cleaning gritty surface noise on LPs


Back in the '70s I used a Disc Preener to clean my records.  At times I, or perhaps a roommate, might have gotten the Disc Preener too moist, and the result has been a low-level, gritty surface noise on some of those old records that are otherwise in good shape.

I've tried cleaning them with various record cleaning solutions (mostly alcohol-based) with my Nitty Gritty RCM, and nothing has lessened this particular noise, even though they have worked fine with other LPs.

Has anyone encountered this problem and solved it?

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Showing 2 responses by lewm

Could that “something” that happened to make LPs noisy have anything to do with using one or more of those LAST products? Perhaps a very long term effect manifested after a few decades? I don’t have an opinion; just wondering out loud.

Ethanol and isopropanol (one or the other, ethanol preferred) are beneficial additives to an LP cleaning solution along with a nonionic detergent. If you’re using pure water alone, your solution cannot dissolve oils or lift and solubilize dirt deeply in grooves. This has been discussed here ad nauseam.