What is your record cleaning regimen?
I am just getting into vinyl, and inheriting records, buying some used and most recently a few new.
I have only a few hundred records so far, but I have invested in cleaning supplies.
Specifically, I have various pre-set solutions (groovewasher, Tergikleen, distilled water, simple green), a goat hair brush, micro fiber cloths, a baby scalp scrubber and a DeGritter machine (extravagant at this stage, but a huge time saver).
Here is my regime at this point. For any new record, whether inherited or bought, used or new, I wipe it with a dry cloth or the goat hair brush to remove any initial dust. Then I cover the label and spray some solution on it and use the baby scrubber to distribute the liquid around to cover the surface. Then I use a padded microfiber to wipe it off. Then I Degrit.
Btw, I tried WD-40 once, which does work to remove crackles, but subsequent cleanings cause those crackles to come right back, which to me indicates that WD-40 is leaving a residue on the record which I suspect is not helpful in the long run.
Likewise, the goat hair brush is so far disappointing as it seems to shed hair on the record which somewhat defeats its purpose.
Interested in other people's processes and I have a question. I have some older records that have persistent crackles. Will cleaning ultimately make those go away or do I just need to get over it?
I have ordered a record label protector that will allow me to wash in the sink with soap and water in the hopes of getting the ultimate clean.
Any thoughts from the analog folks here would be great.
I really agree with your thoughts on the subject. Unfortunately, I have found that while half the new pressings I get are clean and quiet. The other half are not. I am told this is record release compound… I don’t know… I like being lazy. But I have learned over the years that the results are much better when I clean and treat new albums with Last Preservative. The cleaning being at least as important if not more important than the Last Preservative. |
Records are not made or packaged in a clean room environment. I buy mostly older records, sometimes dead inventory, sometimes "used" and of course have bought new records over the years. QC is surprisingly off even for the audiophile stuff. Every record that gets played here gets cleaned unless it comes from someone I know who cleaned it. Cleaning methods vary depending on the degree of apparent contamination (which gets reassessed if it doesn’t play well). I’ve salvaged many records through cleaning and I’m not dumpster diving-- it’s just that some older jazz and rock records weren’t owned by audiophiles. There are accepted good practices and methods. Beyond that, everyone has their preferred approach based on the amount of time, energy and budget they want to devote to this. There is no "one way" that fits everyone’s needs. And of course, if the record has been damaged, cleaning won’t do much to change that. But some records I had written off as irretrievable due to groove chew were simply contaminated, and needed an effective cleaning- which is manual, combined with ultrasonic, pure water rinse step plus point nozzle vacuum. Your sequence of steps, preferred fluids, applicators and machines may be different, but much comes down to method. |
I'm in the camp that has found every record not well cleaned by a previous owner will benefit from a good cleaning. Having evolved from manual processes with dishracks, air-drying etc to VPI to a regimen of US followed by wet vacuum rinses, I've improved audible results with a few missteps along the road. I can't comment on differences between the new crop of high$ machines ,but suspect the Degritter, Kirmuss etc. all perform at a generally high level. The Audiodesk is the best I've personally experienced. Due to budget priorities I've settled on a more modest solution that gives similar results to Loricraft, VPI Typhoon and other >$1K options by investing a bit more "elbow grease". @saulh This thread gives all the gory details and might be informative regarding your routine: From various threads, @pindac really stands out as an expert on record cleaning. Searching his posts might be worthwhile if you really want to dive deep on the topic. Cheers, Spencer
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Yes, thanks to some recommendations in this thread, I did a more thorough approach to cleaning LP’s, and I’m very pleased with the results. Previously, I just did a 3-5 minute U/S clean, and if that didn’t leave the sounding perfect, I relegated the LP to the secondary pile. Since then, I have taken a few of those LP’s, soaked them for about 15-30 minutes in warm (37 degrees C) water, run a little US, and then lightly scrubbed them with LP cleaner and an LP brush, then ran the US for another 5 minutes, and that removed about 90-99% of the crackles. |
