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To clean or not to clean?

I bought a VPI record cleaner but I have yet to use it or even take it out of the box. Many of my records are new or used mint and don’t seem to need cleaning. The ones that do are all old recordings and I am not inspired to break out the VPI. I am new to vinyl but have many, many inherited only records. I think many may be enjoyable and, maybe, good recordings. Just listening for a few weeks now, I am starting to run out of clean records. Have ordered quite a few new records (180 gram and Japanese) but should really start checking out all my “dad’s records”!
mglik
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
If you think your records look clean, try looking at them with a LED headlamp. You might want to be sitting down.
big_greg
6,565 posts
 
Take it out of the box and use it.  I've been surprised on more than one occasion when I thought I was playing a record that was already clean and it didn't sound right until I gave it a spin on the VPI.  It's not a bad idea to clean all records, including brand new ones.  It's surprising how much dust and crud can be on a brand new record.  Seems to help with humidity/static issues also.
ilikemiles's avatar
ilikemiles
47 posts
 
When I started buying used records, I thought all the pops and clicks were just scratches. Then I got a VPI cleaning machine. Turns out, about 90% of that noise is JUST DIRT. If you are careful not to buy badly scratched old records, you can buy all kind of stuff with dirt, fingerprints, mold, etc and the VPI makes them sound great by cleaning all of that stuff out of the grooves. I started cleaning all of my own old records, purchased new in the 70s and 80s and which I kept in very good condition, and they sounded better too — clearer detail, more depth, better separation of instruments. As for new records, they have mold release compound on them which acts like a dust magnet. Clean them once, and they won’t get as dirty as fast.
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