As we have are vinyl record cleaners,
what is the best way to clean the album covers that we purchase from charity shops etc.
What method do you use.
Heat gun or lighter fuel (naphtha) for price labels. If one isn’t getting the result switch to the other. Naptha will also get names in pen off laminated sleeves, though the indent obviously remains.
Artist’s putty eraser: can be useful on matt white sleeves with dark ring-wear. Go easy, and again don’t expect too much. If you go in too hard it will make the area shiny and look obviously cleaned. It can remove pencil writing etc too, which is surprisingly common on classical vinyl. It obviously won’t remove all trace as the indent remains, but it can make it better.
I’ve had surprisingly good luck with Servisol Foam Cleanser, which is no longer made, but this
Ambersil is the same stuff. Just a little with a clean duster. You learn what it works on and what it can realistically clean. Don’t expect too much from it, but it is a useful tool. I happily use it on grubby laminated sleeves and have had good results elsewhere.
I’ve never tried this myself as I feel it veers too close to grade-tampering, but I’ve heard of people T-Cutting thick laminated sleeves to bring back a high shine and newer look.
The thing I’d be very, very careful about is doing anything that could be viewed as grade-tampering. There is a firm line in the sand somewhere here. My own view is price stickers, names, and obvious dirt should be removed if possible, but there should be no attempts to conceal or mislead. The classics here are guillotining a mm off the sleeve opening to remove wear, touching up matt black sleeves with a marker etc. All blindingly obvious to any dealer or serious collector and result in a non-gradable sleeve (the only legitimate grade would ‘tampered’). To my mind cleaning as I’ve described above doesn’t fit in this category, but I can see some argument that it should. My logic is you are only removing things that were added to the sleeve after the fact (stickers, writing, dirt etc). There is no alteration or modification here, only gentle cleaning.
The only other thing I’ll do is to reglue UK style sleeves that have come unstuck, e.g. Decca etc with inner flips that frequently come unstuck. A little Uhu type clear glue as they are as good as new. Never attempt to restore a seam-split. Never put any Sellotape or similar anywhere near a record sleeve. Instant and huge down-grading there.