Record cleaning truths and myths

[Martin Bush]

Hello all

I now have a nice collection of vintage and brand new records to play on my Bush Rp60 and, as of yesterday, a Knosti cleaner.

I firmy believe that clean records, particularly those found on markets and the like, are crucial to getting a good and reliable sound. So I will be washing many of my discs carefully in the coming weeks.

However I wondered what people thought of the 'Zerostat' - the pistol like anti-static device. Can this possibly work? I read contrasting opinions.

The same goes for anti-static sleeves. Is it possible that they remove it, or simply don't help generate it?

I am keen to look after my discs and get the best from them without getting into snake oil and phoolery territory.

Martin

[Edward Huggins]

It has been provocatively said, that the stylus is the best way to clean a record! I have used a "Zerostat" pistol for years and seems to do the job. Make sure you can hear the element "click" when you use it. Cleaning records = Theraputic. Edward

[Martin Bush]

Thanks Edward.

I have heard that about the stylus and, to me, it doesn't ring true. The stylus is there to play the record and muck will only make noise... I think.

As for the 'click' I read online that the click is the sound of a safety feature which prevents over hard operation damaging whats inside and a proper pull of the trigger should be silent.

I will find out I am sure if/ when I get on.

[bikerhifinut]

Zerostat pistol............ Bought one decades ago and it never sees daylight.

Antistatic sleeves, absolutely yes. Buy a batch from the likes of Diverse Vinyl etc etc, get the ones with a paper outer and plastic inner for ease of use. If the LP hasnt got such a sleeve then swap it for one of those and be kind to your records. You can usually keep the stiff scratchy card inners inside the main sleeve along with your LP in its nice cosy plastic lined inner.
I dont usually bother cleaning records unless they are particularly manky, then I use a "disco-antistat", it's a cheap and cheerful thing but seems to work. I usually only give the record a quick wipe before playing with a Bib Groov Kleen carbonfibre brush and velvet pad cleaner.
I have heard that very good results come from using the posh vacuum cleaning devices. Not cheap though.
A.

[bikerhifinut]

The "stylus as a cleaner" argument goes back a while, and yes Martin, deep seated gunge will make your records noisy, that's the whole point of cleaning badly soiled records, most of the racket that many mistake for scratches and "static" is actually noise from tiny pieces of grit and other muck thats settled in the groove.
What is true, I think, is that a higher quality stylus sits deeper into the groove or somehow can trace the signal better and i have records that play very acceptably with a good stylus, currently a Fritz Gyger S profile on the present cartridge but other line contact type tips work just as well I feel, but the same LP sounds quite noisy played via something like the AT95E that I have as a backup.

[Martin Bush]

A vacuum is some way off and I have lots of records of unknown history ( bought out of boxes from the market) so I am looking forward to using my disco-antistat soon.

I hope that if I get everything as clean as I can then I can look after then properly from then onwards.

If I get a Zerostat' it can't do any harm and can be part of my ritual

[stevehertz]

Having been into hifi for around, well let's just say over forty years, I recently rekindled my interest in my record collection. That was until I began to play a few records and noticed mould growth in the form of small whitish spots and a sound eminating from my speakers that sounded both muffled and very distorted. Me being me, I did a lot of research, read a lot of absolute rubbish (audiophool stuff), read a lot of interesting stuff and began to look at record cleaning devices/systems. I considered the Spin Clean and the Knosti units. From the past I also remembered the Keith Monks machine and I also read up on that, but it's kinda three grands worth of kit! Although I came close to buying a Spin Clean, I eventually contacted an owner of a Keith Monks machine who cleans records for others. I went to his house and we played a few records before and after treatment. The difference was A-mazing. I agreed for him to clean all of my modest 130 album collection. Like I say, that machine quite simply does the job. The BBC own and use them so you can't say more than that in their favour. I'd guess the Spin Clean type machines also do a decent job although the killer thing with the KM machine is that a tiny nozzle actually sucks up all the liquid and accumulated gunk from the grooves.

Prior to me having the records cleaned I took the trouble to look at my stylus under a 40x magnifying glass bought off Ebay for that very purpose. Well, what to the naked eye looked like a clean stylus was actually totally mis-shapen with hard deposits and gunk that I had to clean off 'quite aggressively' using a brush and Audio Technica stylus cleaning solution.

So there's my two penneth. Make sure your stylus is totally devoid of deposits using a high power magnifying glass to check it out - you'll be amazed at what you see!. And secondly use a liquid based cleaning system to flush all foreign matter from the grooves in your records, with a Keith Monks machine being my choice - 'hired' use of course. Keith Monks actually list owners of their machines who will clean records for others. Oh, one more thing, the KM guy re-bagged all of my my records in new paper sleeves with plastic linings. Best of luck!

[RojDW48]

Yes to Steve's comments above. I sweet-talked the Mem Sahib into buying me a Moth record cleaning machine for my 50th birthday. Expensive, yes, (not in the same league as the KM!) but the difference is astonishing. Records transform from noisy to CD-like silence - I use it on every record I buy. For day to day playing I use a Decca record brush - also a very good device. Roger

[Edward Huggins]

WRT my deliberately polemic comment on using the "stylus" as a cleaner.....it goes to say that the stylus must be brushed after each and every playing and at the end of the session again but with isopropyl alcohol. Edward

[kirstyd]

i have been buying and playing records for 50 years or more and i would say forget your fancy gismos i wash mine in warm water with some fairy liquid in it .i use an old fashioned shaving brush it works a treat every time .Most of my old singles have been played to death on lots of different machines over the years including a bush RP50 [identical to the RP60]they are showing very little sign of wear .Records are a lot tougher you think they are

[Edward Huggins]

Yes, and you do have that lovely soft water fresh off the Pennines in Leeds.....Edward
PS Public Health Warning: Don't do this in a hard water area!

