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LP Cleaning..the cheapest way, and it works

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paskinn

pfm Member
My friend Joe collects records. Most bought for 10p (I joke not) at junk shops. Played on my expensive deck they usually sound clean and wonderful.I use a Loricraft rcm, he uses his own hand wash method. In general his method seems to work at least as well as my Loricraft. It costs about £1.50 to clean plenty of lps. So you can try it (on old stuff) and judge for yourself.
Buy a bottle of anti-static blind cleaner spray from any supermarket. Get a few 'micro sponges' too. Spray your dirty lp with the anti-static fluid. Clean with the micro-sponge. Rinse the sponge repeatedly under the tap (don't bother with distilled water), wring it out. . Continue until the sponge comes off the lp with no contaminant. Dry using good kitchen towel.
That's it.Do it carefully and the result is very fine.I can find no trace of any residue, using a Koetsu cartridge.
We all know that forums are full of bad advice (!) but you can try this for pennies, and using any old record there is no risk. See what you think. Let us know.Me? I would no longer recommend buying an rcm. But, see what you think.
 
"...That's it.Do it carefully and the result is very fine.I can find no trace of any residue, using a Koetsu cartridge..."

I have seen bad advice on pfm in past with regard to record cleaning; but this one is about the worst. Don't do it!

Anyone with a high resolution system will regret using any fluid that contains tap water.

If you are that concerned about the cost of record cleaning fluid just use purified water- a gallon is usually obtainable from most chemists for a few pounds.
 
eguth said:
"...That's it.Do it carefully and the result is very fine.I can find no trace of any residue, using a Koetsu cartridge..."

I have seen bad advice on pfm in past with regard to record cleaning; but this one is about the worst. Don't do it!

Anyone with a high resolution system will regret using any fluid that contains tap water.

If you are that concerned about the cost of record cleaning fluid just use purified water- a gallon is usually obtainable from most chemists for a few pounds.
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I understand your point..the problem is a simple empirical one, I have heard dozens of records cleaned this way, and they are no noisier than records cleaned with distilled water on an rcm.Maybe it depends on your local water quality. However, if you prefer distilled water, there you go. My suggestion is very basic...try this method for yourself, use old LPs, see what you think. Compared with utter nonsense like smothering LPs with glue, it makes plenty of sense! (Ooops!) Just off to hide in the bunker .
 
the time wasted washing records could have been spent finding more records to buy, or actually listening to one! just brush off the dust with a good brush and play!
 
panda said:
...just brush off the dust with a good brush and play!
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If only it was this simple, I'd give away my VPI-16.5. Why have I been wasting my time with cleaning fluids, scrubbing and the noisy vacuum?

:rolleyes:
 
I love PFM with the man who would be normal and expects others to be his vision of it, the man who hears all sorts that few others ever do and their counter position members.

Can everyone be right? Sometimes

Do not use Tap water - hell on earth vs works fine for me used it for years.

Answer: depending on where you live tap water has different chemical purity. Some places the Calgon sells like hot cakes, Calcium and other minerals abound, others only fools buy it cos of adverts. At the other extreme in Birmingham we have few minerals being sourced from welsh Granite.

Everyone is right but their advice isn't. Know your tap water and recognise just because YOU have a problem does not mean everyone else will have.

Carry on opinionators.
 
If you're lazy like me and just rinse the dishes in cold water after washing and leave them to drain, check a dark coloured plate or cup for residue. With my water in Derbyshire there's lots :(
 
pursued record-cleaning as far as a loricraft, and tried most every kind of fluid / powder (enzymes anyone?) going - I would say it made next to know difference to most of those I've cleaned.

George merrill at the analogue emporium is against vac machines - and certainly I've damaged a few through the velvet pads (had a moth machine too at one point) damaging the 'lands' one way or another (although I appreciate 'pad hygiene' [ahem!] comes with the territory).

have tried his gear - bit heath-robinson, and results no better, tbh.

currently rinse his solution off with filtered tap-water - although no great improvement most of the time - don't think it's doing any harm as such...

best result I got with cleaning a record was a doris day/ andre previn (I jest not) 50's (original) disc.

I repeatedly coated a side with a solution (mainly alchohol I think) and ran an AT-F3 cartridge over it at 45rpm with a heavy VTF - had to do it goodness knows how many times - but it ended up sounding as clean as you like (and had previously sounded as though recorded live in Basrah).

btw - The AT-F3 still sounds absolutely fine - was using it recently in an Empire arm :confused:
 
I hear a train coming round the bend or is it slo mo crash about to happen
Your pal from the prairies Mystic Meg
 
ian r said:
I hear a train coming round the bend or is it slo mo crash about to happen
Your pal from the prairies Mystic Meg
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Why should it crash? Only opinionators who are ego centric ignorami can do that and we dont have any of those IMHO.
 
2 many boxes said:
If you're lazy like me and just rinse the dishes in cold water after washing and leave them to drain, check a dark coloured plate or cup for residue. With my water in Derbyshire there's lots :(
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It's so bad in Sheffield that i have to remove the ceramic valve in our mixer tape every couple of months to separate the blocks and flush the accumulated mineral crap out.
 
sq225917 said:
It's so bad in Sheffield that i have to remove the ceramic valve in our mixer tape every couple of months to separate the blocks and flush the accumulated mineral crap out.
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In Newcastle we couldn't dee the bottom of a shallow bath, luckily as a student drinking the stuff was out of the question.
In Gambia the tap water (if it's running) turns your hair a rusty brown colour, wouldn't clean much with that.
 
Note to self

when in underdeveloped places do not clean vinyl with tap water

don't take records to Gambia either.
 
sq225917 said:
It's so bad in Sheffield that i have to remove the ceramic valve in our mixer tape every couple of months to separate the blocks and flush the accumulated mineral crap out.
Click to expand...

weird. no detectable mineral crap in the water at all in my part of sheffield.
 
2 many boxes said:
If you're lazy like me and just rinse the dishes in cold water after washing and leave them to drain, check a dark coloured plate or cup for residue. With my water in Derbyshire there's lots :(
Click to expand...

What you need mate is a dishwasher ;)

Not recommended for LPs but I bet some have given it a try!
 
dweezil said:
In Newcastle we couldn't dee the bottom of a shallow bath, luckily as a student drinking the stuff was out of the question.
In Gambia the tap water (if it's running) turns your hair a rusty brown colour, wouldn't clean much with that.
Click to expand...

[Flat cap on]
You were lucky! When I worra lad t'watter wa' dark brown, that's when it want t'watter out o't pit that we 'ad ter buy off t' pit owner. When we'd sieved t'coaill aht o't watter so we 'ed summat ter burn ont' stove, we'd brek t'ice off t' lavvy int' gardin afore we could use it.
 
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