Please, please I deplore bowing , with exception of the cultures of Japan , China & S. Korea. All I wish for is that we be contributors , persons that care about fellow AG'ers. In my opinion, there can be no shame in helping & shairing ideas.Perhaps, that is not the same elesewhere. I try to make the moment count & keep on counting.
I acknowledge I am a audio extreme'ist. Its a fact, I visited Ft. Meyers repeatly just for the chance to sit in Thomas Edison's home & in his chair, in his Lab, to read under his actual 25W tungson lights & listen to his talking machines under the same conditions as He.Believe me, it was worth the effort to be in the shadow of the Great One. Today, I own a 1903 Edision in perfect condition thanks to expert Larry Summers who restored mine. I am comitted analog'er who appreciates digital as well.
"T", keep in mind the world of analog is reading. No bowing allowed. Most respectfully ...
I believe that's what's panning out on this thread are the ebb & flow of ideas to improve the listening experience. Of course , use any water source anyone wants. But as far as this fellow is concerned I see Stltrains point of view . We have no difference other than the water product we use and hold strong views that the water source can affect what can be gleamed from that tiny grove embeded on a LP. Without wishing to offend anyone , our choice of equipment may also play a roll. But, it is un-deny-able that Steam Cleaning creates a vastly superior musical experience in the world of analog.
I do not deny that I am an extreme'ist when the subject of Audio comes up. I design my own listening rooms, redesign air bearing turntables and other designs, I manufacture my own power cords & sometimes interconnects & even tear-down exotic speakers because of my belief I can vastly improve all these products . I even redesign isolation platforms & resonance blocking boxes. My designs are sucessful. Steam Cleaning has my personal marque : I'm gratified that so many others get more joy from their record collections. Pardon my passion. Its what I do ...
Golly, What's happen ?? ... Have we reached a agreement (regardless of our personal views) that one's choice of water is ok ??? Go-Gamma, That's Good ... with me ....
Tiger Water ??? Instead of puffing at the keyboard go to Aquafina web site www.aquafina.com . Read a tad , then go back to fondeling lead-laced power cords & corn-cob pipes. Don't forget taking the screen out of the bathroom false-set & lite up only the pollen brushed from the flowers(smooth'e) while I try to find a 2XX T Shirt to muck up.
Cought, Cought ... Hey ! Where did all this smoke come from ?? I need that Tiger Water ASAP ... Seriously visit Aquafina you might learn somethin' ... Let's all enjoy SILLY on our journey ... Charlie
PS Aquafina is 100x cleaner than EPA regs devoid of chemicals & minerals. Nothin' to muck-up your steamer , your LPS or health.
Ok, Ok I'm done ... Anybody for lunch ? Tabs on me.
You guys are kidding right i mean April fools day was the 1st. I'm getting into my late 50s and can hear the difference that using the best water available for a double rinse of my lps. For now its Near lab grade water its some what expensive but for the time and effort i put into cleaning my vinyl its worth every dime.
Just kidding i now use Tiger water man it sends my vinyl like a 340 yard drive. This is a lie dont use this on your vinyl it may cause your eyes to get blood shot mon.
Tish,tish Tvad ... Smoke ain't my thing. Dgarretson, I'm buying a tye-dyed T shirt tomorrow ... Have a great evening ... Smokey or otherwize ... Charlie
Crem1, Agreed except for your ideas on why the mono Beatles albums are collectible. In '67 all hippie aspirations were for stereo. The mono versions were likely passed over rather than ruined by bong water. Just can't imagine the beard in tie-dye saying "Hey, man, this MONO version of Lucy in the Skies will blow your mind..." What's more, this same fellow would probably have found an imaginative use for the Perfection Steamer quite different from steaming records.
Remember when Dope Smokers were known for eating potato chips & droping Coke(or Cola) all over their LPS in the 1960-70's. Or, did the "Chips & Coke" pass by you & the Bong ?