[bikerhifinut]

Another good reason perhaps to keep records clean is that the pressures and forces exerted by, and on, a diamond stylus can be astoundingly high. Enough heat can be generated to soften the vinyl temporarily, and also "bake" deposits onto your precious diamond over time. At least this what I have been led to believe.

A.

[bikerhifinut]

Originally Posted by Edward Huggins

WRT my deliberately polemic comment on using the "stylus" as a cleaner.....it goes to say that the stylus must be brushed after each and every playing and at the end of the session again but with isopropyl alcohol. Edward

A Caveat here, if you have a cartridge where the diamond tip is glued to the cantilever rather than pressed in through a little hole in it, you might run the risk of degrading the adhesive and loss of the tip.
Usually an issue with the higher end of the cartridge market I believe.
Ortofon warn against the use of cleaning fluids on stylii, but I have an electronic Ortofon stylus cleaner from the 80's and that came with a bottle of cleaning fluid that didnt arf smell like IPA (not the beer).
I believe the adhesives of choice are epoxy based as a rule rather than the ester type of "superglues".
I concur with the postings about older LPs and things like mould etc clogging grooves. Lets face it if the previous owner had taken his LPs to a party in his younger days it was probably inevitable that some would end up with beer or coffee splashes................ Or maybe it was only me that went to those sorts of gatherings.
I've got a couple of fairly spotty LPs that might be worthy of a deep clean.

A.

[Martin Bush]

Interesting stuff...

I now live down south, so washing records in the tap water will be counter productive I think. But I seem to remember a friend of my dad up in Lancashire washing singles in water and fairy liquid and playing them to get the gunk out - a combination of the techniques detailed above (my RP60 was his actually).

I did also wonder about getting some of the audio technical stylus fluid, but wasn't sure how wise that would be on the style of stylus my player has.

[bikerhifinut]

On your RP60 you wont have any issues i'll bet.
Its on the more fragile cantilevers and styli of the hifi stuff that you have to take a wee bit of extra care over.

A.

[parlourtw73vs]

I wouldn't class it as cleaning a record but I use an old Watts "Dust Bug" every time I play a record. I can't say that of itself it removes any detritus from the grooves but it certainly seems to prevent any more dust or fluff settling on it and the stylus always seems as clean after playing as it did at commencement. I know that you can "hear" the dust bug's brush playing the record before actual playback so I assume this means that the filaments are at least getting some distance into the groove and hopefully releasing some of the lighter dust and grit particles to be swept up by the following plush roller.

[Martin Bush]

Sometimes I swear my RP60 sounds HiFi well, to me some stuff sounds good at least.

I may try some stylus cleaner as I have some nice new pressings of some great albums (£20 purchases rather than 50p stuff) that I'd like to take as much care with as I can.

It can't hurt and will help in my quest to make to get the point of contact between groove and stylus as clean as I can.

Long term I hope to get a more HiFi type deck (project/ regards) so I will reassess then.

I must say at this point that all this talk of cleaning does help me appreciate my music more. I now appreciate my investments more.

[Ted Kendall]

My take:

Use a carbon fibre brush every time you play a record - and don't forget to do the other side even if you don't play it. A Zerostat is useful for relaxing static in the vicinity of the record surface and can make the brush more effective. I generally use a Shure V15V, which has a carbon fibre brush built in. This regime, from new, should keep your disc in good shape. If it gets really mucky, or gets stuff spilled on it, wet cleaning is indicated, BUT:

Don't get vinyl wet unless (a) you are going to play the record wet for ever more or (b) you are going to suck it off with a vacuum machine such as a Moth or a Keith Monks. I have one of the latter and wouldn't be without it. The dimensions of a microgroove are such that surface tension will defeat any other attempt to get all the water out of the groove. Result - you play mud - literally.

Keep your stylus clean - one of those ultrasonic cleaners is a good investment. And, if you can live with the (usually mild) modulation effect, a Dust Bug or equivalent is a useful accessory - there used to be a carbon fibre version, complete with earthing wire.

[parlourtw73vs]

I've actually got two dust bugs. One is the original Watts perspex armed one and the other is a Bib "Groove Clean" which has the finer black filament brush, I doubt that it's carbon fibre. Although the Bib is softer and the resultant sound of it reading the groove is much less I always feel that the ancient Watts model is more effective. It's probably a severe case of Psycho-audiophoolic delusion but then, where would we be without our irrational preferences for one type of audio gizmo over another.

[Martin Bush]

Ted - does n sawever getting the record wet apply if you use a Disco-antistat?

I am now if the opinion that all my dousing of my records in cleaner and wiping with the soft cloth gets them cleaner but potentially smears the rest into the grooves. So a sort of win-lose situation.

However I was hoping that my newly acquired spin- type cleaner would release the dirt into the solution and the discs could get a final rinse in purified water and dry with nothing nasty left behind.

A vacuum cleaner is on my list, but it's currently some way behind a HiFi deck, repairs to my radios and a house... So for now I need a lower cost method