Best way to clean old vinyl records?

[Electronpusher0]

This thread has got me thinking about cleaning my collection. Reading around the subject it seems that a vacuum system is needed to remove the cleaning fluid and gunge.
I am attracted by this:
http://www.teresaudio.com/haven/cleaner/cleaner.html
Simple and effective.

Peter

[Richard_FM]

I remember one of my Dad's friend's had a cleaning kit where a record is put on a spindle & rotated in a tank of cleaning fluid a few times. The fluid could be filtered & reused.

I didn't see it in operation but the box had a good description of how it worked.

Hopefully it was better than the record cleaners Ronco used to sell.

[bluepilot]

I've been using a Knosti for years with success. The proper Knosti fluid puts an anti-static coating on the records. I don't know whether it's a problem but I find that when I play the records there is a fine white dust on them afterwards. Presumably the anti-static coating rubbing off. I don't know whether the powder affects the sound quality. In the meantime I make my own cleaning fluid with isopropanol and wetting agent. The records eventually attract dust again but as I only want to play them once to digitize them that doesn't really matter.

[ajgriff]

Originally Posted by Electronpusher0

This thread has got me thinking about cleaning my collection. Reading around the subject it seems that a vacuum system is needed to remove the cleaning fluid and gunge.
I am attracted by this:
http://www.teresaudio.com/haven/cleaner/cleaner.html
Simple and effective.

Peter

About five years ago I cobbled together a vinyl vacuum cleaning system (see attached photo) based on the article highlighted by Peter. It's used with my household's wet and dry vaccuum cleaner operating in wet mode of course. The turntable is the remains of a scrap Dual deck and the overall cost was next to nothing.

I must have used the device to clean around 200 vinyl LPs and I can only describe the results as outstanding. The machine tackles the most appalling muck with complete impunity. The subject of cleaning fluids is probably beyond the scope of this thread but suffice to say I disagree with the author of the article in his assessment of making up suitable fluid mixtures.

Happy to provide more details regarding the construction of my Heath Robinson machine or even my views on cleaning fluids if anyone's interested.

Alan

[Ted Kendall]

Suction really is the secret of success here, especially with high quality pickups - the research goes back to Percy Wilson in the 1960s.

[AndyWithStuff]

Normally I clean with anti static brush.
In the past i've tried cleaning with "head and Shoulders" sampoo in luke warm water and a fine hair brush. the sampoo contains all the ingredients to clean and surfactant.
On bad condition records I've gone so far as to use PVA glue, spread over the record (not the label) left to dry then peel it off....had good results,improved the playing.
Now I got a ultra sonic bath, made a gizmo with a motor for a spit (slow, low revs.) and meccanno. Clean 8 records at a time on a spindle with half the record submerged in the bath (not the label)...best results.
once clean straight into anti static sleeve liner.

What ever happened to the "Pixall" https://www.amazon.co.uk/MILTY-PIXAL...ges/B003SOULWC ?

[stevehertz]

I did a fair amount of research and I nearly bought one of the budget cleaners but in the end I found a local guy with a Keith Monks machine and paid him to do the lot. The results were nothing less than spectacular. Apparently the BBC use - or did use - Keith Monks machines and you can't say fairer than that. You can find owners prepared to clean records for you on the KM web site.

http://www.keithmonks-rcm.co.uk/

Cleaning centres: https://www.vinyldiscovery.com/united-kingdom

[Ted Kendall]

Originally Posted by merlinmaxwell

What ever happened to the "Pixall" https://www.amazon.co.uk/MILTY-PIXAL...ges/B003SOULWC ?

When it first came out, it worked quite well, but the adhesive would age and leave itself on the disc. Something similar was the yellowI Nagaoka roller, which used a soft and tacky rubber surface, which you could wash when it got dusty. I still have mine and use it from time to time.

The problem with rollers is they involve charge separation, so it is best to have a Zerostat handy to relax the resulting static charge.

[Electronpusher0]

Originally Posted by ajgriff

About five years ago I cobbled together a vinyl vacuum cleaning system (see attached photo) based on the article highlighted by Peter. It's used with my household's wet and dry vaccuum cleaner operating in wet mode of course. The turntable is the remains of a scrap Dual deck and the overall cost was next to nothing.

I must have used the device to clean around 200 vinyl LPs and I can only describe the results as outstanding. The machine tackles the most appalling muck with complete impunity. The subject of cleaning fluids is probably beyond the scope of this thread but suffice to say I disagree with the author of the article in his assessment of making up suitable fluid mixtures.

Happy to provide more details regarding the construction of my Heath Robinson machine or even my views on cleaning fluids if anyone's interested.

