Wet cleaning of records.

[mumbles]

Best method I found for cleaning vinyl records is this. If you are nervous, try a record you are not bothered about first, just as long as it is noisy and/or dirty.

Just flick the record under the cold tap for a second just to get some water on it, most will roll off. Try to keep the label dry, but don't worry if it gets wet. They do not usually come off and dry out okay.

Place the wet record on a piece of newspaper. Squirt some neat washing up liqiud on it. Then, geta fingernail brush and clean the record by following the groove(s) around the disc. Turn the record over and do the same to the other side. Then rinse off under cold tap using your hand if needed. You can brush quite firmly.

Dry off with clean cloth or towel. Give it a couple of minutes then place it on the player. Play the record - use a dustbug if you have one. The first paly may be a little noisy. This should now have cleaned out anything that has softened up and still there. I usally wash mine again but you don't have to.

Clean the stylus. You should now have a close to perfectly clean record, and the difference can be amazing,

Records are a lot tougher than people make out, and the nail brush does not scratch it as you expext. I've not had a label come off and have done every record I have this way, particularly if converting to cd.

[ppppenguin]

Wet cleaning of records is great. I've used a Keith Monks machine in the past. This uses a mixture of alchohol and distilled water and leaves records looking lovely. Detergent and water is fine though I'm a bit wary about the nail brush! A final rinse in distilled water is a good idea if you live in a hard water area.

Playing records while wet can sometimes reduce surface noise though it make a horrible mess around your turntable. I've done it with 78s occasionally though you need to be careful since some 78s had an awful lot of wood filler in the shellac. This will swell when wet.

[Nickthedentist]

Originally Posted by ppppenguin

Wet cleaning of records is great.

I'm glad it works for you, but I've acquired many a second-hand record that sounds b****y awful because the grooves are full of "mud", thanks to the previous owner's attempt at wet cleaning/playing.

The giveaway signs were that the outer edges of the labels were damp-stained and the vinyl itself had a cloudy "bloom" to it, instead of being nice and shiny. But I suppose they may not have done it properly

Nick

[Paul Stenning]

I have used cold water and washing-up liquid to clean records too, only I use a record cleaning pad with carbon-fibre brushes along each side instead of a nail brush. It works very well and removes a lot of crud from the grooves. Normally I wash then remove the excess water with kitchen paper towels and play it through while there is still some moisture in the grooves. It sounds better but the stylus still drags out come crud. On the second playing I record it onto the PC as that's probably as good as it's going to get.

It is important to use COLD water. Even hand-warm water can cause some thinner records to become wrinkled, and the hotter the water the more likely it is to warp the record.

London Sound (mentioned elsewhere in this forum the other day) have a Monks record cleaner that customers can use for £1 per record (or £3 per record if they do it for you), which seems very reasonable.