After cleaning an application of LAST record preservative might be beneficial. And using STYLAST on your cartridge can increase diamond life and reduce groove wear.
LP Cleaning
While there will probably be a lot of replies to my post my search for answers is quite simple......I have an abundant collection of Lp's. Some I have bought new (from very long ago) and some I have bought used. Most of these LP's are in very good or great condition. I always place the LP's into their sleeves after play and handle them very carefully. In the past, I have only use a brush to clean them before each play.I'm not looking for a magic sound improvement but only to preserve my current collection. None of these LP's (to my knowledge) have ever received a "wet" cleaning treatment. Record cleaning processes and machinery are many...from a few $$ to many $$$$.After reading many recommendations and reviews, many recommend a simple wet cleaning process. There are many of those products available while there are super $$$ systems out there with vacuum technology and the like.
Of the many wet cleaning systems( like SpinClean and others) at a modest price, would a system such as this be beneficial? Also, since I don't know how these various systems work.....Is there danger to damaging the label since some of the rare LP's I own may be sold in the future?Thanks
Of the many wet cleaning systems( like SpinClean and others) at a modest price, would a system such as this be beneficial? Also, since I don't know how these various systems work.....Is there danger to damaging the label since some of the rare LP's I own may be sold in the future?Thanks
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I use this guy and I am very happy with the results. Bonus is the price! https://squeakycleanvinyl.com/products/squeakycleanvinyl-mk-iii |
This guy gives some very practical advice and best practices for using the super affordable Spin Clean that reubent mentioned above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3u4_TO9P0M&list=LLaUBqzs6Damc7FLgB3ar56g&index=8&t=5s |
My suggestion is that you find a service that has various cleaning methods and if you have duplicate copies of the same record that are in generally the same condition and play equally well, let the service clean with a couple different methods and you can evaluate on your system. Of course, each record may have been exposed to different types and degrees of contamination, but if they are records that you have owned since new, and are in generally good condition, that’s one "test." Another might be a few records that have noise or other sonic gremlins that you subject to different cleaning processes-- same caveat, but the results may reveal something about the different processes that you notice on your system. Finally, such services offer a fully monty cleaning, usually combining ultrasonic and more conventional cleaning. Worth trying that as well. You can go as cheap or as crazy as you want. My experience has been that there is as much to method, good practices and rinse step as there is to fancy machines. I like ultrasonic, both for its cleaning effect as well as convenience (in the case of the plop it in and let the machine do all the work), but I don’t find it to be a complete answer if you have older, challenged records bought in the ’used’ market. Some audiophiles have abandoned conventional vacuum cleaning altogether in favor of ultrasonic, and there are now cheaper points of entry, including DIY (which doesn’t require that much skill- mainly adding a rotisserie and building a modestly priced filtration unit. The best results i have had come from combining methods). Thanks for the kind words, @inna-- I would never claim to ’know everything- but have learned a lot just by experimenting, reading, comparing results and discussing with a number of people. Always more to learn. I have concluded: There is no killer app -- you can get great results without spending a ton of money if you observe some best practices; a pure water rinse of some sort helps remove fluid/contaminant residue; no amount of cleaning will help some records. Each LP is sui generis. A lot of improvement can be achieved by dialing your record player in, being scrupulous in keeping the stylus clean, handling of records, minimization of static, resleeving, etc. PS: a bad cleaning is worse than no cleaning at all. |
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