Record Cleaning - Soap and Water - test results

[jleon92f]

I made my own Groovemaster to try out based on this thread. I bought two Bell Outdoor round blank covers, 4" in diameter which came with foam rubber seals; also bought a set of clamping knobs, and drilled a hole in the center of each blank cover.

I then used some Gorilla Glue to glue the "weatherstrip" circles onto the round covers, and let dry for 1.5 hours.

Voila! A DIY Groovemaster!

In the tradition of bestowing German names on clever inventions, like der gabelschwanzteufel for a P-38, or steinschlagschutzhülle for a car-nose bra, I call mine Der Aufkleberschutz ("The Label Protector")


The round blank cover with drilled hole and glued weatherstrip circle.

The clamped record:

Washin' up the record:

I used Dawn, a soft paint brush, and microfiber cloths in exactly the same way as the OP.

Brilliant, I have to make one now! Great Idea! I have been washing mine without the label protector.

Thanks,
John.

 

[southp]

Here are some of the pics I took of the DIY Groovmaster. I still need to clean some of the excess glue off the plastic, but this is a self-explanatory guide. I should also note that I used the plastic outdoor outlet covers (someone else I think used the metal ones).

Grand total was under $10 and about 20 minutes.

 

[justhavingfun]

I have been using Groovmaster label saver for couple of years now with very good result as many of you. The cleaning solution that I use to scrub the records with brush is home made consist with about 60% distilled water, 40% isopropyl alcohol with dash of dish soap detergent in a spraying bottle.

1. rinse with warm tap water to get big gunk out
2. spray with home made solution
3. brush the records well
4. rinse again with tap water
5. spray/rinse with pure distilled water
6. dry them with microfiber cloth

I have tried both commercially available records cleaning solution and home made version. And both solution works well but home made version is lot more cheaper.

 

[beatcomber]

southp - I like your device a lot. Very cool! Does any water seep in onto the record during rinse-off, or is it bone dry underneath?

 

[Bassphil]

Nice work, southp! That's next on my list.

If anyone's looking for a bigger project, I just made my own VPI cleaner. It was pretty easy, and I only have about $110 into it. I haven't wired in the motor yet, and I'm going to make it a little prettier when I have time. For now, though, it works great!

My wife thought I was a bit of a dork, that is, until I cleaned up one of her favorite Chick Corea LPs. Now I'm a stud

-Phil
www.philpalombi.com

 

[beatcomber]

Bassphil - Wow, that's really cool too! I wish I knew how to work with wood.

 

[Stanton681EEES]

Nice work, southp! That's next on my list.

If anyone's looking for a bigger project, I just made my own VPI cleaner. It was pretty easy, and I only have about $110 into it. I haven't wired in the motor yet, and I'm going to make it a little prettier when I have time. For now, though, it works great!

My wife thought I was a bit of a dork, that is, until I cleaned up one of her favorite Chick Corea LPs. Now I'm a stud

-Phil
www.philpalombi.com

Phil please post additional info on what you used to make this and how long it took you do it.
Thanks

 

[southp]

southp - I like your device a lot. Very cool! Does any water seep in onto the record during rinse-off, or is it bone dry underneath?

Bone dry. Keep in mind I'm not taking the records into the bath with me or anything, but I've done that one test one, plus 2 more "good ones" and none of the labels got wet at all.

Also, for anyone worried about those little holes on the grey plastic covers, they are covered by the foam underneath and the glue expands and comes through the holes as it dries essentially waterproofing them.

 

[beatcomber]

Bone dry. Keep in mind I'm not taking the records into the bath with me or anything, but I've done that one test one, plus 2 more "good ones" and none of the labels got wet at all.

Sounds like a real improvement over the one I made. I gotta make one like yours! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Bassphil]

Phil please post additional info on what you used to make this and how long it took you do it.
Thanks

Actually, if I had any decent wood working skills, it would have taken me less time! I'm more of a metal shop guy...

As you can see from the photos, I built it into an existing Ikea cabinet we have. However, the shelf came from a deeper Ikea cabinet we have. Why, you ask? We had a spare pull-out shelf from the deeper cabinet that I cut down (length-wise) to fit in the cabinet that you see in the photos. The bearings fell out of the arm rails when I cut it down, but it still pulls out and supports the weight. That took about 2 hours of trial and error.

Besides that, then it was about an hour of lining up and cutting the holes for the platter and VPI suction cleaning thingy and professionally duct taping the vacuum nozzle to the VPI piece. I would like to wire up the motor (it's an unknown Technics direct drive), but it's not really necessary. I may skip that step

I bought the VPI nozzle new from the web (just noticed that the price went up $5!): $70

http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HW-3015&variation=&aitem=23&mitem=29

Here's the ShopVac I bought from Target: $27

http://www.target.com/Shop-Vac-Hang...752?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k:shop vac&page=1

Finally, I bought the platter and motor/spindle assebly from eBay for about $10 (including shipping).

