Vinyl Cleaning Methods - How do you clean your vinyl?

[wus]

I have kept my LPs pristine for 50 years and just dust then with a carbon fibre brush lightly applied to the rotating record just before playing.

Same here (although for me it's "only" 45 years ).

I remember buying some used LPs back in the 80s of which one was very dusty and sounded miserable. I then washed it in warm water with dishwashing detergent then wiped it dry with I don't remember what. This improved it a lot, but not quite to the level of a new record.

In the meantime I sold a big portion of my records, hardly ever listen to the remaining ones anymore.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I did record cleaning mthod survey on FB.
Posted to the Analog Player Club on 2021/12/22 at 9:45 AM
Survey Results Report, Part 3: Record Cleaning
Thank you very much to those who responded to the survey. We received responses from 26 people, so I would like to share the results. Multiple answers were allowed, so I believe some people may use a combination of methods. It may also be that the respondents are particularly interested in this subject, but more than half of them used a mechanical record cleaner. This shows that everyone is employing various creative methods. Even though records are becoming popular again, the variety of records being reissued cannot match those released in the past, and re-releases of the same records are rare. Considering records as a cultural heritage, the importance of these types of record cleaners is significant. I personally use VPI's HW-16.5 and a tonearm-style cleaner, and by cleaning a record twice, I have managed to eliminate scratch noise completely from some records.

Question 1
I use a fully automatic (ultrasonic cleaning → automatic drying) record cleaner (e.g., KLAUDiO's CLN-LP200). ⇒ 3 respondents

Question 2
I use a cleaner that applies a cleaning solution, manually washes the record, and then vacuums the liquid off (e.g., VPI's HW-16.5). ⇒ 9 respondents

Question 3
I use an ultrasonic cleaner (e.g., CGOLDENWALL's LST-275-1).
For those who answered that they use an ultrasonic cleaner: How do you dry the record after washing? (e.g., wipe with a cloth, natural drying; please provide comments.) ⇒ 2 respondents

• Vacuum with VPI HW16.5, then natural drying

Question 4
I use a tonearm-style cleaner while playing records (e.g., Audio-Technica's AT-6001). ⇒ 1 respondent

Question 5
I manually clean records using a velvet or similar cleaner (e.g., Audio-Technica AT6012a). ⇒ 13 respondents

Question 6
For those who answered they use a velvet or similar cleaner: Do you use a cleaning solution? ⇒ 7 respondents

Question 7
I use a brush-style cleaner (e.g., Mugast's LP Cleaning Brush). ⇒ 7 respondents

Question 8
I use a roller-style cleaner (e.g., Yixintech's Vinyl Record Cleaner). ⇒ 3 respondents

Are there any other tips or methods you've come up with for using record cleaners? (e.g., I always wash the record twice for the initial cleaning; please provide comments.)

• I listen to the records after fully wrapping them in record packs. If noise remains, I repeat the process.
• I wipe by hand several times using water-diluted ethanol with a small amount of neutral detergent and cotton pads. After trying various methods, this worked best for me.
• I wash records with dish detergent, rinse with water, and let them air dry. Each time, I use a Braun anti-static brush to remove dust before playing.
• My main cleaner is a Klaudio, but I also occasionally use a smartphone silicone roller as a secondary tool.
• It's strange that this option wasn't listed, but many people apply various cleaning solutions to the record, spread the liquid across the surface with cotton, and then wipe it off in a circular motion. I believe most people use this method. Those who use machines for cleaning are likely a minority.
• I use a PRO TEC Washing Brush with neutral detergent and water in the sink.
• OYAG is effective at cleaning records thoroughly.
• I use a mixture of distilled water, anhydrous ethanol, and Dr. Well.
• I only use a self-made record pack for cleaning and no other cleaners.
• I wash records with toothpaste and detergent, rinsing them with water.
• I use synthetic chamois for car cleaning as a final wipe after vacuuming.

