2. analog
  3. 1204603602

Record cleaning Q's - brushes and fluid

Hi all. I just picked up a VPI 16.5 here on Agon (thanks Lptube) and I've started cleaning 5 years worth of collected vinyl. Hoping to pick up a couple tips from the community here.

What kind of brushes are you using? I have the nylon bristle brush that came with the vpi and I'm not crazy about it. Doesn't do a great job of spreading the fluid and the handle is a hard chunk of smooth plastic. Difficult to hold and seems like it's dangerous to the lp if dropped, which I have done several times. I also have a mfsl brush, which has a nice microfiber velvet pile. Spreads the fluid really well and the handle is a nice soft rubber too. Problem is the brush is like 2" wide and all that fiber soaks up a lot of (expensive) fluid. Does anyone know of a brush type with the microfiber/velvet pile that's not quite as big? Before I spend a 100 bucks buying different brushes figured I'd look for some advice.

This brings me to the next question - how much fluid do you use? I'm using the audio intelligent 3-step (rinsing with whole foods filtered water though, not the AI stuff). I find it takes a lot more than the 1/10th of an ounce AI recommends to really saturate one side of an LP. Since none of my vinyl has ever been wet or vacuum cleaned, I'm using the enzyme cleaner to soak it for a while in step one. It seems to take as much as 1/3 of an ounce to really get the LP wet and keep it that way for a 10 minute soaking session without "dry spots" opening up. Am I using too much fluid? How wet does one need to get the LP to ensure a really good cleaning?

Thanks for any responses.
Jon.
zargoz

Showing 1 response by zargoz

zargoz OP
16 posts
 
Guys,
Thanks for the responses. I'm going to check out the DD brushes and maybe pick up of the recommended paint pads or lint brushes just to give them a whirl. I'm sure they're just a few $ compared to the specialty record brushes.

Oilmanmojo, will you share your homebrew fluid recipe? I might be interested in trying something like that at some point.

I should clarify, I'm using the whole foods water from the filtration machine recommended by some on this forum, that goes through several filtration steps as well as RO. My rig is not the most hi-res, so for $0.50/gal I think it works for me. Maybe I'll pick up the AI pure water next time I re-order and see if it makes an audible difference.

I also got a nice response from Jim, from Osage Audio, in regards to my original post. He was very helpful and also pointed out that the dry winter weather will speed the evaporation of the cleaning fluid, which I had not though about. I'm going to experiment with shorter, perhaps multiple, steps with the Enzyme cleaner with more scrubbing, vs one long soak, and see how that does for me. I have been getting good results, nice clean records, with AI so far, but I just want to gather all the advice I can.

Steam cleaning sounds intriguing as well, but I don't think I'll dive in to that for a while yet . . . I'll save my really dirty records.
More to discover