Perhaps that's one reason (in today's world) a First Edition Mono Beatles(Green Color Lettering $150 mint ++ & up ) or Mono Sgt. Peppers (w/ Gandi on cover $1,000 & up); LPS can be like having gold in the vault, stocks & bonds excluded.
With New LPS starting @ $30 & up , buying a scad of records in hard times is only for the affluent. Keeping that LP clean 'ment many years ago using a silicon dampened cloth. Thirty years later we know better than damn-up our lungs with smoke , or gum-up our LPS with cloths...or do we?
If you feel that purity of water is silly that's your opinion.
The object here is to pass-on/discuss State-Of-The-Art Methods to keep our precious LPS in "Perfect" condition by using SOTA cleaning methods. Its not about spending money , its about using the very best methods.
This thread is about saving LPS , something that many a Doper of the past regrets for more reasons than one.
Michael Fremer is one of a few reviewers who has made a career out of helping fellow analog'ers:I say hats off to him & his advice.
I look at issues like this keeping in mind , that from the perspective of life & death all of this is silly. For the living ... Its what we do when we are making other plans.
You be silly, I be silly ... As for me I'm returning to the sand-box ... I've got several more ideas to play with. Silly to us all ...
I use Perrier, the little bubbles loosen particulate and make it easier for my modified Hoover to remove said particulate from the surface of the record.
Tvad : As you of all readers know , water has been a topic in this thread and others.
Professionals in commerical water products & chemists amoung others have posted support to the view water puriety is important. Tvad, besides the type of hand-held steam cleaner one's choice of water supply is of concern. Michael Fremer has said he installed a OR water machine in his home for record cleaning purposes. Yes, Peak has been an option for years but times change & with the help of fellow steamer/record cleaning expert,Mr.Fremer, I passed his advice along in this thread.
You know what sounds a little silly ? Limiting options. Tvad, all the best.
About the Aquafina water, that IS an advantage--you can drink it! The Pep boys battery water (by Peak) does alarm me a little with its label saying "not for human consumption." It makes you wonder how pure it really is...
Kipdent advised that Walgreens has discontinued the "Living Solution" Steam Cleaner.
At Kip's request, I went to my local Walgreens buying the last one in stock to forward to him. A quick check of the contents revealed a lead-free power chord , all vinyl attachments & No Smelly-Smells. From my perspective, the "Living Solutions" Steamers are an improvement over the "Best Value For The Buck" Perfection Steam Cleaner at the identical retail price. Should you be looking for a superior back-up to whatever steamer you own, or want to start steam cleaning LPS, buy one before they are all sold.
Readers: In a recent article , Michael Fremer , mentioned a water product he believes is suited to clean/rinse LPS.
Mr. Fremer, recommends the use of "Aquafina" , a pure botteled water product created from a seven-step process called "HydRO-7". Aquafina is botteled under authority of PepsiCo, Inc. and can be found in grocery markets in the USA & abroad. The "HydRO-7" process is said to be a state-of-the-art process removeing substances resulting in extremely pure water. For more information on the purification process visit www.aquafina.com
Personally, I'm buying a 6 pack for steam cleaning this week. Now, I can drink it while I steam it...(bad water joke).
By the way, it is through Crem1's tireless efforts to help that a solution (and order number) was found and the Living Solutions steamer can be obtained here in southern California, too. Thank you Crem1!
Kipdent & I have been communicating off the Thread . Together, we may have resolved the lack of a "Living Solution" Steam Cleaners at the Walgreens where he resides. "Walgreens Central" has agreed to ship one to near to his home as a result of Kip's request for item # 516414. Kip will not have to pay S/H & a $10 Rebate is now in effect. Total price about $20 bucks less local tax. Should anyone face the challenge of having a Walgreens nearby but they do not carry the handheld steam cleaner, use the above # to assist the store manager to faciltate your request. That # is apparently not properly indexed by Walgreens for easy ordering. Happy Spring Break.
No Tvad, Just touch it, touch it enought & NOT wash your hands. Since I already wear gloves for safety purposes, its no trouble.
