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

Have you ever used glue to clean a record?

  • Yes

    Votes: 239 19.2%

  • No

    Votes: 1,007 80.8%
  • Total voters
    1,246
soundmig said:
The SB treatment was real simple. I used the 4-1/2" dent pullers available at harbor freight ($2.99 each) to protect the label (2 - one on each side). This album had been spin cleaned before so I simply sprayed SB on and let it sit for a couple of minutes. I then rinsed with distilled water and dried it using those surgical sponge things that spin clean sells (those scare me btw).
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I did the same with a half dozen records last night. I had bought them for ten cents each with mold and water damage/paper stuck in the grooves.

I used the "Scrubbles" first, then the spin clean however. They were titles I just wanted to hear. The least damaged was Weather Report's 2nd LP and it sounded great when I played it earlier tonight.

I only get the "Bubbles" out for special occasions such as this. It works in a couple of minutes then spray-rinse 'em off in the sink, a quick dry and Spin-Clean. I think dent pullers are particularly useful with the SB's - not good for labels...maybe not good for the vinyl, but now they are playable.

I can at least hear the music now, see what I like. The Fillmore East was a mess but it was the early purple label so I grabbed it. That one I already had in about every format available!

By the way, when using my Spin Clean I always start with the cleanest disks and work towards the grimy thrift store grabs. If the dirty ones peak my interest musically, I figure I can run them through the SC again later.

These are the records, BTW.
 

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soundmig said:
Thanks … interesting reads. And how do you find those threads so easily?
As for the alcohol. I've seen 91% at the grocery store, but not 99%. Maybe one could adjust the formula a wee bit to use 91% instead (8% more of the 91% alcohol and an equivalent volume less of distilled or DI water)? Assuming the other 9% of the 91% alcohol is water - that might work?
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I order 99% from my local CVS. It's in the next day.
 
elcoholic said:
Could be, but I doubt it is a successful business model to make a living. His prices are fair, but too high. At best he may help get some of his equipment investment back, which is probably his goal anyway. I hope he does well.
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From a business perspective I would say that the prices are too low to cover labor, overhead, supplies, advertising, equipment maintenance, damage losses, etc. So if the feeling is that the price is too high when its actually too low for a successful business model - that is indeed a problem! I wish him/her luck, however, because stranger things have actually panned out - I guess we will see. I know that I don't have "time" to clean very many records, and with new vinyl pushing higher and higher the used LP market is becoming viable - so maybe such a service would be useful? who knows!

(no affiliation)
 
elcoholic said:
LOL - Are we going to get into a sub-discussion on the merits of PVA type l (std), ll (long open time) & lll (water resistant)? I suppose Type l would be the best for LP's. I'd stay away from Titebond Melamine glue though. :D
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Nah, we'll leave that for the glue thread.

As for the 91%, I grabbed that tonight, and went 50/50 with distilled water. Worked fine on my Discwasher brush pre-play.

Anyone see an issue with 91% and 50/50 with distilled water?

As for searching for threads, ALWAYS use the google search feature. Things pop right up!
 
Glad the 91% thing worked out. I'll have to try it. Ohhhh …. google search … duhh. I should have figured that one out … oh well. Bought some Tightbond II on the way home tonight. Can't wait to give it a whirl one day soon when I have some time :)
 
I looked up the ingredients for 91% isopropyl alcohol. It has two ingredients: Isopropyl alcohol and water. Given that it is a medical grade product intended to treat wounds that has to be "process water" - per FDA requirements (R.O. water that is tested for micro, pH, conductivity, etc.) So, I can see no reason not to use it mixed with Distilled Water, DI water or RO water. What ratio of mixture is best I don't know.
 
soundmig said:
Glad the 91% thing worked out. I'll have to try it. Ohhhh …. google search … duhh. I should have figured that one out … oh well. Bought some Tightbond II on the way home tonight. Can't wait to give it a whirl one day soon when I have some time :)
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Also buy a pack of cards. They work great for spreading the glue. Also, use an old tt that is broken to use as a potter's wheel of sorts. Makes it SO much easier.

