laurenc319 Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Hi, The subject says it all. Help is welcomed . thanks Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 This may not be the answer you are looking for but I use this. http://www.tracertek.com/spin_clean.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Depends on how dirty they are. Mild dish detergent in warm water with a chamois will get most things. Rotate LIGHTLY in the direction of the grooves. Rinse with distilled water. Keep the label dry as possible and dry it first, then dab dry the rest with a dry soft chamois. I'm not kidding...used this with complete success for over 30 years now, though I've obtained and use a machine for light cleaning. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 This will do the trick [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 But seriously I used this setup for a good while and it works well. www.discdoc.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.records Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 If you are limited on funds or just enjoy doing stuff cheap, you can build your own Record Cleaning Machine for about $30 if you have an old turntable. You will also need to get some good brushes (Disc Doctor is very good) and some good cleaning fluids (RRL is excellent stuff that doesn't require rinsing and leaves no residue). RRL = Record Research Labs Here are some basic instructions for building your own RCM. I built one, nothing fancy, but it works great. Just a cheap option. WalMart sells the 1hp Shop Vac for $20 and you can buy a 8"x11" self adhesive felt to line the crevice tool at WM also for .86 which is enough to put new clean pads on 22 times. It will be noisy, but some of the others are too. This link will give you some ideas. I built mine as simple as possible. http://www.audiointelligent.com/aboutrcm.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenc319 Posted March 9, 2006 Author Share Posted March 9, 2006 hi, Thank you for the replies. I'll try some or all of these and see what works for me. A story about cleaning things. My other hobby is astronomy and I have some expensive scopes. The optics get dirty and you have to clean them occasionally without scratching the 2 or 3 micron thick silver coating on the mirror. I tried all the suggested remedies such as 2 or 3 drops of ivory soap in a gallon of distilled water and passing soaked cotton sawb over the mirror from center to outer edge just once and repeating with a clean swab until the whole mirror is cleaned. This takes about 100 to 200 swabs. Well, I figured there must be a better way. So I got a five gallon container put a lot of drops of Ivory soap in it and after blowing off the dust from the mirror I dumped the the solution on the mirror. Gravity drained it and then held the mirror and climbed into a hot shower to rinse it off. Rinsed it again with distilled water and, Presto a prisitne mirror without any scratches. I posted this on an astronomy web site and the only suggestion I got was the next time I should climb into a hot tub with the mirror as it might be more romantic. Well, so much with sharing ideas out of the box with the public. Thank you for your serious suggestions. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Back in the early '70s I cleaned disks with clean horse hair shoe polish dauber type brush and water with a little detergent. The biggest problem was that the paper label would get wet if one was not very careful. I think such brushes can't do any damage. Even the best of styluses put a tremendous amount of pressure on the vinyl. This is because the gram or so of force is concentrated in a very small area. On the other hand, that was the near dark ages of record handling (which is to say they really needed agressive cleaning, at least in the college dorms and radio station. Some of the problems grew out of the culture of buying a record, playing it to death on maybe not so good equipment, loaning it out to a buddy, maybe getting it back, etc. And then there was the new release coming out. Nothing was considered a classic. Preservation was not at the forefront. Earlier days (say the 60s) were probably even more henious. Real dark ages. The Garrard record changers invited you to stack five "albums" on the spindle. They'd drop down and play in sequence. Then flip over the stack and do it again. This was high technology and part of the consumer culture of the times. (There must have been persnicity (sp) audiophiles, but most college kids were not like that.) Therefore they didn't get very good treatment. At the end of the night the last thing you were inclined to do is find the paper inner sleeve and put them away. Of course this has changed. Vinyl is considered a treasured source and don't accumulate the grunge and scratches because of very careful treatment. Maybe it is like 1957 Chevies. Back then they got kicked around because . . . the better '58 model was coming out. Now they are babied. Smile. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 I echo the spin clean with micro fiber towels. It works well, is inexpensive to buy and easy to use. Good idea with the telescope optics. Primary surface mirrors are indeed a pain to clean. I think the most important part of cleaning them is to get them wet so the dirt floats off the surface. If you can get some pressure without touching the surface, it will get clean, re your "dump the mixture on" or with the shower spray. You just have to watch out for water spots though [] I take great pains when I clean my camera optics, I cringe when I see someone wipe the front of their camera with a "T" shirt UGH!!!![:'(] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.