Wait time after record cleaning


Record cleaning has become a staple of every vinyl addicted audiophiles routine.  Most cleaning methods use liquids, whether proprietary, DIY, or just plain water.  These fluids are applied and are either vacuum removed, fan dried, towel dried, or allowed to evaporate.  There is a ton of info regarding the different types of fluids and cleaning routines currently available to review. I cannot find any information on "when the record is optimized for playing" after cleaning.  How long are people waiting after cleaning to actually play the record?  I once read that it takes over 24 hours for all the moisture in the grooves to be completely absent following a wet clean, even if on gross visual inspection the vinyl surface appears totally dry.  As a corollary, I have also read that the record sounds better if the record isn't played for 24 hours after cleaning. Distilled water, surfactant formulations, and water combined with isopropyl alcohol will all evaporate at a different rate. Is there any risk of vinyl damage if a small residuum of fluid remains in the groove when playing commences.  Is there any science behind this, or is everyone just winging it?  I typically sleeve all my freshly cleaned records and wait at least a day to play them, based on my previous reading, but am wondering if this is at all necessary.
orthomead

Showing 2 responses by elliottbnewcombjr

Cleaning one, play it, never worked very well for me,

I have vastly better results by using a kit with a drying rack and cleaning batches of 10 lps while listening to previously cleaned or new LPs.

After vigorous manual scrub, good rinse, thorough dry, they sound awesome, extremely quiet if LP surface is not damaged.

see 11th photo: my manual cleaning setup, in my system photos here

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/9511




sometimes we get some stuff out of the groove, but not all, and then I find the advanced stylus shape digging out very fine dust first play, clean the stylus, never debris again. most of the time, a very quiet and clean play, no residue on the stylus.

I don’t wet before play, I don’t brush before play, I do have a large cloth, like a giant eyeglass cleaner, and I simply manually spin 1 revolution, letting the cloth pick up the surface paper lint from the sleeve, or air-borne dust before play.

snap the cloth clean, play.