And that's about it. I gotta tell you, this thing really sucks! No, really- it really sucks great. The record is bone dry after a few revolutions. I have a bunch of record cleaner solution from another hand cleaner I bought, so I scrub the record with a VPI micro-fiber scrubbing brush while it's on the "machine", then suck off all of the juice.

Note: I just found what I think is the same VPI part for a cheaper price- http://www.musicdirect.com/product/82881

-Phil
www.philpalombi.com

 

[Bassphil]

About cleaning solutions, if the goal is to lift dirt out of the grooves, why not use hydrogen peroxide?

I was also wondering if store bought LP cleaning solutions work better than the home remedies. I'm assuming that the only reason to make your own is to save money.

I ask because I originally bought this thing, which came with a giant bottle of solution:

http://vintagedist.com/recordcleaners.html

Incidentally, that washer does work great. I couldn't believe all the dirt that was in the water after cleaning 5 records with it. Anyway, I'm wondering if I should give away the solution with that cleaner when I list it on eBay, or if it's better than making my own solution.

-Phil
www.philpalombi.com

 

[beatcomber]

I went to three hardware stores, including Home Depot, and could not find clamping knobs. Which section of the store should I look in?

 

[southp]

I went to three hardware stores, including Home Depot, and could not find clamping knobs. Which section of the store should I look in?

I got mine at a Home Depot. They were in the nails/screws section in one of those turnstile/compartment racks. Then you have to find the screws to fit separately.

 

[HypnoToad]

I tried Snades method with the Dawn, alcohol, paint brush, distilled water and microfiber towels.

It works great, I don't have a label saver but try and not get the labels wet.

I leave them for a few hours in a dish rack to dry properly.

As I buy them I will wash them this way and I think they only need this now and again if you keep them in their covers.

 

[TerryS]

I got mine at a Home Depot. They were in the nails/screws section in one of those turnstile/compartment racks. Then you have to find the screws to fit separately.

I searched Home Depot for an hour. Even broke down and asked someone for help. No luck. I finally just went the the kitchen cabinet knobs selection and selected a couple of pretty large drawer pull knobs. I cut the head off one of the included screws and glued it into one of the knobs (Loctite). Works great.

Terry

 

[beatcomber]

I got mine at a Home Depot. They were in the nails/screws section in one of those turnstile/compartment racks. Then you have to find the screws to fit separately.

Thanks, I'll take another look there!

 

[Dave C]

I found my records play quieter by cleaning them in both directions with my hand held discwasher. Washing in only the direction of rotation seems to jam dust into tight spots in the grooves. The reverse rotation seems to remove that and the record is much quieter.

 

[beatcomber]

I'm a believer!

I devised a label saver contraption like southp's (couldn't find the screw clamps in Home Depot, but found a similar handle in the gardening section, at the lawnmower replacement parts area).

I selected a handful of LPs that are appear to be in mint condition but have annoying ticks and pops. After screwing the label saver onto the LP, I took a nylon paintbrush, wetted it with warm tap water, and squirted a liberal amount of Dawn on it and lathered the brush with my fingers.

I gave each side a number of brushings, and followed Dave C's suggestion to brush in both directions. After brushing one side, I flipped the record over and did the other side, then I went back and did both sides again. Very thorough, like.

Next, I gave the record a good blast of lukewarm tap water, rotating the disc under the faucet, and angling the disc so that the water would run off into the sink. I then gave the record a wiping with a microfiber towel and set it to dry on a '60s-ish table-top wire record rack.

The final step was to place the dry LP on a microfiber cloth and spray some of my DIY cleaner (25% isopropyl, 75% distilled water, Dawn) on the disc and wipe with a felt-covered-sponge record wipe (purchased from Bags Unlimited). This last step was intended to clean up any possible dried soap residue.

I listened to two of my newly cleaned LPs last night, and was VERY pleased with the results. The annoying ticks and pops were almost entirely GONE!

Yea!!

 

[Snade]

I updated some of the photos in the first post of this thread based on reader feedback.

Updates include:

- better photo of cleaning record with soapy brush, brushing back and forth in direction of the grooves.

- photo of using a dish rack to air dry the records.

I have now cleaned about 100 records with this method with excellent results.

Cheers, Snade

 

[southp]

I've been busy soaping and rinsing through the holidays with my home-made groovemaster. In one day I did about 15 records that were in dyer need of a wash. The most impressive was a 2nd hand Dylan - Blood on the Tracks which had always been very pop-py but I could never see any visible flaws. After a good soap-wash it was as quiet as could be, which is essential on acoustic albums!

My only failure was a Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison which was just too ragged to be saved. Underneath the grime I was left with too many light scratches for my liking. But at the very least I was able to come to this conclusion after the cleaning.