What is the best way to clean LPs?

[ASNL77]

As mentioned recently, I have just received my Rega P3 but the world of vinyls is completely new to me. I have already acquired two Mosaic sets (McLean and Blakey! ). The question is: How do you clean your records? Any tips? Thanks

Edited November 23, 2005 by ASNL77

[doubleM]

I think that there was a thread about this a while ago, which was informative. It discussed things like: 1. The Discwasher system. Cheap, not too effective IMHO. 2. Using your own solution and a soft rag 3. Washing them in the sink w/ a mild dish soap and letting them dry (vertically) in the dish drier; not wetting the label, of course. 4. Buying a machine. I use #1, but want to jump to #4 when I get some more $.

[brownie]

Yves, if you're getting new vinyl there is no need to clean them. Just handle them properly and they will last a lifetime. I have not cleaned most of the vinyls I have had for years and most still appear brandnew.

Before spinning them, I just use an antistatic Statibrush Gold Label (Made in France, mais oui!!) to make sure there is no dust on the surface. Has worked fine for me for years.

Not certain however those Statibrush are still being sold but I am pretty sure similar models are still available.

The Discwasher (and similar systems) are needed only for badly handled vinyls!

[porcy62]

I use point 2 and 3 together, first I use 'The Miracle Disk Doctor' washing solution, with its brushes, then rinse with tap water and wash again with mild dish soap. Never tried a washing machine, but I'll get it as soon I will have a bigger house.

The Miracle Disk Doctor are good products IMHO http://discdoc.com/

Type 'cleaning' in the forum's search (vinyl forum)

Edited November 23, 2005 by porcy62

[Alexander]

I have some LPs that could probably do with some cleaning (purchased used, in decent condition, but definitely dirty), but I haven't gotten around to washing them yet. When I worked in the music library at BU, we used some sort of store-bought cleaning solution (don't know what kind, but it came in a red bottle) and these cool brushes that you would hold over the LP while it turned on the turntable. It seemed to work well. I keep my platters dust-free using a swiffer cloth. It's very soft and picks up dust like a magnet...

[sidewinder]

In the past I always cleaned with a fibre brush plus record cleaning cloths. I swear by the VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine with Record Research Lab vinyl wash these days though. Incredible improvements in sound quality can be achieved, particularly with those old Blue Notes, Contemporaries, Prestiges etc.

[couw]

I do them with my wife's cotton pads soaked in soapy dishwasher water, rub with the grooves. Then repeat with clean water, rinse, and dry with a soft, often washed cloth.

[ASNL77]

Thanks for the answers. I wish there was a 'LPs for dummies' book!

[rostasi]

Before I met my wife,

I used to take LPs

into the shower with me.

[Larry Kart]

This is what you want if you've got a lot of LPs:

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/productd...aning%20Machine

I got one about 25 years, at a price less than this but still fairly hefty (maybe $300 or $250), and it's paid for itself many times over, especially if you buy used LPs. The amount of gunk it can remove is amazing, and the difference between a de-gunked used LP and one that hasn't been de-gunked can be day and night. Of course, there are limits to what this or any record-cleaning device can do to a beat-up LP, but if it's basically a matter of dirt and dust, I don't think this baby can be beat. And they're built like a rock (of course, now that I've said this, mine will break). The principle is simple: You place an LP on the turntable, apply an alcohol plus water mixture to the LP with a brush that works this stuff into the grooves as the turntable turns, place the plastic -tube arm (which has a thin groove in it and is covered with a soft cloth) across the diameter of the LP, and turn on both the turntable switch and the vacuum switch. The turntable turns, the plastic tube is sucked down by the vaccum to meet the surface of the LP, and the fluid you've worked into the surface of the LP, plus almost all the gunk that was there, is sucked up through the groove in the plastic tube in about eight seconds, and there you are.

[Jim R]

This is what you want if you've got a lot of LPs:

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/productd...aning%20Machine

I got one about 25 years, at a price less than this but still fairly hefty (maybe $300 or $250), and it's paid for itself many times over, especially if you buy used LPs.

NOW you tell me!

[pasta]

Sand Blaster. On Fully Automatic.

[Chuck Nessa]

Babo.

[spinlps]

In the past I always cleaned with a fibre brush plus record cleaning cloths. I swear by the VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine with Record Research Lab vinyl wash these days though. Incredible improvements in sound quality can be achieved, particularly with those old Blue Notes, Contemporaries, Prestiges etc.

Ditto the VPI & Record Research Lab combo. I'm tempted to try the Disc Doctor brushes as well, although it looks like Music Direct has some "knock offs" available.

Check this out... not for the faint of heart:

http://www.musicangle.com/feat.php?id=54

[DukeCity]

Brasso

[pasta]

My bad. Try gasoline, preferrably 87 octane.

[Alfred]

Yves, if you're getting new vinyl there is no need to clean them. Just handle them properly and they will last a lifetime. I have not cleaned most of the vinyls I have had for years and most still appear brandnew.

Before spinning them, I just use an antistatic Statibrush Gold Label (Made in France, mais oui!!) to make sure there is no dust on the surface. Has worked fine for me for years.

Not certain however those Statibrush are still being sold but I am pretty sure similar models are still available.

The Discwasher (and similar systems) are needed only for badly handled vinyls!

Sorry Brownie, but there is sometimes the need of cleaning brand new LP's as well. Especially Classic Records LP's are sounding better and running quieter after a short washing programme.

[Stefan Wood]

Saliva works great as well!

[P.L.M]

Saliva works great as well!

Depends what you've eaten before.

Edited November 26, 2005 by P.L.M

[sidewinder]

Especially Classic Records LP's are sounding better and running quieter after a short washing programme.

The 60C wash with fabric softener?

[brownie]

Sorry Brownie, but there is sometimes the need of cleaning brand new LP's as well. Especially Classic Records LP's are sounding better and running quieter after a short washing programme.

Sorry Alfred, I don't wash my LPs. I listen to them

You know that French people don't wash, don't you?

Edited November 26, 2005 by brownie

[sidewinder]

You know that French people don't wash, don't you?

I gave Alfred's Theory a try today with the Dizzy Reece 'Star Bright' Classic Records reissue and, you know, I think he's right !

[StormP]

NO! NO! NO!

You guys are all wrong. Here is the answer:

http://www.nittygrittyinc.com/mini-pro.htm

Get the $1000.-- nitty gritty machine, it's well worth the money.

The after you get the record washed, dried and vacuummed you give it a shot from the Zerostat pistol.

This gun, when you pull the trigger releases millions of positive ions, and then when you release the trigger millions of negative ions are released.

I know it works, I use it myself.

Malt Whiskey on ice, two shots with the Zerostat and you just sit back while the Nitty Gritty cleans the LP.

[rostasi]

Damn! For a thousand bucks,

I wanna be personally

wetted, rotated, scrubbed, and vacuumed

on "both sides simultaneously"

(preferably by two young lasses).

[Alfred]

This is an interesting thread. When buying used vinyl you are able to significantly increase sound by washing the LP. Even new vinyl can have residues of production in the groove.

Many organissimo members are making fun of cleaning vinyl. This is fine. Maybe we have more dust in Germany than anywhere else?! Or maybe not everyone here ever compared dusty and cleaned vinyl.