Deep Cleaning Records With Steam?


It has happened again. Major tweak and record provider has available a steam cleaner made especially for records. Anybody try steam for cleaning lp’s? What were your results? Since a unit can be had for about $20 at Target, 15% of what the tweak provider is charging, is it worth a try?.
tiger

Showing 2 responses by cjfrbw

I think I will hold on to my Perfection as well. I saw an episode of "Monk" last night where Monk was fondling some LP's at his assistant's house. If he started trying to clean them, I am sure he would get off on some kind of delusionary tangent like on this thread, it would be hilarious.
It seems that most record cleaning threads start out practical and then gradually migrate into the obsessive compulsive ether .
I like to keep my record cleaning down to less than two minutes per record, and the steam rinse method seems to be compatible with this goal.
I guess I am on board with this method as well. I picked up a Perfection Steamer from Walgreen's and tried it out. I used to have an ultrasonic until it broke and thought that was fantastic.
I just apply the solvent with a spritzer, wipe it through the grooves with a guaze, and blast it off with the steamer using the conical point, avoiding the label, rinse and dry. The steam cools down pretty fast and doesn't seem to harm the record at all, I even stabilize it with my hand and there is no significant problem with heat to my hand. I have washed several record this way and it seems to be a great method, even with records I previously washed with the ultrasonic, the steam seems to clean better.
I guess this would qualify as using the steam as part of the "rinse" cycle.