Lead is not a great issue in my house. I have no young childern at home & Cooper Da Kat does not mess with the stereo gear.
Tvad, buy a lead check kit from The Home Depot . That inexpensive tool can really assist in determining where lead can be located within the home. A eye-opener.
If your house is more then 20 years old, chances are that your drinking water is flowing through hundreds of leaded solder fittings on its way to your internal organs. Or, if you live anywhere near a city, the air you breath will expose you to a greater lead risk than the cord of your steamer.
When accessing risk it is important to keep it in perspective.
Readers : "Sans Lead Power Cord" Hello, THAT was what I was pleading about ... As in LEAD. Again, No fuss, just wash up or glove your hand(s)...But respect your family & pets keeping all safe.
Update on the above post. I managed to find the living solutions steam cleaner while on a layover in New York at Walgreens. It wasn't on the website, but the store had at least 10 of them. They were hidden on the bottom shelf in the houseware/appliance aisle.The manager said it is exactly the same as the perfection unit sans the lead power cord. Haven't tried it yet, but I will follow up when I do.
Hi all, I cant find either of these steamers at my local walgreens stores. If anyone finds one, please let me know. Any experience with the mccullugh(sp) or the other handheld steamer that wal mart sells. Thanks
Look in Walgreen's small appliance section. Some seem to stock them, some don't. I recently found (but did not buy) the old Perfection steamer in one WG, so try more than one store.
As an option, consider the Shark from Kmart. I auditioned both the Lifestyles steamer and the Shark. From what I can tell, they both come from the same factory in China. Both perform in a similar fashion. The biggest difference is a sensory one. The Lifestyles steamer comes with black accessories, the Shark with gray. However, the difference goes deeper than the color. When using the Lifestyles steamer with accessories, a strong "burning tire" smell has to be contended with. The Shark's attachments emit no such odor. That, coupled with my perception that the Shark performed marginally better, was enough to convince me to keep the Shark.
There is also the Shark Bottle sprayer, which I tried and returned. It apparently operates similarly to the McCullough steamer in that you must pump water with a trigger (think spray mist bottle) periodically in order to keep the steam flowing. I never really mastered the technique of pumping at the right intervals to keep the steam flowing. I distrusted the pump for longevity reasons as well.
I just finished testing a "SteamFast" steam cleaner from Walmart and am not impressed. It seems to lose pressure within seconds and you have to wait for it to build up again; it often sputters, and on test areas in the kitchen to see if it has any cleaning ability, it fails miserably. So, I'd like to try the Walgreens "Lifestyles" steam cleaner mentioned in this thread, but I cannot find it anywhere! it is not listed on their website, and I've tried three nearby locations and they do not stock such a thing. Can anyone give me a hint on how or where to find one? Thanks--
Sonofjim: I purchased a lead detection kit from The Home Depot to test power chords. The results may not be the same as yours, I now wash my hands after fiddeling with them. You should try the test yourself. Nothing to go crazy about but an eye opener.
FYI: Several years ago, I did a search of the hospitals in my area for # of persons harmed by handheld steam cleaners , there were none. I now use a instant steam unit & not a traditional water boiler, pressure in a non-issue. Cheers
Most steamers have a pressure relief valve in the cap that allows steam to escape at a certain pressure to avoid the tank from exploding. There is a thermostat in these machines that keeps the steam up to, but not over a certain pressure/temperature. I would not take a chance with these relatively inexpensive machines. You could expose yourself to severe burns. Either your thermostat did not shut down the heating element or the relief valve opened prematurely. In either case I would replace the machine, it is not worth the potential risk.
Still not afraid of the lead in the Perfection's power cord. If you hang those little Christmas lights you've got the same thing. Just don't chew on the cord and wash your hands after using(which I would hope anyone would do after handling dirty records anyway). The points almost moot now since the Perfection's discontinued anyhow. More concerning is what happened yesterday after steaming eight LPs. The Perfection steamer was just sitting on the counter and suddenly the seal on the cap seemed to just give way and steam vented all the way to the ceiling. Is this a failure of my unit or was the steamer just relieving excess pressure? This has never happened before and now I'm just wondering if this particular unit is still safe to use.
