2. analog
  3. 146433-2199

Ultrasonic cleaning before and after

I used a track on side B of Helen Humes and the All Stars. (Muse MR5217). My Old Flame. $1.99 record store.

Before cleaning, the vinyl was fairly dirty with some fingerprints and a lot of dust. Vinyl was greyish from dirt.

I cleaned the single record in my China-made US tank and a motor driven rotator for 5 mins. 80/20 distilled water/isopropyl alcohol with a few drops of Triton X100 surfactant.

Before: A fair amount of surface noise with crackling in right channel from fingerprint marks. It sounded pretty decent as the recording is fine.

After SpinClean pre-rinse: Reduction in surface noise but fingerprint scratch was still as pronounced. Recording sounded better with somewhat blacker silences and improved dynamics.

After US and SC rinse: Much quieter. Surface noise practically gone. Fingerprints noise reduced by 70%. However what I was not expecting was much better music. The acoustic bass line appeared literally for the first time. Piano notes came together in a melody where before they seemed random and disjointed. Brass became three dimensional coming forward in the mix. Vocals centered and became more nuanced like she was singing to you with an increase in sibilance where called for.

Summary: I am genuinely surprised by the improvement wrought by the second cleaning. I can’t say for certain if it was due to the US or simply to playing it three times! I cleaned the stylus before each play.
128x128noromance
morningstaraudio's avatar
morningstaraudio
154 posts
 
Slaw,

  I can assure that the record spinner is very well built , it surprised me at just how well it is made,Heavy gauge metal for sure , it is not cheap in any way or form.
scm
295 posts
 
noromance ..... you're  only cleaning for 7 minutes ? 

I use a solution that's pretty close to yours but with the addition of a touch of Spray N Wash in the mix.
I clean 3 Lp`s at a time.  
I set my timer for 30 minutes @ 1 rotation per 10 minutes ...3 complete rotations in all.
I`ll clean as high as 45C 
I then vac with a Record Doctor. 
Everything sounds great to me..just wondering if maybe I`m over doing it a bit !




noromance's avatar
noromance OP
9,404 posts
 
@scm 2 records only allows the action to be more effective. Life’s too short to clean for 30 mins. The pre-wash in the SpinClean helps. I’m happy if I get 80% of your result! That said, I'll give a longer cycle a shot.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,178 posts
 
Slaw, you are absolutely correct. I use a conductive sweep arm that has conductive carbon fiber bristles which is wired to ground. It shorts the record out while it is playing and tracks the record with the tonearm. The record never collects static and never draws dust to itself. 
genesis168's avatar
genesis168
408 posts
 
Been playing around with ultrasonic cleaning for over a year. I have found that all surfactants do contribute to the sound of the LP washed with it. Currently I use a less than 2.5% isopropyl solution in the ultrasonic bath. Spin 3 LPs spaces 1.25” apart at 35 deg C for 15 minutes. No surfactants used. The isopropyl does somewhat lower the surface tension of the water. 

Rinse and vac off with a clearaudio double matrix sonic machine with a minimal isopropyl mixed with distilled water. This So far yields the best results. The alcohol in the final rinse does make a an appreciable benefit.
More to discover