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How do you clean your records?

That smells a little Brexity. So I should qualify my thing. Beyond the 50 or so LPs I rescued from the garage after decades of storage that were covered in mold and gunk, 90% of the LPs I buy are secondhand. Most are in decent shape but some have the garage look. Those get the sink treatment. I'm just not spending hundreds on a whizbang record machine for that purpose. And if the soap and agitation is mild, I don't think it's damaging the record. They certainly sound better than if I'd not done it. Maintaining them is the usual brush and static battle.
 
Mike Reed said:
How do you tell which record is which when the label floats off ?:D
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I should've known I'd stepped in something with both feet given some of you guys use blocks to suspend cables worth more than my car. But for christ sakes, people, it gets a 'good' rating from http://vinyljunkies.co/a-simple-guide-to-cleaning-your-records-2/ !

I've never lost a label. I may have caused ink to fade on a couple-few I suppose. Firstly, if you'd read, I do this only with filthy records. Once. And I don't soak the entire surface of the vinyl; I spin the groove portion under the faucet to get dampen it. Then I deposit a few droplets of diluted dish soap on the surface and, depending on how bad the record is, I'll gently rub the record with my fingers or I'll use a folded soaked cloth. Then I let it air dry propped against something before going over it with the record brush. Label is fine, sound is fine. I've never done this twice to the same record -- it's not a maintenance method.
 
Mike Reed said:
How do you tell which record is which when the label floats off ?:D
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OT Alert..

You wouldn't get away with it these days but years ago my uncle used to buy very cheap tinned food from the supermarket. The reason it was cheap is because there were no labels. I seem to recall he ate fairly well but every mealtime was full of jeopardy... Not everyone wants peaches rather than Oxtail soup for lunch :) :)
 
scotty38 said:
You wouldn't get away with it these days but years ago my uncle used to buy very cheap tinned food from the supermarket. The reason it was cheap is because there were no labels. I seem to recall he ate fairly well but every mealtime was full of jeopardy... Not everyone wants peaches rather than Oxtail soup for lunch :) :)
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When I was a kid my father once brought home a box of unlabeled tins. They all had a code stamped on the top and bottom, so with the help of a handy cross reference sheet of paper we could avoid any problems.
 
Mike Reed said:
A little tip for fastidious anal types (like me). Write in pencil (with paper inners) the month and year of cleaning. On Nag. types, I use a bit of masking tape to effect the same. Amazing how useful this record is as time passes ! A bit like keeping a stylus use record, I s'pose, though that, i.m.o., is essential to realise a good re-sale, not only just to know where your stylus is in life-span.
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I just put a spot on the foil lined paper inner (nothing fancy, £10 for 50 off e bay) with a permanent marker every time I vacuum clean a record. Right now I'm listening to a Canadian pressing of Back in Black that I thought was beyond saving. It's still a tad crackly, but now eminently listenable.
 
Am I onlyone who clean records with wood glue? Try YT wood glue record cleaning.Old records shine like new after this ,and pop and clicks are minimised max...and it is great fun too
 
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Mike Reed said:
I cannot comment, Peter, except to say " 'spray' and 'cloth' and 'rubbing' fill me with dread". Nor have I read about this method on over a decade of forums. Sorry !
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Back in the 70's some used to advocate the use of WD40 :eek:

My new motto is that cleaning fluid should always be warm.
 
misterdog said:
My new motto is that cleaning fluid should always be warm.
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Interesting comment, which makes sense. I've always spread my IPA mix from its squeezy bottle which I keep in the fridge. After a few records, esp. in summer, it warms up, but only to room temp. I have a small batch to do soon, so shall give the bottle a spin in the microwave first.

First time I've come across (or even thought of) this advice. To my scientifically uneducated brain, warmer fluid equals less viscosity and therefore greater groove penetration. In theory, then, a good tip.:)
 
I keep meaning to get a cleaning machine but struggle to justify it. I use a manual method that involves an old Hunt EDA brush, kitchen roll, a non static table cloth and tap water (I live in a hard water area). I have a pretty big vinyl collection and have only needed to pop to my pals who has an expensive RCM on a handful of occasions (a particularly tricky recent album purchase had some kinda chemical spot stuck on it that took a lot of work on the RCM with various different cleaning solutions, but we got there!). And I buy a lot of records, new and secondhand.
 
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