Are you thinking of filling the sink with water and dunking the records in it? If so, don't. You'll just be transferring schmutz from one record to another. If you must use water, use the best distilled water you can find, spritz it onto the record and let it go down the drain.
Then you can choose whatever sink matches the decor!
More important to upgrade the drying rack from the $0.99 Kmart rack to the $1.29 Target one. But seriously, one with nice spacing and rods that allow you to load records on without scratching on the rack, and let any drips fall through without landing on the adjacent LP. The one I found held about 12 LPs, enough to match my patience when washing by hand with disc doctor brushes/fluid.
Sorry off topic, but if $ ever allows, spring for the VPI 16.5, much easier and more effective, IMHO. Spencer
Go for a spray nozzle. If a spray hose is not an option (I don't have one) then a Water-Pik works quite well (takes longer though).
Being clumsy I place a soft plastic tub in the sink (others use towels), so the sink material is not really an issue. As an ex cook I prefer ceramic sinks for their durability.
A double sink would be super (one side for wash and the other for rinse) and/or a large single "deep" one with a center drain.
I use filtered tap water for everything, but this requires a decent filter. Mine's and inexpensive faucet mount unit (PUR PLUS) which produces cleaner water that the distilled I have purchased locally. The distilled water leaves visible residue when evaporated (the PUR water does not). The yield is approx. 100 gallons per filter and replacements are around $18 (retail), so figure less than 20 cents/gallon.
PUR has/had (not certain if they still sell it) a less expensive filter cartridge not denoted "PLUS" and they are not as good as the PLUS version.
You should also look for a Groovmaster kit (Ebay) which is a device that seals off the LP label (both sides @ once) with rubber "O" rings. This is what I use when I wet clean.
If you are still with me the MOST IMPORTANT step in cleaning an LP is to give it a high preasure rinse with clean water before a brush or cleaning pad ever touches it. Otherwise the brushes/pads can move around hard particles scratching the LP (would never use a cleaning machine without performing this first step).
I've cleaned hundreds of used/new LP's (have thousands to go) and with this first step surface noise is rarely an issue if the LP is in good shape to start with (other than being dirty). I blast/rinse new LP's as they can also contain particles which are harder than the Vinyl.
I have not used one for years, but lab sinks (faucet fixtures) would be nice for this purpose. Seems that they all produced high preasure somehow, even when the line preasure was not so good.
hopefully this is not a stupid question,but i am curious what would happen to the label once it get wet from spraying or dumpping it into the water.thanks
The GroovMaster mentioned by Audiotomb and Dekay protects the label. Everyone posting on this thread probably has one, thanks to a tip from 4yanx many months ago.
Go to Ebay and search for GroovMaster (sic). You can buy direct from the guy for about $40 if you don't want to bother with the auction. It's an indispensible tool.
Has anyone tried running them through a dishwasher machine? Labels might be a problem, but otherwise it might work. Maybe I'll give it a try. I have too many old LPs that I don't play anyway, and no place to store them.
Ttrhp, not a stupid question - the label would be damaged or ruined if not protected. You will notice through a careful reading that most people in this thread are referring to use of a Groovmaster. It is made of two acrylic discs, each with an o-ring around the outer perimeter. The discs are the size of the label area. With one disc on each side of the LP, and held together by a threaded rod running through the rings and the LP spindle hole, and then tightened by use of a knurled, threaded handle, you can seal the label and wet at will, even soak.
I've been using one of these for quite some time and it is nice to see that their use is becoming more widespread because they are really effective. Do a search on E-Bay using "groovmaster" as the keyword. About $30-$35 depending on bid. Worth it twice over, IMHO. BTW, flipping the discs over allows use with 45's.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
