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
Cleaned an extremely dirty Johnny Nash record (like the former owner used vaseline and dust to augment the filth) and went over with the magic eraser.

Again, reduced clicks and pops.

Happy Happy Joy Joy. I guess I'll try this on my Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven record.

Another plus? The color REALLY comes thru. Y'know....that beautiful rainbow patina you see on good vinyl?


All I know are two things - one, there will be someone decrying this method, and two, I'm listening to a former unlistenable record.
 
Many years ago, a much younger self had a mostly NM- collection. *That* me would not have approved.

The current me, having quite a few records that will otherwise go in the trash, is all ears.

P.S. That younger guy's collection all burned along with everything else he owned in the apartment building in which he then lived. Kinda changes one's perspective on things.
 
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First of all Great Thread! I have read through it all, albeit in bits and pieces and have really benefited from the collective process of trial and error. Second I have been using a SpinClean for years and am very glad I bought it, it does a great job for what it's worth. However, even after multiple passes I like many of you have certain LPs that appear passable or even good looking but have a noise level that prevent me from playing them much at all. I realize some of this may be groove damage and that's going to be difficult to impossible to fix. However, this brings me to this crazy idea and the Third thing I wanted to say.

I have been toying with the idea of trying to use a SonicCare or similar ultrasonic toothbrush on those stubborn LPs that just don't seem to want to give up the gunk in the grooves. With that said I will quickly duck behind the nearest cover to avoid the majority of the rotting vegetables and flames that may follow that comment and ask from my covered position if anyone have tried this and/or has any thoughts on this concept?

Cheers,

Fuzz
 
First of all Great Thread! I have read through it all, albeit in bits and pieces and have really benefited from the collective process of trial and error. Second I have been using a SpinClean for years and am very glad I bought it, it does a great job for what it's worth. However, even after multiple passes I like many of you have certain LPs that appear passable or even good looking but have a noise level that prevent me from playing them much at all. I realize some of this may be groove damage and that's going to be difficult to impossible to fix. However, this brings me to this crazy idea and the Third thing I wanted to say.

I have been toying with the idea of trying to use a SonicCare or similar ultrasonic toothbrush on those stubborn LPs that just don't seem to want to give up the gunk in the grooves. With that said I will quickly duck behind the nearest cover to avoid the majority of the rotting vegetables and flames that may follow that comment and ask from my covered position if anyone have tried this and/or has any thoughts on this concept?

Cheers,

Fuzz

Au contraire!

Anything you can add to our collective body of knowledge through bold experimentation will certainly be well-received by, at least, a certain bunch of us.
 
I tried wet 2000 grain sandpaper on a 77 cent throwaway LP from the Goodwill. I now have an LP that looks like someone took wet sandpaper to it. I followed the groove pattern as I lightly sanded. It still plays horribly and looks worse. It now has a cloudy surface.

I tried a dry Magic Eraser on another 77 cent throwaway LP from the Goodwill. It looks slightly shinier now , but still has about the same amount of snap, crackle, and pop. I cannot tell if the Magic Eraser really did anything to the record.
 
I tried wet 2000 grain sandpaper on a 77 cent throwaway LP from the Goodwill. I now have an LP that looks like someone took wet sandpaper to it. I followed the groove pattern as I lightly sanded. It still plays horribly and looks worse. It now has a cloudy surface.

I tried a dry Magic Eraser on another 77 cent throwaway LP from the Goodwill. It looks slightly shinier now , but still has about the same amount of snap, crackle, and pop. I cannot tell if the Magic Eraser really did anything to the record.

I don't know, but I'm not sure this is something that would help with garden variety rice crispies; that's probably down *in* the grooves. I think this is more about smoothing out scratches and so on that are up above. I've still not tried this, so I defer to those who have.
 
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I tried wet 2000 grain sandpaper on a 77 cent throwaway LP from the Goodwill. I now have an LP that looks like someone took wet sandpaper to it. I followed the groove pattern as I lightly sanded. It still plays horribly and looks worse. It now has a cloudy surface.

I tried a dry Magic Eraser on another 77 cent throwaway LP from the Goodwill. It looks slightly shinier now , but still has about the same amount of snap, crackle, and pop. I cannot tell if the Magic Eraser really did anything to the record.