Your survey and this thread tell us that there are fifty-eleven ways to clean a record. The results are subjective for each person, and most are satisfied with their method.

 

[miguelito]

This is a very interesting and informative interview. In particular, here’s where he mentions ethanol:

Additionally, he makes the point that any good method of record cleaning should include a thorough rinse of all surfactants.

 

[capoalex]

Hello to everybody, as a contribution to this discussion I can add the following:
- most important thing is to take care of vinyl in order to avoid scratches, damages and dust by touching them at the minimum and always putting them into sleeves
- if the dust gets in but it's limited then an anti-static cloth or brush can be used (with care in order to avoid greater problems!)
- if the vinyl is really dirty and noisy then I use an Ultrasound cleaning Machine coming from China, its name is HumminGuru, bought through AMAZON, and it proved to be quite efficient since it cleans the record with US in a water bath (with some drops of a liquid supplied with the equipment), then it does an air drying, all together approx. 10 minutes, and it can be repeated: do not expect miracles anyhow!

 

[Glowie]

After inheriting a lot of "vintage" records (fifties and sixties classical music) with dust all over every groove joining my jazz and pop LP collection, I bought a ultrasonic record cleaning machine. See attached picture. Cleaning fluid is from the same manufacturer (1 bottle~100 LP`s). Not cheap, but efficient!

 

[Glowie]

sorry for the double picture upload! It`s my first post on a website! absolute newbie

 

[Simna]

Okki Nokki

1. Carbon fiber brush
2. Surfactant (Ilfotol) + destilled water
3-4. L'art du Son, Record Cleaning Fluid + destilled water (2 x 4 min)
5. Destilled water

 

[Steve Harris]

Keith Monks Classic Record Cleaning Machine using KM DiscOvery Fluid.

 

[JOSHVITO]

I use a Record Doctor, version 5, I think. I've used a spin clean in the past, but I like to clean all records, even new ones, before I play them. Record Doctor gives me option to wet clean and vac one record. Spin Clean okay, if you have a bunch to do at once. It's also more work, cause of the manual drying.

 

[szanolli]

I wash them with clean cold tap water and dishwasher transparent soap. Rinse and tap dry immediately with a linen cloth and remove any lint left with a velvet cloth. In my experience solvents dry out the PVC and any strong ultrasonic washer also creates new pits everywhere in the surface due to the cavitation that you could hear as more noise. Therefore I went with the simple home solution.
The best is not to get them gritty in the first place. The huge pressure exerted by the diamond needle buries the particles in the groove and there is no cleaning in the world that will extract the implanted dirt.

 

[Gerry Iaria]

Never had a record deck, so can't comment, but didn't realize that there were so many ways to clean vinyls

 

[shawnwes]

I've gone from kitchen sink cleaning with a brush to an Okki Nokki to a 3 lp slot Kirmuss and Clearaudio Dbl Matrix SE vacuum for rinsing & drying. I mix my own ultrasonic cleaning solution and just distilled water for rinse. I can do about 20 lps hr and it does a wonderful job.

 

[SergeAuckland]

Do you do the full Kirmiss routine on every record?


I tried to find one of these but never could. I emailed the company some time ago, but they haven't responded.


What kind of stylus illuminator do you have? That is something I've never tried.

And magic sponge?

My AEG Telefunken and EMT turntables both have a light that illuminates the stylus for cueing. They also show up all the dust. The Magic Sponge is a piece of melamine foam that I dab the stylus down onto two or three times at the end of a listening session. It removes any dust, and keeps the stylus very clean.
S

 

[irvose]

My Audio Desk Systeme does a fantastic on records old and new, plus new inner sleeves post cleaning

 

[PeterP]

I started off with a spin-clean then moved on to a DIY ultrasonic cleaner
and now mostly use an RCM (Squeaky Clean Vinyl RCM from squeakycleanvinyl ) for records that are not very unclean.
Leaving the ultrasonic to do the heavy work of knocking the dirt out of records found at thrift and antique shops.
Records that go through the full cleaning cycle start in the ultrasonic, then get vacuumed by the RCM.