A tag line on the box claims that the unit only needs tap water. Don't be caught by the biz-men, use anything but tap water. For reasons related to H20, read selected parts of the thread. All the best.
Walgreen's is now selling the "Living Solutions" steam cleaner, model #516414, for $29.98. It looks exactly like the late lamented "Perfection" steamer except that it's green instead of red. There is no lead warning on the box, so it looks like it avoids that hazard. Has anyone tried it yet?
I have been fascinated by the many posts discussing steam cleaning, but I haven't tried it yet. In fact, I've never even cleaned a record! I've used an old Discwasher brush and fluid, but, from what I've been reading, I don't think that really counts. Obviously, I don't own a RCM. I'm trying to figure out which steamer will be best for a rank beginner and building up my nerve to give it a try.
I would much appreciate knowing whether anyone has had any experience with the Living Solutions steamer.
George, I usually use Disc Doctor that I highly respect & several home brews made from internet formula's are also recommended. The secret is steam. A final steam rinse removes all residues just leaving the LP , cleaner than ever before. It is my opinion, based on my personal steaming experience, all record cleaning fluids leave a sonic fingerprint that will eventually be wisked away with steam. Disc Doctor appears to have less of a sonic fingerprint, a tribute to its designer, & therefore is less hassel to steam rinse. George , that's my opinion. Cheers, Charlie
Ho72,You "hit the nail on its head" ... When one includes steaming into the cleaning process lots of options open-up. A fellow streamer has opined on the effectiveness of "Spray & Wash", diluted 4 to 1 or higher that he uses to steam clean. I have not tried that yet but the bottle is in the house.
One concern is the residue issue. Broadly speaking vinyl is vinyl but in LP form all sorts of materials have been mixed to create those black orbs. Some vinyl reviewers have written that chemicals & detergents can leach the vinyl arguebly making the grove brittle. A reviewer, Michael Fremer, shaired several unsoliticed emails in which he was urged to support cleaning vinyl with a solvent that actually had the power to unglue the needle tip.
I am always weary of household cleaners being used to clean LP but I am awaire that some (maybe more) can fit the bill provided one accepts the out come could be negative. Steam Cleaning with brushes a record cleaning fluid is most effective at removing unwanted noise. All the best. Charlie
Glass Plus has been hailed as a good cleaner in some forums. I have used it as a pre-treat (cut with water, 1:1) prior to steaming some particularly cruddy albums. I can't say that the results were superior, but my technique at the time did not involve a brush or a vacuum so I may not have achieved optimum results.
Merlinman, about 30 years ago I purchased used records from two brothers that owned a rather extensive mail-order & brick 'an morter music business. The brothers used windex with lint free paper towels to clean every record they sold. They raved that windex was the ultimate way to clean LPS quick & cheaply. Time has passed & so have they but I still have many records I purchased from them. Last year I steam cleaned a couple, just like a night and day difference. Steam cleaning takes time & effort but has yet to be surpassed with windex & paper towels. All the best. Charlie
I was in a used record store yesterday called "The Jazz Quarter" in San Francisco and the proprietor told me that he used windex to clean his records. Has anybody here tried this? It would be a lot cheaper than various record cleaning products if it worked well. George.
Hi fellow steam cleaners. I bought a perfection steamer last year and have been using it in conjunction with a GEM dandy. I also do a final dry with the vpi machine. That gets any residue left from the rinse cycle and I don't have to wait for records to dry in the dish rack. Here's my process:
Spray cleaner onto record. Rinse in sink with spray attachment. Steam once or twice. Dry on vpi.
Comments? I think this process works best. The final vacuum/dry phase on the vpi gets out the deepest crud which might be left.
I've got it a good read I talked to Jim about his book several months ago. Same here Charlie its flowers in full bloom and pollen deluxe down here is south Louisiana now. Spring is slowly creeping north. Have a good one Mike
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