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Can anyone share experiences of record cleaning machines

S

spxy

pfm Member
I'm looking into maybe getting something like the de gritter cleaning machine, but having looked around the many youtube videos on record cleaning I'm left more confused on the best route to getting my records clean.Does any one have first hand experience of any machines currently on the market?
Buy the way I won't consider a DIY route I just don't have the time so need something not too fiddly.
 
I can’t help you with the ultrasound cleaners apart from my brother in law has a home made one and it does clean his records very well. Over the years I have had a Nitty Gritty cleaner but now use a Loricraft. I made the mistake of buying the top of the line NG that cleaned both sides at once! If I had to buy another cleaner now I’d keep it simple and get something like the Record Doctor VI. I think there is merit in the vacuum drawing the fluid off the record from below. However I have the Loricraft PRC3 and it does the job very well. I have used many different concentrated fluids and am happy with the Winyl ProClean-6 as the best I have used. It can be quite time consuming but once you get your process sorted out that’s it. Listening to old records newly cleaned can be an ear opener.
 
I had an Audio Desk cleaner and had so many problems I changed to a Degritter and found it far superior. A good investment in my opinion. I clean new records before they get played.
 
I've had an okki nokki and vinyl vortex and ultrasonic cleaning definitely produces better results. Each has its ballaches however
 
Yes I have recently cleaned about 8 discs or so on a recently acquired Project-VCE machine.

Its a rather good device, in my opinion.

It genuinely removes static from my discs and some 50 y/o LPs appear 'as new'.

I have also purchased a garden sprayer to completely cover the discs in cleaning fluid - easier than trying to spread the liquid from pouring a capful on to the record.

In summary, a bit laborious, noisy, but highly effective.

:)
 
hornblower said:
Yes I have recently cleaned about 8 discs or so on a recently acquired Project-VCE machine.

Its a rather good device, in my opinion.

It genuinely removes static from my discs and some 50 y/o LPs appear 'as new'.

I have also purchased a garden sprayer to completely cover the discs in cleaning fluid - easier than trying to spread the liquid from pouring a capful on to the record.

In summary, a bit laborious, noisy, but highly effective.

:)
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Keep that spray off the labels tho! Many labels will be damaged by record cleaning fluid.
 
Rockmeister said:
Keep that spray off the labels tho! Many labels will be damaged by record cleaning fluid.
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Good advice - though the Project clamp covers the label so there shouldn't be any risk of getting it damp.

I've done it once (with damage resulting...) but I'm pretty sure I put the clamp face down on an area of the table that had some stray record cleaning solution on it. Learnt my lesson and I'm more careful where I leave it now!
 
Degritter is pricey, isn't it? Is it worth the premium over some of the other ultrasonic cleaners I hear about, out there?
 
DG built ground up for cleaning records 120Khz Most are general 30/40Khz $100 chinese OEM designed to clean anything Tattoo/Dental/Machine parts etc
Cleaned 1000s of records on mine
 
I have a Okki Nokki, I'd describe it a record vacuum more than I ever would a record cleaning machine. It is a tool you have to use as a part of manual process that aides record cleaning.

It's clunky, loud and expensive; but it does beat cleaning records without a similar sort of machine.

Sometimes I find that even with a very thorough clean using the Okki Nokki you end up unseating dirt that is deep in the groove and your stylus ends up getting a dust trail on the first place through after cleaning. Sometimes I find you have to clean a record multiple times. I've also found it responds well to be very generous with cleaning solution - skimping is a false economy.
 
hornblower said:
Yes I have recently cleaned about 8 discs or so on a recently acquired Project-VCE machine.

Its a rather good device, in my opinion.

It genuinely removes static from my discs and some 50 y/o LPs appear 'as new'.

I have also purchased a garden sprayer to completely cover the discs in cleaning fluid - easier than trying to spread the liquid from pouring a capful on to the record.

In summary, a bit laborious, noisy, but highly effective.

:)
Click to expand...
+1 for the VC-E. Good machine for circa £300.
 
Hello,
I too have a project and find it suits the job perfectly. Yes, it seems like a lot of money, but if you add up the value of your records and hi-fi and the cost of a cleaner isn't a tiny fraction, then I'd be surprised.
A few other things to consider: -
I find record cleaning rather therapeutic. Some people say the same about ironing, but each to their own.
New records mostly benefit (largely static reduction I think) from a clean too. In my case if the new LP hasn't arrived in a good poly liner, it would go in one immediately after the clean.
If you have the space, try to have the cleaner permanently set up somewhere. Easy then to do half a dozen and leave the next to another day. I found it rather tedious to have a large batch, I really must do.
Most of them are rather noisy. Not enough to trouble your ears, but more than enough to annoy someone nearby. Where will the family be, if you have a cleaning session?
Good luck.
 
Okki nokki here, but using some actual velvet as the pads on the vac arm, not that synthetic shit they sell. I find it produces less static and gives a better suck.
 
I'm using the 'SS' as above on my Ok Nok and its fine, but the pads do need changing after every 50 records or thereabouts I found. You soon know since when they wear, lifting the vacuum arm leaves a damp patch on the record.
 
I looked at what i have been prepared to spend on hi-fi, and how many LPs I have, and the state of them...and bit the bullet by buying an Audio Desk Systeme. They are now a bizarre price (I thought it extreme several years ago), but it works brilliantly. I have been through about 700 LPs and two deliveries of purified water since then, and it really is a good upgrade to SQ on LPs that I didn't think needed it - and a massive one to anything that hadn't been cleaned since the late 70s.

As far as I can tell, cleaning an LP now that I did a year or two ago has no effect at all - I have done the lot once, and will do the first batch of repeats (plus anything bought more recently but not yet cleaned) in the next year or so.

This prompts a suggestion. If you baulk at the cost of a good cleaner and don't have 1,000 LPs to clean, just borrow a cleaner!

Mine spends months at a time unused and gathering dust, and I bet that that is true for many of the machines owned by people posting here. Given that there is probably not much of a market in stolen RCMs (esp if tagged) and that people here are by definition enthusiasts, I doubt there is a huge risk of one's machine being stolen or broken, and at least that way it does some good instead of hibernating.

Mine's in Wimbledon...
 
Loricraft PRC4 user for years. Does a great job.

They seem to have increased in price since SME bought them.
 
mcleanmuir said:
I had an Audio Desk cleaner and had so many problems I changed to a Degritter and found it far superior. A good investment in my opinion. I clean new records before they get played.
Click to expand...

Exactly this - I wouldn't touch an AudioDesk ever again.

Looking at Degritters... KJ west one is selling the mk1 at discount right now, as the mk2 has been announced...

also have a vpi 16.5, which is great - will never sell it...
 
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