For the spin-clean I used to use their fluid mix.
For both ultrasonic and RCM I use either Tergikleen (tergitol is difficult to find in Canada) or a mix of distilled water, 99.9% Isopropyl alcohol , and ilfotol in proportions as found on the London Jazz Collector wdb site.

 

[CAAudiophile]

Recently I set up my old Technics turntable that's been in storage for years and still works, however I hardly use it since I m more of CD/SACD listener. I have not yet got to the cleaning part of my old Vinals.

 

[DavidPlatt]

I've used a number of methods over the years (well, decades actually). Discwasher, carbon-fiber brush, LAST cleaner/preservative, etc.

For routine playing of already-clean LPs, just a simple carbon-fiber brushing to remove dust is all I do.

For newly-acquired LPs (typically used ones these days) or for albums in my collection that I haven't played for years, I've used a couple of different approaches lately.

Some years ago I became interested in the "BBC record archive" film-cleaning method, popularized by Reg Williamson in Audio Amateur Magazine. it requires making up a solution of distilled water, some alcohol, some glycerine, a surfactant, and some polyvinyl alcohol. The resulting syrupy solution is gently squeegeed onto the record surface, then allowed to dry. The PVA and glycerine form into a flexible film which peels easily off of the record, and which captures and lifts off most of the dust and dirt. The specific quaternary-ammonium surfactant popularized by Williamson is difficult to acquire these days, but I found that using medical-grade benzalkonium chloride works just as well, and has beneficial anti-static properties as well.

(This method is a fancier version of the "Titebond II glue" technique, which I've also used).

Earlier this year I inherited a very nice Quantrex ultrasonic cleaner, large enough for LP cleaning. I bought a "WeWu Rounds" two-LP holder/motor-drive to fit it. I've only cleaned a couple of LPs this way so far, using a simple solution of tap water and a couple of drops of Simple Green, followed by a distilled-water spray rinse and a microfiber-cloth drying. The results were very good indeed - an old and cruddy LP of "Scheherazade" I'd inherited from the same friend's estate cleaned up well enough to sound like-new.

I'm planning to experiment more with the ultrasonic approach, in a couple of ways:

• I want to add some means of controlling the cleaner power level (maybe a variac) and I need to calibrate its cleaning power. I want enough cavitation "oomph" and enough run-time to get the dirt out of the grooves, but not enough to damage the finer parts of the vinyl groove structure.
• I want to try different cleaning solutions... probably switching to distilled or (at least) deionized water, degassing it properly, and trying out a bit of the same benzalkonium chloride I've used before as the surfactant.

 

[Gerry Iaria]

wow, I didn't know that there was so much to do to keep some vinyls clean, I thought you just dust them off and that's it

 

[Sonnie Parker]

wow, I didn't know that there was so much to do to keep some vinyls clean, I thought you just dust them off and that's it

I suspect most folks do just this for new vinyl. However, enthusiasts who are more serious about vinyl will research cleaning methods and follow one of the methods mentioned above.

 

[austinblackboxspace]

I have used the very simple Spin Clean to clean my records for years, and I've always thought it did an adequate job of cleaning them. I never gave it much thought, but I've always had relatively inexpensive turntables and a lot of records that I didn't take care of early on in life (late 70s and the 80s mostly). I dabbled in vinyl back in 2012 but really didn't have the room for it at the time. Recently, we've set up a dedicated vinyl room and getting back into vinyl listening again.

I decided to look into the various cleaning systems. Some of them are rather expensive ultrasonic machines, but for some reason, I just didn't think they were enough. Only the uber-expensive models dry the record, and it's blow drying instead of vacuuming. I'm not sure, but I feel like vacuuming is better. Anyway... I came up with a method that works for me. I use the KirmussAudio KA-RC-1 Ultrasonic machine, but I don't go all out on the repetitive cleaning unless it's a really old record. It just appeared to be set up a little better than the other ultrasonic machines and has more even cavitation. I was also able to scoop up an unused open-box unit at a very nice discount. Then I caught the Record Doctor X on sale and use it to vacuum dry the records. It is still more than I wanted to spend at around $1350-1400, but I do have a little more peace of mind about my records now.

