Proper way to clean a vinyl disc

[Jules Verne]

Well, i heard a lot of different way to clean a vinyl either with water or alcohol with microfeber cloth and a neutral soap. What do you recomend guys?

 

[loopstick]

Well - it depends on the type of stain.

 

[Mister Pig]

The best way?

Ultrasonic.

The best cost effective way?

Canfab3 vacuum record cleaning machine.

The cheapest way?

Sink and micro fiber towels.

Or

Rover and a bit of left over dinner.
Just don't let him hold the record down with his paw during the cleaning process.

Regards
Mister Pig

 

[2chman]

Canfab3d.com kit with diy Plinth and plumbing. 5.5hp wer vac. Formula:3/4 gal Rodi water,1/4 gal 99.9% isopropal alchol 2 drops Triton x100 surfactant. Works fantastic!

 

[MRL_Audio]

There are as many ways to clean LPs as people here to answer the question. The advice to have the ultrasonic bath at 70c is 20 too high. Never go above 50 here and have never damaged an LP.

 

[Ken Boyd]

Hi Jules, welcome to the forum!

What I normally do is the gentle dishwashing soap-and-water routine, wherein I lay down a clean lint-free cloth or towel on the bathroom counter, make a mixture of warm water with gentle dishwashing soap in a small bowl, then coat the whole side of the record with a gentle stream of coolish water, lay it down on the towel, dip a new (not used for any other reason) gentle sponge into the soap mixture and begin working the soap through the vinyl IN THE DIRECTION OF THE GROOVES, gently applying pressure around and around a few good times. Then I rinse very well and dry the record, ensuring to blot gently if the label got wet (so the ink doesn't run so much) and do the same for the other side...

I put the record on the platter and spin my turntable at 78RPM (max speed), using my velvet record cleaning brush to dry it for a final time, in case water didn't get out of the grooves in the bathroom. This method has gotten my LPs, 12" singles and 45s SPOTLESS in terms of surface cleanliness, and has reduced crackling on bad LPs significantly. I know what it's like to have to clean really caked-on **** -- many of my old 12" singles I DJ'ed with years ago had dog urine on them from accidents my parents' Malteses had when I was storing my records there after a cross-country move...the urine was actually crystalized on the vinyl, and this soap-and-water method got them LIKE NEW.

I would do away with the sponge.

 

[Jules Verne]

Thank you to all of you, for the moment i will clean my disc with soap, water and microfiber. I can not afford a record cleaning machine, for the moment. i'm from Argentina and here is a little too expensive!

 

[onwardjames]

I suggest reading "cleaning vinyl, the AK compendium of fact and fiction".

Or just search around, lots of great advice here.