Record-playing Rituals?

David: Recordings should be cleaned before playback. For years I used all the standard stuff;carbon brushes,wet cleanings,vacuum machines,etc. with mixed degrees of sucess.I experimented with most cleaning tweeks in print but none of them resulted in emotional nirvana. Of course that led to a sucession of changes:TTs,wires,pickups-my audio addiction was in fullswing.LPs had become a head problem and no one absolutely no one in print had the answer-at least for me. After the purchase of a Maplenoll air bearing TT in the early 1991, I became interested in air(that is forced air), as well as, inquiry into the nature of contaminates that maybe attracted to Lps. Over a lifetime, I amassed thousands of those black orbs that I now used as "experimental and control groups". My conclusion? Give Steam a try . Yes, you got it right STEAM. For years I have been pre-cleaning LPs with steam. The process is Simple and Safe and Effective. First, clean the record with a Lp cleaner of your choice , lightly scrub and vacuum with a VPI,etc. Next, take a handheld, household-type steamer with distilled H20--devoid of all attachments--build a full head of Clean Steam and let 'er rip gently over the groves followed by a second wet cleaning,scrubbing and vacuuming. Lastly, lightly steam again and vacumm dry.I strongly recommend using Lp cleaning liquids,such as Disc Doctor or Smart, but have found that homebrews can work just as well as the high priced spread. David 'an Thread Weavers ,Beware, do not use any other cleaning unit other than those hand held products easly purchased at BJs,Wal Mart or wherever for they do not create steam so hot as to damage a LP. And NO I can not assure you that every pop an click created at time of manufacture or thru use/abuse will go away. BUT I can say that after removal of all the gunk and molds you can extract more, much more information . The process also removes the "fingerprint" created by the use cleaning liquids. My steaming ideas were initially printed by Art Dudley in "Listner" and later Michael Fremer gave it a favorable recommendation in "Stereophile" - A blurb was also included in the year-end recommendations issue. So give it a try. Charlie

Jhendrixfan : Thank you for your support in the cause of steaming records.

Steaming LPs is one of the most cost effective and repeatable playback improvements available to any Lp'er. Used as a part of of combo with a record cleaning machine the results can be fantastic. There is a "dirty little secret" in the record cleaning industry, namely ALL record cleaning fluids leave a sonic fingerprint, goos an glides even worse. However, since so few have ever listened to a steamed cleaned recording they truly have no idea what they are missing.
My personal choice is the Perfect Hand Steamer available thru Walgreens Web Site for $30 US. Great machine ! As for super pure water , try Peak Battery Water @ Pep Boys $4.Ga.

I feel that Pidepipers suggestion to preclean using warm tapwater in certianly acceptable for dirty, grungy $1 bin stuff , provided that steaming comes into play sometime in the mix.

Remember : Jimi played a right-handed guitar up-sidedown and left-handed. He broke most conventional guitar playing rules ... 30 years since his death his music can be heard almost anywhere a radio signal can be received on this planet. Long live Jimi.

According to my review of record cleaning articles in print and the internet , the dousing of LPs with water has been recommended in one form or another ; as has the use of a cleaning solution(s) , lite scrubbing , a second imersion of the LPs groves ( not label) and then a drying , by air or cloth. This record cleaning method has been practiced by lots of institutions and folks like us.

What I observed was that even the addition of a Record Cleaning Machine (RCM) did not drastically improve the playback experience. Of course, certian fluids and certian RCM's made some difference , but on high resolution systems backround noises persisted. I became so curious that I began to use high-powered magnification to observe the before and after of record cleaning. Frankly, I was amazed to see first-hand the amount of stuff (mold & grime) that resisted all cleaning.I also came of the opinion that no cleaning method did much to remove grunge locked in the deepest portions of the groves.

In the 1990's I stumbled upon hand held steam cleaners that became the rage on late night info-adds in the US.

The steam cleaner's appeal to me was as a potental record cleaning device. I presumed , if it can clean the grime off the family john , auto or grill why not LPs ? So began a decade and 1/2 long experimentation with hand held steamers .

The Steam Advantage is specifically the "blast" of steam from these hand held units aids in dislodging all sorts of alien crap that interfears with the playback of LPs. Presuming the LP is free of manufacturing defects and signs of owner abuse , the finished product will be relatively cleaner , therefore; more of what has been transfered to the LPs groves shall be available to the listener's ear. I recommend that LPs be pre-cleaned with steam , scrubbed on a RCM of choice w/ cleaners of choice , lightly steamed and run on a RCM then dryed. Why the post steaming ? My experience is that ALL cleaning fluids and tap water leave a "sonic fingerprint" . The second steam aids in reducing or eliminating that print, so it is no longer a problem . Using garmet steamers subjects the LP to a "hoter" steam and the possibility of damage. To date, none of my Lps has been the steaming process I use but be forewarned , practice safety and take your chances.

So there you have it . This process is time-consuming but for the bomb of kilo-bucks spent on analog, cheapo steaming can improve playback lots more than Mo' Money.

Audphile : Your welcome.

When one takes the time to master steam cleaning , nothing does more to improve playability. Steam, any record cleaning fluid from home-brew to $$$, combo'ed with a vaccum cleaning machine, makes for a hard to beat combination.