After cleaning, I place them in a MoFi inner sleeve.

How do you clean your records? What is your cleaning method?

we did Discwasher back in the 70s-80s. We have used Nitty Gritty units since the 90s. Cheers.

 

[edloura]

I have used the very simple Spin Clean to clean my records for years, and I've always thought it did an adequate job of cleaning them. I never gave it much thought, but I've always had relatively inexpensive turntables and a lot of records that I didn't take care of early on in life (late 70s and the 80s mostly). I dabbled in vinyl back in 2012 but really didn't have the room for it at the time. Recently, we've set up a dedicated vinyl room and getting back into vinyl listening again.

I decided to look into the various cleaning systems. Some of them are rather expensive ultrasonic machines, but for some reason, I just didn't think they were enough. Only the uber-expensive models dry the record, and it's blow drying instead of vacuuming. I'm not sure, but I feel like vacuuming is better. Anyway... I came up with a method that works for me. I use the KirmussAudio KA-RC-1 Ultrasonic machine, but I don't go all out on the repetitive cleaning unless it's a really old record. It just appeared to be set up a little better than the other ultrasonic machines and has more even cavitation. I was also able to scoop up an unused open-box unit at a very nice discount. Then I caught the Record Doctor X on sale and use it to vacuum dry the records. It is still more than I wanted to spend at around $1350-1400, but I do have a little more peace of mind about my records now.

After cleaning, I place them in a MoFi inner sleeve.

How do you clean your records? What is your cleaning method?

... and good night again, Mr Sonnie Parker.

I use for general cleaning an hand manual machine with antistatic liquid - disco-antistat (a german brand); before an audition I brush with a super EXstatic from Goldring. All, as you see, is old stuff.

 

[3dbinCanada]

I don't know how I missed this thread. I'm still using the original disc washer brush/liquid but I just bought this yesterday from Amazon. It may help me rescue some of those beater albums that I bought at thrift stores.

 

[ChristopherP]

I don't know how I missed this thread. I'm still using the original disc washer brush/liquid but I just bought this yesterday from Amazon. It may help me rescue some of those beater albums that I bought at thrift stores.

View attachment 75884

Excellent start. Now order the additional pack of lint free cloths, or microfiber cloths from the Auto store. Wash in water only, Hang to dry on a wire or line out of wind. Once you have your cloths, as was stated in one of the comments, wash the records, then rinse them. Oh that really means find a similar tank, or rubber maid dish pan w/dowel and rinse it in the cleanest distilled water, before racking to dry. For ease of use I bought a second spin-clean, and then vacuum the washed record with my Nitty Gritty, both sides. Then in a dish rack for at least 3 min. before new sleeve routine as many have described. One Tank to Wash as directed by Spin-Clean, One Tank to Rinse, use same spin method as the wash. Mark both tanks, and brushes, don't mix them. Spares are good. One detail no one mentions: Take an eye dropper and put a squeeze of liquid from the tank onto the roller ends an a bit on the roller itself before you start. It will be much easier to spin the record by hand if the rollers move smoothly. I also use a Rocket blower to blow off the record before washing. Removes debrie, hair etc. The process I describe yields about a dozen records clean and resleeved in about 90min. Time varies, really dirty records immediately go around again. If they are really badly soiled, I take a goat hair brush to them with fluid from the rinse tank, give them a good brush, and then back around again. Hope this helps.

I have always used a Discwasher with distilled water sprayed on the record at playing time, if the carbon brush and zerostat don't do the job. I have very quiet records after this process. If I wasn't retired, automating the process would be very tempting but for me it's cost effective and works well.