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What is your record cleaning regimen?

I am just getting into vinyl, and inheriting records, buying some used and most recently a few new. 

I have only a few hundred records so far, but I have invested in cleaning supplies.

Specifically, I have various pre-set solutions (groovewasher, Tergikleen, distilled water, simple green), a goat hair brush, micro fiber cloths, a baby scalp scrubber and a DeGritter machine (extravagant at this stage, but a huge time saver).

Here is my regime at this point. For any new record, whether inherited or bought, used or new, I wipe it with a dry cloth or the goat hair brush to remove any initial dust. Then I cover the label and spray some solution on it and use the baby scrubber to distribute the liquid around to cover the surface. Then I use a padded microfiber to wipe it off. Then I Degrit.

Btw, I tried WD-40 once, which does work to remove crackles, but subsequent cleanings cause those crackles to come right back, which to me indicates that WD-40 is leaving a residue on the record which I suspect is not helpful in the long run.

Likewise, the goat hair brush is so far disappointing as it seems to shed hair on the record which somewhat defeats its purpose.

Interested in other people's processes and I have a question. I have some older records that have persistent crackles. Will cleaning ultimately make those go away or do I just need to get over it?

I have ordered a record label protector that will allow me to wash in the sink with soap and water in the hopes of getting the ultimate clean.

Any thoughts from the analog folks here would be great.

saulh

Showing 1 response by sokogear

sokogear
1,058 posts
 

I buy new records and think it is crazy to clean them fresh from the pressing plant. On the rare occasion when I buy a used one it is either mint or near mint. I swipe twice with the newly updated/upgraded Audioquest brush before playing and since I don't blow (really spit) on my records or touch any other part than the edges or cook food near them, nothing accumulates on the vinyl except dust, which comes right off with the brush. They don't need deep cleaning. I store them perfectly vertically in rice paper sleeves (jackets in polyvinyl) and never leave them sitting out naked.

Also, please don't blow on a stylus. There are lots of brushes and other products out there, and when I clean mine (rarely - maybe once a month), I use the stylus fluid very sparingly.

A dealer I know offered to test the effectiveness of a VPI RCM (I think) that was around $750-$1000 and I took him up on it bringing a few of my oldest 40 year old records that have been played hundreds of times that are clean to me. We played them before and after cleaning on his machine. I didn't notice a difference, nor did he.

If you like buying used records that were not treated carefully, I guess a RCM is worthwhile. If you really want to go crazy, the Audiophile Man takes like an hour to give a record a good cleaning with a Degritter (around $4K). To me, your hobby then becomes cleaning records rather than listening to and enjoying them.

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