Absolutely do NOT do this unless you've exhausted every other possible option.

I don't know, but I'm not sure this is something that would help with garden variety rice crispies; that's probably down *in* the grooves. I think this is more about smoothing out scratches and so on that are up above. I've still not tried this, so I defer to those who have.

Said like a true vinyl cleaning kung fu master.

I cannot attest that this method (extreme, even by my standards) will fix all albums, but if folks can straighten bent grooves with needles, and I've fixed a few scratches with glue (the sheer force of attachment with Aleene's will slightly LIFT AND STRAIGHTEN grooves laid over by a tonearm gone awry) then this method could remove the "hanging chads" of damaged vinyl.

Sorry it didn't work for you, Johncan.
 
It is all right that it did not work as it was a throwaway LP. I am going to try a wet Magic Eraser on the other side of the LP and see what happens.
 
Absolutely do NOT do this unless you've exhausted every other possible option.



Said like a true vinyl cleaning kung fu master.

I cannot attest that this method (extreme, even by my standards) will fix all albums, but if folks can straighten bent grooves with needles, and I've fixed a few scratches with glue (the sheer force of attachment with Aleene's will slightly LIFT AND STRAIGHTEN grooves laid over by a tonearm gone awry) then this method could remove the "hanging chads" of damaged vinyl.

Sorry it didn't work for you, Johncan.

I still have had no call to use any of these extreme tactics but I'm glad to have them in reserve. I'm sure the need will arise eventually. Actually, I keep a few junk specimens on hand for testing. I should probably just go ahead and see if I can clean them up.
 
I have a copy of "Let it Be" that had millions of small scratches. Sounded horrible, so I used a brand new Magic Eraser, and pressed HARD.

Yeah, it looks sanded now, but needle tracked it. Can't say it was worth listening to, even now, but clearly it helped the big pops.

I still recommend a nice cleaning with traditional methods, and reserve this ONLY for lightly going over, say, 5 or 6 times.

Less is more, and I've hardly perfected my technique, but it has merit.
 
I have a question that hopefully somebody can answer. I'm curious about cleaning an old acetate I have. It's an "audiodisc" acetate from the early 70s. Has a lot of grime and scuffs. I know the material on them is not as robust as normal vinyl so I'm hesitant to use my Music Hall vacuum rcm. Also concerned about using my home brew fluid with alchol on it.

Anybody have I sight to what would be safe for it?
 
Did a quick search on this thread, so apologies if this has been asked and answered:

Any thoughts on cleaning the RCM tank? I had not used my Okki Nokki for several months. After cleaning several 10-inch LPs inherited from an uncle, I emptied the tank. A clot or two of gray gunk came out.

Don't know if it was stuff that had been growing in the tank -- though I'm sure I emptied it before putting it away. Some of the records were really dirty, so it's possible this was crud from the LPs. OTOH, I've cleaned some pretty awful thrift shop finds and never noticed this kind of stuff before,

After I finished I poured some water into the tank and let it run. But I'm wondering if I should flush it with a little bleach added to some hot water,
 
Did a quick search on this thread, so apologies if this has been asked and answered:

Any thoughts on cleaning the RCM tank? I had not used my Okki Nokki for several months. After cleaning several 10-inch LPs inherited from an uncle, I emptied the tank. A clot or two of gray gunk came out.

Don't know if it was stuff that had been growing in the tank -- though I'm sure I emptied it before putting it away. Some of the records were really dirty, so it's possible this was crud from the LPs. OTOH, I've cleaned some pretty awful thrift shop finds and never noticed this kind of stuff before,

After I finished I poured some water into the tank and let it run. But I'm wondering if I should flush it with a little bleach added to some hot water,
I always have "gunk" in my US after about 20 LPs or so. Kind of like clumps of dust floating around in a grey cloud.

After I drain the tank I simply wash with a light dawn mixture and a soft MF towel followed by a hot water rinse. Has been working well for a long time.

Finding cloudy water and gunk tells me my US is working to remove all that from my LPs. LPs that go in after being dusted off and "looking" clean.
 
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