always have a lot of glue left over from those Simply Speakers refoam kits that I think may do a good job.

If I am correct, that glue is simply aleenes tacky glue, and will work fantastically. There is a youtube vid showing how you can use small strips of construction paper to perfectly glue those covers back together, no tape, and it looks great.
 
I use an RCA Discwasher on the really dirty ones, but mainly use a Watts Parostatik Stick for light dusting and anti-stat treatment and the Watts Disc Preener for light touchups. I also use a Watts DustBug when the disc is playing. This is something I learned years ago from my dad who also used these products. Always worked then, still seems to work now.
 
Why have I never heard of these products? (Watts Disc Preener/Watts Dustbug)

Thanks for sharing.

They are rather common over in the UK where they were made. Garrard used to recommend using them. They were imported here, so they can be found on ebay once in a while.I think they work better than the Discwasher, but that's just me......maybe.....lol!
 
I just bought a 2nd Spin Clean so I can run through both. Should I just use distilled water in the 2nd one and do a rinse or double wash? I also have a vac wand thing. Should I vac in between or after the 2nd spin? What would you do?
 
So far been very happy with using Tergikleen (https://www.amazon.com/Professional...TF8&qid=1490138702&sr=8-1&keywords=tergikleen) - a few drops into a gallon of distilled water and you're good to go. Been using it on a Canfab spinner/vacuum wand.

Someone who posted waaaay back ago mentioned also they got rid of price tags on record covers. I found the best way is using a hair dryer. Make sure the vinyl is out of the cover, blast hot air out of hair dryer onto the sticker and voila - usually peels right off. This really helps when selling records and not wanting the buyer to see what you paid for it ages ago.
 
Hi guys, I have a Spin Clean, VPI HW27, AudioDesk, Klaudio, and ClearAudio Double Matrix Sonic. I found the best for me was the VPI and the AudioDesk until I bought the ClearAudio Double Matrix Sonic which combines the best of both worlds. Traditional w/ sonic. The ClearAudio dose double duty but it comes at one hefty price. I still have my tried and true Spin Clean and VPI. I will never get rid of the VPI simply because it will never break. It's a work horse. But in the end, it's always up to the listener, their environment and what they believe 'sounds' the best.

That's big guns right there. Would you say you hear an audible difference with using that ClearAudio vs other methods??

I just bought a 2nd Spin Clean so I can run through both. Should I just use distilled water in the 2nd one and do a rinse or double wash? I also have a vac wand thing. Should I vac in between or after the 2nd spin? What would you do?

I scrub, vac, rinse, vac again. Rinsing is the real important part, in my opinion.

Someone who posted waaaay back ago mentioned also they got rid of price tags on record covers. I found the best way is using a hair dryer. Make sure the vinyl is out of the cover, blast hot air out of hair dryer onto the sticker and voila - usually peels right off. This really helps when selling records and not wanting the buyer to see what you paid for it ages ago.

Until someone mentioned the hairdryer, I was destroying covers left and right. Works splendidly.
 
When nothing else works, I found that isopropyl alcohol makes quick work of sharpie and many other markers without harming the cardboard cover. I've never even seen the sheen affected. But I only use it when nothing else will work.
 
I haven't used my okki nokki since before Christmas when I moved it to make room for the tree. I bought Frank Sinatra's "A Swinging Affair" the other day and as usual, I put it on the turntable right out of the sleeve to listen for any bumps and clicks. Not a sausage! Not even a single click! This is the quietest record I've ever owned. It wasnt totally clean. It has a mark that I was sure would bump. It was also marked with what looked to me like a shoe print. I gave it one wipe with the velvet duster and evey bit of it was click free. All the silent bits were silent and softer bits were click free too. I'm going to stick it on a cassette tape because the Sony TC199SD cassette deck gives it a warmer sound.
 
I haven't spun any vinyl for many years, though I could never part with any of my LPs or my TT. I do repair books occasionally and have an adhesive specifically made for repair of fine books. It is called Bind-Art (product # 40-415-002) and it is an acid free nontoxic polyvinyl acetate liquid adhesive. Says on the bottle it is "Chemically Stable at a 7.9 pH" (neutral). It dries transparent and remains flexible. Might work good for those who use the glue method but are concerned that other glues are acidic.
 
I haven't spun any vinyl for many years, though I could never part with any of my LPs or my TT. I do repair books occasionally and have an adhesive specifically made for repair of fine books. It is called Bind-Art (product # 40-415-002) and it is an acid free nontoxic polyvinyl acetate liquid adhesive. Says on the bottle it is "Chemically Stable at a 7.9 pH" (neutral). It dries transparent and remains flexible. Might work good for those who use the glue method but are concerned that other glues are acidic.

THANK YOU!
Guess who is off to Amazon very soon??
 
So with no hope of success I tried the Scrubbing Bubbles on a Goodwill Aerosmith :" Get Your Wings" , Holy Cow, what a huge difference it made, now it didn't fix the years of wear and tear, but wow! a huge improvement in sound! I was floored, I have the Vynly Style brand of the Spin Clean, I chose it for the excellent rack it came with, but it doesn't clean like the SB, I'm having trouble finding suitable drying towels .
 
Has any one tried a quick wipe with a Magic Eraser? I did it with an unplayable Carol King Tapestry lp. When I was done, I could actually use it. Of course you'll want the Magic Eraser to be wet and then dry the vinyl with a microfiber cloth. I don't recommend this cleaning method for good condition lps, but it is a way to salvage some of the poorer condition records.
 
Back
Top Bottom