Alan

Hi Alan, I would be very interested in details of your machine, and your views on cleaning fluids.
It may be better to start a new thread, of if you prefer I can PM my email address.

Peter

[stevehertz]

To be fair, none of these hand held gadgets and potions are capable of properly cleaning records, especially old ones with years of debris in the grooves. It has to be wet cleaned and vacuumed out with a machine.

[DonaldStott]

Having owned, tried, tested and rejected more than my fair share of methods of cleaning vinyl records over the years including brushes, felt pads, rollers, anti-static guns etc. etc. but have never resorted to using kitchen products like polish or glass cleaner, nor have I ever, ever contemplated using PVA glue !

Several years ago I invested in a Record Cleaning Machine (RCM) which uses proprietary vinyl cleaning fluid with a final rinse with distilled water - at each stage the fluid and water are gently brushed into the grooves and vacuumed off. Once cleaned, each record is placed in a new anti-static sleeve. The results have been outstanding and I've managed to resurrect many a record from my collection, a charity shop or record fair which was initially deemed to be beyond saving! Of course many old records suffer from groove damage due to misaligned cartridges or too heavy tracking - something the best RCMs can never hope to deal with!

I can't help but agree 100% with stevehertz above when he states "To be fair, none of these hand held gadgets and potions are capable of properly cleaning records, especially old ones with years of debris in the grooves. It has to be wet cleaned and vacuumed out with a machine."

Hopefully my Post won't be moved to The Audiophoolery Thread!

[Bruce]

Hi Alan,

As I've a couple of hundred charity shop albums sitting unplayed while I find the energy to attack them, I too would be interested in the details of your "machine" construction and the cleaning fluid you are using. Anything that promises to ease the task of record cleaning even slightly would be welcome.

In the past I've cleaned quite a few records manually, working over the sink with plain water and just a drop or two of fairy liquid in the mix, patting dry and leaving to air dry - and the results have been good. However, as I'm now living in an area with very hard water that leaves a residue on everything it touches I guess its going to be distilled water from now on.

(Perhaps a new thread might be easier than individual replies.)

Bruce

[arjoll]

I have a Spin-Clean. It's great, and made a noticeable difference - but my records weren't absolutely filthy, just stored and unplayed for 15+ years.

https://spinclean.com/

I got it thrown in when I bought my Pro-Ject 1Xpression Carbon, so there must have been a pretty decent margin on either the Spin-Clean or the Pro-Ject

[Craig Sawyers]

Originally Posted by Ted Kendall

When it first came out, it worked quite well, but the adhesive would age and leave itself on the disc.

Indeed. I bought one when they first came out sometime in the early/mid 70s. It only took one ruined record when the adhesive "went off" for it to go in the bin. (The only valid application for sticky rollers is removing lint from a business suit.)

The other one was an antistatic spray (called Permostat) you applied to the record and buffed in. To indicate you had treated a record you applied a little "P" sticker. Used that for a while, but all it did was goo up the stylus. Now I have my aresenal of cleaning machines I've been gradually resurrecting the dozen or so records that had that stuff on them. If the record is in a new sleeve, even if the record has a P on it, I know I've cleaned it.

Craig

[Whaam68]

Thanks for posting the highqual link as somehow my knosti filter holder has gone awol....i Always found found The knosti to work well on my car boot finds....this should get mine back in action...

[ajgriff]

Will write up some notes and take a few more photos detailing the construction of the Heath Robinson vacuum record cleaning machine. Should appear in the forum's Homebrew section during the next few days.

Alan

[Kentode]

The other one was an antistatic spray (called Permostat) you applied to the record and buffed in. To indicate you had treated a record you applied a little "P" sticker. Used that for a while, but all it did was goo up the stylus. Now I have my aresenal of cleaning machines I've been gradually resurrecting the dozen or so records that had that stuff on them. If the record is in a new sleeve, even if the record has a P on it, I know I've cleaned it.

Craig[/QUOTE]

I used Permostat on the Genesis single " l know what I like" when It was originally released and it ruined it! Forty years later l used my Knosti to recover it and now it plays like new.

[Kentode]

Originally Posted by Whaam68

Thanks for posting the highqual link as somehow my knosti filter holder has gone awol....i Always found found The knosti to work well on my car boot finds....this should get mine back in action...

You can use coffee filters sat in a plastic or metal funnel to decant the fluid back in to the bottle.

Hope this helps.

[Heatercathodeshort]

Dilute Fairy Liquid and tepid water. Rinse will distilled water if your critical. Used it for years and no problems. Prefer wet to dry systems, less likelihood of scratching. John.