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Record cleaning

Jimbobbyron

pfm Member
What brush should I use with my new (to me) okki nokki? I have tried the one supplied but it definitely doesn't get in the grooves. Its a shitty bit of velour on a block.
I await your recommendations
 
The brush just distributes the liquid, it does not have to get in the grooves.

Record grooves vary in the order of 1 to 3 thou (0.001-0.003 inches) wide at their widest - you'd need quite some fine brush to get inside that, which the nap on the velour/velvet may actually do to some degree.

The brush that I use with my Moth has bristles in the order of 4 thou diameter.
 
If you want to get into the grooves use a carbon fibre brush. I always remove loose crud with a carbon fibre brush before wet cleaning.
 
I've used a Clear Audio velour thing for years with no problems and always good results but last week I got a Okki Nokki goat's hair brush the 2 layer one which also seems to work very well, I'd be happy with either. As above, remove the worst of the dust first
 
As I understand the brushes you normally get with cleaners is as has been said is just to apply the Fluid, it is not fine enough to get into grooves, I then used a paint pad but after a while the bristles come out so what I use now is a Wilkinson sword shaving brush which is nice to hold and does get into grooves and has to date never shed any bristles, you can pick them up from Wilko's for £4.
 
Been wet cleaning records for 20 or so years...
The brush just pushes the liquid around, I've noticed no difference in the end result no matter what brush I use.

The presence of a wetting agent in the cleaning fluid is much more important if you want tit to get into the grooves.
 
I use a carbon fibre brush first then clean the record in a Knosti Disco Record Cleaner which involves rotating between two brushes, then my Moth, to hoover up.
 
Thank you all.
The records are definitely cleaner and sound better
(I think) but.. my stylus is now raking all sorts of crap out of the grooves. I thought that the vacuum was not doing its job but it seems to have plenty of suction.
I have only experimented with really dirty records so far. Maybe they need a few cleans?
But they definitely are a lot better than they were. I just don't like seeing a dirty rug on the end of my Dynavector every time I lift the arm.
 
I have only experimented with really dirty records so far.

If they really are that bad, try cleaning one of the worst two or even three times, and then give that a play and see how you get on. From your description I suspect that is simply the amount of crud that's to be removed is too much for one soaking to achieve.

The vacuum is there to dry, not clean the record. 99.9% of the cleaning is down to the liquid alone.

In the HUGE majority of cases, cleaning more than once achieves very little, if anything, but I suspect that most of us don't look to do anything with REALLY filthy records - they don't get bought, or they get binned.
 
but I suspect that most of us don't look to do anything with REALLY filthy records - they don't get bought, or they get binned.
But Vinny, sometimes the dirt isn't visible, it's within the groove, only the stylus picks it up.

The vacuum is there to dry, not clean the record. 99.9% of the cleaning is down to the liquid alone.
That's why I give it a pre-clean in the Knosti.
 
It is definitely improving with extra cleaning. I was unable to play the record before cleaning.
Maybe I need to leave the solution on for a little longer before vacuuming? Hoping that it loosens the crud
 
Maybe I need to leave the solution on for a little longer before vacuuming?

That may be where you are not making best use - in a cool room, with around 2-3ml of liquid on the record, you can usefully leave the cleaning solution for up to several minutes before vacuuming off
 
I'm not familiar with your machine, plus, I have never even thought about cleaning any record that was actualy so filthy that it was unplayable before cleaning, but bear in mind where a lot of the crud ends-up.

On my Moth, the vacuum tube lips are fitted with velvet wipers/pads, and shifting what you seem to descibe, would completely fook those in no time at all.
 
I beg to differ, Vinny. It's there to abstract but doesn't (and cannot) dry. Evaporation does that (esp. if you use an IPA mix)

Sorry Mike, I should have said remove the great majority of the (dirty) washing solution. Apologies, to me that is drying and drying does not mean removing the very last vestige of the cleaning solution.
That said, there is very, very little left on the record with my Moth, except outside of the track of the vacuum arm and if I have been careful to apply the cleaning solution, so as not to have much or any in the dead wax, I take the record off and put it straight in a Nagaoka sleeve, no air dry.
 


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