How do you clean your vinyl records

[dirtmudd]

What record cleaners work best ?

[Schu]

my records are already clean...

 

I live in a desert, so static electricity is a huge problem. the only thing I do is directly before playing I wet the LP down with pure distilled water droplets and clean it off with an original "discwasher" record brush... works perfectly every time. No static, no pops, no hissing, no camp fire.

 

if you do end up trying to buy a "discwasher" brush... just make sure it is the original and not a new chinese import. The chinese brush uses an inferior corduroy material... you can tell by the red material under the cords at the seams/corners.

[Schu]

Suppers Ready!

[dirtmudd]

"Old Michael, walked past the pet shop – which was never open – into the park – which was never closed. And in the park was a very smooth, clean green grass. So Michael, took off all his clothes, and began rubbing his flesh into the wet, clean green grass. He accompanies himself with a little tune… It went like this…

Beneath the ground, the dirty brown writhing things, called worms, interpreted the pitter patter from above as rainfall. Rainfall in worm-world means two things: Mating and Bathtime. Both of these experiences were found thoroughly enjoyable to the worm colony… simultaneously. And within seconds, the entire surface of the park was a mass of dirty, brown, soggy, writhing forms. He was still pleased – Old Michael, and he began whistling a tune this time, to accompany himself. It went like this:"

At this point Phil would again play the hi-hat and Peter would whistle a version of the hymn "Jerusalem" (37).

"Jerusalem Boogie to us perhaps, but to the birds it meant THE SUPPER IS READY!"

 

[dirtmudd]

The rca d4 disc washer I hear is not the same as the original . but vintage one's on eBay are to much money..

 

I was thinking about the record doctor . It's about $200.+or-.

Or does anyone have any thought's on something else.

 

[Fido]

I have the record doctor and it transformed my record collection - best analog investment ever

[Audio Flynn]

VPI builds cleaners for the long haul. Mine is ten years old with no issues.

[mr.pee1]

God, I threw my red record brush away last year. I hadn't used it in30 years, and now the turntable is up and running. 

[Marvel]

There's a long thread on here somewhere by dizrotus, detailing a great cleaning/anti static concoction. If you have some LPs with a lot of junk in the grooves, you can use pva glue to extract the crud. It really does work... just ask mallette.

 

Bruce

[jcmusic]

I started with the manual Nitty Gritty a long time ago, about 6-7 months ago I got the KL Audio Ultrasonic Cleaner!!!

[dirtmudd]

Where can we get these record cleaners..

[ChuckAb3]

Take a look at Spin Clean. Should be well under a 100 bucks and does a very nice job.

[Islander]

The Spin-Clean 40th Anniversary retro version is on sale for half price this month:

 

http://www.spincleanrecordwasher.com/

 

Here are the prices of the various versions and packages.  Some come with extra cleaning fluid and pads.

 

http://www.spincleanrecordwasher.com/store#!/Spin-Clean®-Record-Washers/c/3325479/offset=0&sort=normal

 

[onemoretime]

Don't forget about George Merrill's Gem Dandy:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/gem/dandy.html

http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?t=33023&start=15

 

 

[mr.pee1]

Is there any way to make record cleaning solution   

[Travis In Austin]

On 9/5/2016 at 10:30 PM, canyonman said:

I started with the manual Nitty Gritty a long time ago, about 6-7 months ago I got the KL Audio Ultrasonic Cleaner!!!

Everyone I know with personal experience with the Ultrasonic says it is best way to go, BUT, have they come down from that 4K price? 

 

How long is the US process.  Any chemicals or just demonized lab grade water?

 

 

[jcmusic]

14 hours ago, dwilawyer said:

Everyone I know with personal experience with the Ultrasonic says it is best way to go, BUT, have they come down from that 4K price? 

 

How long is the US process.  Any chemicals or just demonized lab grade water?

 

 

They have come down some you can bargain with some sellers for a better price I did. Yes you only use Distilled Water, no chemicals needed!!! I am very happy with mine and the results I get from using it!!!

[JBryan]

A vendor was selling a couple of Audio Desk units he had on display at last year's Capitol Audiofest for $2600 but that was still out of my budget and he was a bit vague on the specifics so I passed. He did mention that the price he quoted was only a few hundred dollars over his cost so I'd imagine you would have some wiggle room to negotiate with a dealer. 

 

Instead, I put together an DIY US set up w/80kHz tank, filter and pump for @$800. The tank is by far the most expensive component but I found a 10 liter tank w/timer and heater on sale through Amazon back in January for @$700. The motor was the most difficult item to find as I was looking for a 1/10rpm unit. I never could find one at a reasonable price so I ended up with a 1/3rpm motor and used gears to reduce the rotation speed - not ideal but it'll work until I get the motor I want. The filter and pump cost @$50 on A'zon and everything else I either picked up at a hobby shop and Home Depot or already had around the house. 

 

The US cleaner works great  - especially on new records but I find it works best in concert with a vacuum RCM. If the record has finger prints, dust and dirt, etc., I clean it with the RCM first using AIVS (Audio Intelligent) enzyme cleaner, followed by AI cleaning fluid (#15 or 'Super' depending on the level of dirt) and rinse with ultra pure water used for surgical irrigation. I then run up to 5 LPs through the US process that takes about 10 minutes and for now, I just put them on a rack to dry. My next project is to build a dryer box that uses an AreoStat ionizing air blower pushing air through a plastic storage tub. I already have the blower, I just need to find some bellows and cut some holes in a plastic tub. The blower cost $20 (used) and I think I can find everything else around the house.

 

Other than the obvious cost savings, I feel that the set up I put together works as well as the Audio Desk and has more potential - I can clean 4 or 5 records at a time, the DIY filtration system works far better so I can reuse the fluid longer and best of all, I can easily modify the set up if and when I come up with better parts, designs or ideas. I'm a bit of a tinkerer but there's almost zero skill involved - just a few 45 degree cuts, some screws and glue. The most difficult aspect is figuring out a design and finding the parts - after that, it just takes a few hours to put everything together. While it isn't very pretty and stills needs refinement, my US cleaner was easy to put together, works well and serves its purpose. Have fun!

[Travis In Austin]

This is where I hear some differences.

 

Some say the US cleans, even the dirtiest of records.  That it has saved records that have been through 2 or 3 VPI or other RCM cyclass.

 

Others say it won't remove oil based stuff, and you need to run through RCM withe your chemicalsite of choice, that US is really more for a deep rinse to remove residual  chemicals, brush fibers aND unseen dust.