71Challenger
Super Member
Dent pullers less than $10 for a pair at most hardware stores...
Record Cleaning - Soap and Water - test results
- Thread starter Snade
- Start date
RosserClark
Active Member
I'm going to try the dent pullers, though I've washed many records without getting much water on the label -- what does get on there comes off without a trace...but I like the idea of handles to hold the record with.
Personally, I clean the record with dishwashing soap and a scrap of silk from some worn out long underwear (washed!). Dry with a chamois. Both silk and chamois are used as the last, finest stage in polishing, so I don't think scratching is a problem. In fact, as an experiment, I tried using the chamois to polish a very noisy old used record I got, and it did reduce the noise some. Just rubbed it with the grooves for 10 minutes or so. Mind you this was a very groove-damaged record, and sort of a last gasp attempt at saving it. As I said, it helped, but not enough to keep me from trading it in at the used record store.
Personally, I clean the record with dishwashing soap and a scrap of silk from some worn out long underwear (washed!). Dry with a chamois. Both silk and chamois are used as the last, finest stage in polishing, so I don't think scratching is a problem. In fact, as an experiment, I tried using the chamois to polish a very noisy old used record I got, and it did reduce the noise some. Just rubbed it with the grooves for 10 minutes or so. Mind you this was a very groove-damaged record, and sort of a last gasp attempt at saving it. As I said, it helped, but not enough to keep me from trading it in at the used record store.
Spellbinder
My Spine Is The Bassline
Well, I read this whole thread. Was going to try some of the DIY Groovmaster ideas until I ran across the dent-puller. About an hour and a half ago, I ran to Advance Auto Parts and picked up two 4 1/2" diameter dent-pullers ($12.00 for the pair), hit Walmart for Palmolive pure & clear diashwashing liquid and a the finest paintbrush I could locate (2" ultra fine). Both together were $6.00. Totaled $18.00 plus tax.
Picked a troublesome record. In this case, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band "East West." This record had a horrible lead-in on both sides, half a dozen large pops/clicks per side and background noise resembling the sound of someone constantly crumbling newspaper.
In a small margarine tub, I filled 2/3 warm water and 2 squirts Palmolive Pure & Clear. Mixed with brush until sudsy. Held one dent-puller in center of record directly over label, flipped and held the second in the same spot on the other side. Pulled the lever on one then the other, attached firmly. Ran tap water over each side, dipped brush in mixture and brushed each side with the grooves in a back and forth motion for about 45 seconds per side. Rinsed thoroughly, repeated process. Wipe-dried each side, removed dent-pullers, set in dish-rack to dry about a half hour.
What an amazing, shocking difference. Lead-in on both sides nearly silent. Silence between tracks is just that...silent. No horrible background noise at all. Pops/clicks limited to 1-2 per side and barely audible.
Never mind the Spin Clean. Until I can afford a proper RCM, The $18.00 I spent today is the best investment I've made in a very long time.
Thanks for starting this thread so long ago, Snade!
Picked a troublesome record. In this case, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band "East West." This record had a horrible lead-in on both sides, half a dozen large pops/clicks per side and background noise resembling the sound of someone constantly crumbling newspaper.
In a small margarine tub, I filled 2/3 warm water and 2 squirts Palmolive Pure & Clear. Mixed with brush until sudsy. Held one dent-puller in center of record directly over label, flipped and held the second in the same spot on the other side. Pulled the lever on one then the other, attached firmly. Ran tap water over each side, dipped brush in mixture and brushed each side with the grooves in a back and forth motion for about 45 seconds per side. Rinsed thoroughly, repeated process. Wipe-dried each side, removed dent-pullers, set in dish-rack to dry about a half hour.
What an amazing, shocking difference. Lead-in on both sides nearly silent. Silence between tracks is just that...silent. No horrible background noise at all. Pops/clicks limited to 1-2 per side and barely audible.
Never mind the Spin Clean. Until I can afford a proper RCM, The $18.00 I spent today is the best investment I've made in a very long time.
Thanks for starting this thread so long ago, Snade!
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libertycaps
Analogue "AAA" vinyl.
Great. Now i feel cheated out of $40 bucks not buying dent pullers instead! :tears: :thmbsp:
libertycaps
Analogue "AAA" vinyl.
"Haze in the Deadwax"
That had to be the title of some Euro-trash grindhouse flick back in the 70's, right?!
