Can I Degauss my vinyl ?

Blue Skies, there has been at least one good, informative thread on this issue. You may be able to find it by doing a search here. The sum and substance of it was that those who degauss mostly think they can hear a difference. Those who use very expensive degaussers are happy. Others who use cheap ones are also happy. There was one post with very good instructions on how to use an inexpensive handheld degausser to good effect. You have to be careful, because those devices can magnetize as well as demagnetize. They only demag when used correctly. At least one of the expensive ones dedicated to LP use is programmed to avoid the undesired result. That's why you pay the big bucks. (Cannot recall the brand name.)

As for me, although I am a determined and aggressive foe of static electricity, I prefer not to enter the weird wild world of "magnetic" LPs.

Elizabeth, Thanks, but I was not asking for instructions. I was merely pointing out to the OP that he or she needs to know how to use an off the shelf degausser, properly. The product I was trying to think of is the Furutech, where it looks like a waffle-maker, and you simply insert the LP, close the jaws around it, and press a button. That device gradually increases and decreases the field intensity so as to mimic the act of moving a handheld degausser to and from the LP surface, for $2,700!!!

I did some internet research. Apparently the electrostatic charge on the surface of an LP can act like an electromagnet with respect to the stationary cartridge, when the LP is in rotation. I guess I can buy that idea. However, if you do a good job with a zerostat to remove charge from the LP surface, then there should be no problem, in theory. So why would one need also to degauss? Still keeping an open mind.

So Joe, do you also use a zerostat prior to playing an LP? Have you compared the beneficial results of the Furutech with vs without first using the zerostat. Then, do it the other way around. Use the zerostat then either do or don't use the Furutech. It would be of interest to learn whether the Furutech is beneficial after using the zerostat.

Rodman, Thanks for the URL. Yet another, totally different, explanation for why one should demagnetize LPs.

Don, I instinctively agree with you. But the fact is that the vinyl either does or does not contain ferrous particles that are or are not magnetizable. These are questions that can be resolved, up or down. I am curious to learn whether there is any merit at all in that claim.

As to the "electromagnetic" property of a rotating LP carrying electrostatic charge, if that does happen it ought to be correctible by any good anti-static method, as you suggest. You don't need a $2700 Furutech if that's the major issue.

Dhl, I think there is unanimity on your major point, if the underlying assumption is valid, but the question is ARE there in fact ferrous materials present in the pot from which LPs are generated? One person on this thread claimed that there are.

As I said, I am and always have been a skeptic when it comes to this issue. But then we have the many who say they do hear a difference before vs after using a degausser. Their collective testimony does not convince me, because of the element of subconscious bias, but it does more or less cause me to try to keep an open mind.