Hell, just read over the Wood Glue thread. It has all the good info. :thmbsp:
 
Old turntable … good idea! Go figure …. the one thing that I don't have three of is turntables of which I only have my WT Classic. Guess I'll hit some pawn shops?
 
Or subscribe to AK and post a wanted - broken tt in Bartertown.

supports this great site, and I GUARANTEE you'll get flooded with good offers, perhaps free.
 
I've read through many hundreds of posts on all sorts of threads, and my approach comes down to this: I want the easiest way — cheap, fast and reasonably effective. I use glass cleaner and one of those felt brushes for cleaning dust on records. I use the water filter on the kitchen tap to flush and kleenex to gently mop up. I used to use a gutted, very cheap TT to spin the records while cleaning, but it tossed out when we did a move a while back. I sort of regret it now.

If this does not do the best job, I just don't worry about it. Most of the time there is an improvement on noisy records. If I am going to slave and obsess over something, I'd rather it be with solder, a hot iron and a schematic that is driving my crazy to understand.

In a humid climate (such as during our Japanese summers), a lot of the crud on records comes from mould/mold — or so I've read. If this is true, you need something that kills fungus dead in it's tracks. Wash-up detergent (Dawn etc) won't do it.
 
This is what I followed and it has worked superb!
http://youtu.be/mNLGo5K5m_M
I got an old BPC turntable and gutted it with the exception of the motor and platen. I put a reversing switch on it and that it what I use to clean mine. It has a 12VDC motor on it and I am using an isolated power supply so I minimized the risk of any electrical "cooties" biting me.
I modified a crevice tool with a 1/16" wide slot and covered it with some spare automobile window "fuzzies" I had laying around.

Works fine for me.

Bud
 
I tried the glue on record process with horrendous results!

I watched a video on YouTube. Followed the instructions. Let it dry for the specified amount of time. All the glue stuck to the record and did *not* peel off as demonstrated in the video :tears: Fortunately I only paid 50 cents for the album at a flea market. I only wanted to clean it up as much as possible to make it listenable. It was in pretty rough shape to begin with, and now it's in worse than rough shape. :tears:
 
DaVinci said:
I watched a video on YouTube. Followed the instructions. Let it dry for the specified amount of time. All the glue stuck to the record and did *not* peel off as demonstrated in the video :tears: Fortunately I only paid 50 cents for the album at a flea market. I only wanted to clean it up as much as possible to make it listenable. It was in pretty rough shape to begin with, and now it's in worse than rough shape. :tears:
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Hello,

What type of glue did you use?? Pics?

If you used titebond II, then something is amiss. I've had trouble getting the glue to START peeling, but usually a fingernail or even a thin guitar pic works great to get under it, then it peels right off.

I think we need more info.
 
I used Lepages Pro Carpenters Glue. I either used the wrong glue or watched the wrong video. :) Yeah - hard to believe that there is actually 'some' misinformation out there on the Internet [sarcasm] :) I'm just going to write off the album and I think I would be better off using the 3 to 1 solution (distilled water to I.P. alcohol) and a vacuum. Some say that you'll never get everything out of the grooves unless you do the 'vacuum' thing. I wonder if I could get the glue off now (months later now) if I used a hair dryer to heat it up and tried to peel it off all over again. Just a thought.
 
goodwill-record-cleaning.jpg
 
DaVinci said:
I used Lepages Pro Carpenters Glue. I either used the wrong glue or watched the wrong video. :) Yeah - hard to believe that there is actually 'some' misinformation out there on the Internet [sarcasm] :) I'm just going to write off the album and I think I would be better off using the 3 to 1 solution (distilled water to I.P. alcohol) and a vacuum. Some say that you'll never get everything out of the grooves unless you do the 'vacuum' thing. I wonder if I could get the glue off now (months later now) if I used a hair dryer to heat it up and tried to peel it off all over again. Just a thought.
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Never heard of it.

I'd try to soak it in water, perhaps the water can get between the vinyl and the glue.

Looks like you simply used the wrong thing. Sorry, man. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, tho.
This method is sometimes the only thing that'll cut it, in my experience. Saved countless "unsaveable" and "unplayable" but undamaged records for me.
 
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