That had to be the title of some Euro-trash grindhouse flick back in the 70's, right?!
Spellbinder
My Spine Is The Bassline
Using Bondo® Double Handle Locking Suction Cup Dent Puller, 956 myself. 4 LP's so far, no deadwax haze.
Spellbinder
My Spine Is The Bassline
...By the time they go onto the vacuum RCM they will really be clean
Sure, for those who can afford the insane price of a proper RCM. Until then, this is working nicely. Incredibly, actually on the 4 I've done thus far.
BrocLuno
Lunatic Member
Sorry, but in the US, in the discipline of chemistry - water is officially classified as the universal solvent. That means it will eventually dissolve most materials. More than other solvents. It will not dissolve all materials. It is a classification, not a truth.
Nice writeup! :thmbsp: I'm gonna have a go at this method too...got a couple that were still noisy after cleaning with my half-ass method so unless they were really trashed I'm doing something wrong.
Spellbinder
My Spine Is The Bassline
Of course the results will vary to some degree. I sure don't expect every record to be as surprisingly good after cleaning in this manner. The other record that was in as bad a shape as Butterfield was Stevie Wonder "Up-Tight". Though not as dramatic a difference, the results were still quite amazing. Lead ins on both sides nearly silent and the annoying background noise is gone. Just the few minor pops you might expect from old vinyl. And for47 year old vinyl, this sounds damned good!. And after 15 LP's total so far, I can safely say that I am NOT disappointed in any way. I know I really need a proper vacuum cleaner, and I do want one in a bad way. But until finances dictate the purchase of a nearly $600.00 VPI 16.5, the method I've chosen seems to be working quite well so far.Don't want to rain on your parade...but I would be careful about drawing any conclusions based on cleaning one record. There have been many times before that I was convinced that I had found the ultimate method of cleaning vinyl...but with time my original assumptions were proved wrong.
Do you get the same results on ever record? I would not come to any definite conclusions until I cleaned about 50 LPs. I know...it seams like a lot! But this will give your new cleaning technique a chance to prove itself with a variety of vinyl under various conditions.
My own personal results (take it for what it's worth) is that DIY methods do work (w/ varying degrees of success) but not as well as products that were manufactured to clean vinyl records specifically.
Good luck with this method & happy spinning!
specialidiot
Break Glass, Smoke Lucky
Keep your eyes on audiogon, I bought mine there (slightly used) for just a bit over half that. Best money I've spent in audio, and yes this was after several dozen records cleaned using the old brush and groovmaster method.
Spellbinder
My Spine Is The Bassline
Thanks for the tip!
libertycaps
Analogue "AAA" vinyl.
Let's get down to brass tacks. A $600 vacuum cleaner can't remove deep scratches, fix stylus damage or improve inferior quality/recycled vinyl . If you can't vastly improve playback with the dish sink method, you can't vastly improve playback. Please spend more money if you have to.
specialidiot
Break Glass, Smoke Lucky
Of course it can't. I also don't dispute that playback isn't vastly improved (of course depending on how dirty the subject is).
What experience do you have with a VPI 16.5?
Spellbinder
My Spine Is The Bassline
NOTHING can "remove deep scratches or improve inferior quality/recycled vinyl." But...
The guy that runs great little record shop just outside the Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta (Full Moon Records, 1653 NE McLendon Ave) uses a VPI 16.5 to clean each and every record he sells before it hits the racks. I was there a couple weekend back and I asked him how much a difference there is before and after. He played the first track of an old Jeff Beck album he'd gotten or trade. Ran it through the VPI 16.5 and played it again. "Holy Crap" I said. The vinyl was beautiful, almost pristine/new in appearance and the difference in sound was DRASTIC. The music was richer, more full than previously. All background noise seemed to be completely eliminated and nary a pop. Yes, it was my one and only in-person experience with the VPI 16.5. But if this is the norm (or even a "more-often-than-not" scenario), I can't wait until I can afford one.
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libertycaps
Analogue "AAA" vinyl.
Have none. Never will have. I have Portland, Oregon water coming out of my tap. That $600 is money better spent elsewheres imho. Cheers.
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specialidiot
Break Glass, Smoke Lucky
good luck with that then. The $325 I spent, as I said before, was the best $$ I've invested in audio in my entire life. If you choose to stick your head in the sand and ignore the vast experience of others over your own ignorance, so be it.