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
Magic Eraser should never touch your records. It is however useful for cleaning your stylus, but that's another thread.
 
I am not a lp pro but I do have a small collection. I've tried to buy only records that visually have no scratches that i can see. What would be the minimal cleaning i should do before playing?
 
I've tried all sorts of things over the years except high dollar cleaning machines.

For my goodwill and second-hand finds I always use a Spin-Clean. It's cheap (relative to other cleaners) and after almost 20 years my original unit is still going strong.

The only extra money I've spent is a new set of rollers when the originals broke and a new set of pads a few months ago. Good as new.
 
I am not a lp pro but I do have a small collection. I've tried to buy only records that visually have no scratches that i can see. What would be the minimal cleaning i should do before playing?

The Spin-Clean get a lot of good press around here. A friend of mine has one and really likes it.
 
It does. Mostly because it's cheap, simple and easy to use. You can probably get the same results with a microfiber cloth and some DIY cleaning solution for way less than 80 bucks, but it's an elegant solution (engineering-wise) and personally I find the time spent using it very relaxing. When I first bought it I figured I would start with this thing and eventually move on to bigger, better vacuum or cavitation (ultrasonic) machines but so far I haven't felt the need.

I did try the glue method but found it to be cumbersome, take way too long and frankly the diminishing returns vs a good spin in the spin clean not worth it.

In fact, I had one particularly dirty record that I did a little test with. Very unscientific because I only did it once. I cleaned the record using my usual spin clean method (rinse to get loose dirt off, run through the spin clean, final rinse then dry with microfiber cloth and set in a rack to completely dry) and I played the record. THEN I did the glue clean to find out if it would improve on what the spin clean had already done. I wasn't able to detect any additional improvement.

One you have a spin clean, if you decide to get one, try that for yourself. I would be very interested in reading about your results.
 
Hi to all.

I have got benzene C4, a powerful surface cleaning, I used it like fat cleaner in other object mainly metal, for instance: aluminium, anyone knows if it is good to use it like vinyl cleaner?

Regards.
 
After getting tired of cleaning my records by hand, I broke down and bought an Audio Desk Systeme Vinyl Cleaner Pro. Should be here Friday. http://www.audiodesksysteme.de/de/

I've read some stunning reviews so I have hight hopes. At this price I should!
 
After getting tired of cleaning my records by hand, I broke down and bought an Audio Desk Systeme Vinyl Cleaner Pro. Should be here Friday. http://www.audiodesksysteme.de/de/

I've read some stunning reviews so I have hight hopes. At this price I should!

Very curious to hear your impressions of the results compared to hand cleaning or a Spin Clean. I've had my finger on the trigger of an automatic cleaner for years, but have never been able to compare the results vs my (cheap) ways of cleaning. I would love to hear that aside from the convenience, which isn't an issue for me since I enjoy the process of cleaning, a superior result would probably convince me.

And yes... for the price of an SL 1200G those better be some CLEAN records! :)
 
Very curious to hear your impressions of the results compared to hand cleaning or a Spin Clean. I've had my finger on the trigger of an automatic cleaner for years, but have never been able to compare the results vs my (cheap) ways of cleaning. I would love to hear that aside from the convenience, which isn't an issue for me since I enjoy the process of cleaning, a superior result would probably convince me.

And yes... for the price of an SL 1200G those better be some CLEAN records! :)

There are some fine machines in this price range but this one seems to be getting the strongest support lately. It filters the water between each cleaning and has forced air (filtered) drying. An added benefit is it also greatly reduces static. It uses distilled water and a mild additive. Because it filters the water, you can clean 100-200 records before changing fluid. This ultrasonic cleaner is unlike most of the other ones because it includes some micro fiber rotary brushes that provide a mild scrubbing effect. I also bought the 7" and 10" adapters. I'm looking forward to seeing what some of my more used and dirty vinyl is capable of sounding like. Put in the record, push a button and 6 minutes later remove the record and it is ready to play :)
 
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The UPS guy dropped off the Audio Desk Systeme Pro this morning. To start, I am very impressed with the build quality of this unit. The pictures online don't do it justice! This is not just a glued together box, but a well engineered and integrated component made from tough industrial polymer. It is clear they spent some serious time developing this product, not to mention the money spent on the injection mold tooling. They also did not go cheap on the materials, this appears to be one tough machine! It is much heavier than you would expect. Everything looks solid but also simple as possible. I doubt a single user could wear one out in a lifetime?

