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White cloudy film on inside groove of an LP

I received two new albums from an Internet music retailer which are from Simply Vinyl. Both of these albums have a whitish clear film on the last track on the second side that reminds me of a coating. In fact, I thought that it was a complementary coating from the record dealer. Unfortunately, the coating has a very crunchy dirty sound when the needle gets to it. It is very frustrating. I talked to the dealer who said that he does not have a clue of what it is. The rest of the record plays and sounds fine. Has anyone else had this experience? The last time that I went to Ambrosia Audio I showed it to the guys there they have never seen this before. I have even tried to clean it with window cleaner. It is just odd that it is on two records on the last track and into the out grooves. Can anyone help?
Dale
mcne
vantageaudio
182 posts
 
Another possibility is that it could be related to the amount of styrene used in the raw material mix? As Mgottlieb mentions this is common on used lp's where there is visible groove wear and the groove starts to turn white. Regards, Richard.
alexc's avatar
alexc
265 posts
 
Try the Disc Doctor fluid. I have used RR fluid, LAST fluid, Nitty Gritty and the standrd VPI, and the Disc Dr. stuff (though a MAJOR, time consuming pain in the butt to use) really works. The secret is wetting and using the "right" solvent. I do like the RR stuf for normal upkeep of reasonably clean LP's, but when the going gets tough the Disc Dr fluid does work. Havent tried VinylZime, but I amn skeptical. Why? Well, enzymes require pretty lomg contact times (several minutes) to really do their stuff, and most commercially available ans safe to use ensymes work best on enzymatic soils like grass stainf, blood, etc. THe haze you describe is best dealt with with a solvent or a good surfactant. If anyone can tell the chemical names of typical mold release agents, I cna posat some potential options....
mcne OP
113 posts
 
Thank you all for the replies to this issue. Mr. Porter, if you are willing to send me a sample of this fluid, I would like to try it first before I try the more radical suggestions.
I am a little concerned that both of these LP's are from Simply Vinyl and have the same issue. I am wondering if any one else is having issue with this particular label in any other ways. I have not bought an LP in 15 years so I am not truly up to speed yet but I am trying. Mr. Porter, I will contact you offline with my email and address. Thank you again. Dale
aitchnu
21 posts
 
I had a similar problem with a Simply Vinyl Steely Dan album. In my case the inner grooves had a light speckled pattern (almost like what one sees with a defective spray paint can--see Mr. Porter's note above). I had purchased the album from Elusive Disc but I didn't discover the problem for a month or so until I took it out to listen. They graciously replaced it without question and they had no idea what it was. I never got as far as trying advanced cleaning methods because it seemed incorrigible and the folks at ED wanted to see it for themselves.
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