Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records

The Tiger Cloth is working well at wiping off dust particles on previously cleaned records. Thanks Neil.

The UV flashlight, the TFE rod and the Tiger Cloth all finally assembled late yesterday.  I charged the battery overnight and this morning went to work.  Three brushes first: a Sage, a VPI and a RxCord Doctor all full of little white specs visible only under UV light.  Removal using the TFE rod was fairly easy as was clean up as I went along using the Tiger Rag.  Next and the bigger surprise were my two turntables.  My VPI HW40, with mostly smooth surfaces and few nooks and crannies was relatively clean with only a scant few little white particles here and there when examined under the UV light.  My Technics SL1200GAE, however, with many irregular surfaces, crevices and so forth lighted up like a Christmas tree.  I spent a lot of time and it is still not perfect.  So I have learned a very important lesson.  Getting a record clean is not the end of the battle.  I have no idea how many clean records I promptly recontaminated by putting them on a contaminated turntable.  Sheesh.  Thank you again for your continued insight.

@slaw 

@billstevenson, 

Do not drive yourself crazy with trying to remove all particles that UV can detect.  It's inherent to the environment but keeping it under 'reasonable' control benefits keeping the record clean - it's all about maintenance of cleanliness.  FYI, I use a fingerprint brush to dust the table - Amazon.com : fingerprint brush.  They last about 6-months before they get too dirty for further use.  I do not use it on the record; the fiberglass bristles are too fragile for that kind of dusting.  

Take care,

Neil

I've been using one of those old fashioned shaving cream brushes to clean my table platters for years.