Now does it work?

It took just a few minutes to add four and a half liters of distilled water, the unique additive, load my first album and push the button. Per the instructions, I also needed to start the record rotating by pushing on the edge slightly. Now comes the hard part, there is absolutly nothing for you to do for 6 minutes. Nothing. After the cycle stops, you lift out the album and it is ready to play immediately. Absolutely dry with no apparent static!

Yes the viny is clean, damn clean!

The water is completely filtered each cycle. I'm sure after a few hundred albums you may have to clean out the cavities and such but it looks easy enough to do?

To say I am impressed is a gross understatement. Does it clean as good or better than a good hand wash? Yes! I've only cleaned about 20 records now. All of these records were dirty and in my "need to be cleaned" stack. Except for a few scars, the groves are as quiet as any I've ever heard. A few of these albums were actually brand new but still had more noise than a new record should. Not any more. So far I have only used the standard cycle, but you can add 1 to 5 minutes more to the cycle if you think the record may need it.

So far so good, but what about a real dirty record? I grabbed one of my mother in laws old 45 singles. Rest her soul, she died a few years ago and we found a huge pile of old 45s in her stuff. Mostly from the 50s and early 60s. Some cool stuff but all really, really dirty. I also bought the 7" and 10" adapters, so grabbed a 45 that looked salvageable (but man was it dirty!) I put it in the adapter and loaded it into the machine. I set the timer for the max of plus 5 minutes because this guy was dirty!

Except for the label wear, it looked and played like new. Really! I did a few more with similar results and a few of the better looking ones I was able to clean on a standard cycle even though they were actually pretty dirty.

Of course, there are still a few pops and such on some of my older records, after all it will not remove scars, but I doubt you could get vinyl any cleaner than what this machine does?

Only negative is the cost. If this cleaner was 1/4 or even half the cost I'm sure it would put the competition out of business? I'm lucky to be able to make a few adjustments, and free up some money to buy one. Some of you might want to get together with your friends and buy one together for your local audio community? I'm sure this guy is built well enough to last thousands of cycles? Only expense is to buy the additive but you are still only spending $100 to clean 600 to 1200 albums (depending how dirty they are). The brushes are stated to last a few thousand cycles and are about $120 a set.

You could always rent it out?

I now consider any hardship associated with cleaning my vinyl is something of the past. End of problem for this guy!
 
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Did a hundred albums today with no major problem. I did notice the wipers were starting to get a little sticky so I cleaned them off and they were fine. They may have been sticky when new? In any case, it was easy with a cloth and some water. I did lose some fluid because I did not think to check the drain plug. I recommend checking it to make sure it is tight! I ended up adding a couple of minutes to the standard cycle. I thought, why not? If I am going through all this trouble I might as well make sure they are more than clean? I am really pleased with this machine so far!
 
That's great to hear! It's all about the music after all and keeping the software in tip top condition will preserve it and your equipment! Glad to hear it's worth it! I would love to see (and hear) a before and after video on youtube. So many record cleaning videos never do a complete "before" and a complete "after" on the same record. Congratulations!
 
Well it is more a matter of perspective as to if it is worth it. I think you can get your vinyl just as clean by hand but with much more effort and time? I do think the ultrasonic method cleans well into the grove that would be difficult to achieve any other way? At least it does it without increasing the exposure to damage?

Here is a picture with the 45 adapter.

IMG_1621%20net_zpspum6bh9z.jpg
 
Roger on the perspective issue. I guess a collector that has records worth a lot of money wouldn't even blink at getting one of these. The true test IMO would be playing them on the ELP turntable or that other laser player that can also do cylinders which I can't remember the name right now. I have read that laser players pick up every little speck of dust in the groove and require a pristine surface to play without glitches.
 
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