Finally got this vinyl cleaning thing down...

hochpt21

I love spinning vinyl, and I am to the point with my system that I only want to spin cleaned records in nice condition on my main TT with my new cart. Between moving and busy life I havn't had the time and I only have like 20 of my 250 lps in "playable condition."

Well, we are finally getting settled and I have a system and station in place to make things easy. Each album takes about 5 minutes.

Here is the process...

Take vinyl out and place it on three microfiber cloths.

Drop five drops of Audio Technica record care solution on one half of the album...skip the label and drop five on the other half.

Take the Audio Technica brush pad and wipe completely around the album twice.

Apply light to moderate pressure and slowly "scrub" back and forth once completely around.

Take microfiber cloth and wipe side dry.

Repeat on other side.

Then I take the solution that came with my nitty gritty and apply the same amount of solution.

Gently wipe the solution twice around to wet the whole album.

Place the album on the nitty gritty and wet the other side as I slowly rotate the album while side one is being vacuumed.

Flip album over and dry side two with the nitty gritty.

Place clean album in a new inner sleeve and slide back into the cover next to the original sleeve.(new sleeve slides into the cover facing up)

Put new clear plastic outer sleeve on the cover.(new sleeve goes on facing up so the opening of the jacket, cover and sleeve are all different and protected)

Before I play each side...

I use an audioquest anti static brush on each side.

I use my new onzow zerodust sylus cleaner before each side as well.


It seems overly labor intensive, but I've got the system down so its really not. It's also a great feeling knowing that everything is as perfect as I can possibly get it before the needle drops.

nspindel

Get a Shark steam cleaner. I got that idea from DK's thread. That thing is awesome. You need to be careful not to get the label wet, but if you steam clean with distilled water and then vacuum you will be impressed with the results.

gudnoyez

The cleaning ritual is what it is all about

nspindel

Yeah, I have a ritual, too. Put the record on the VPI, dust it, steam it, vacuum it 1 turn, MOFI deep cleaner, vacuum 1 turn, MOFI wash, vacuum 3 turns, flip and repeat. Then into a MOFI sleeve. It's a process, but man what a difference a clean record makes.

Irrenhaus

Wow I am getting back into Vinyl again is been more than 20yrs. But a very clean lp sounds really good. I have to get my ritual back in shape. Have to wait till I finish rebuilding my starter TT is a Philips 406 and I know is just the start on another rabbit hole......:')

Cheers

hochpt21

Irrenhaus wrote: »

Wow I am getting back into Vinyl again is been more than 20yrs. But a very clean lp sounds really good. I have to get my ritual back in shape. Have to wait till I finish rebuilding my starter TT is a Philips 406 and I know is just the start on another rabbit hole......:')

Cheers

Well jump on in...there's more than one of us here, but plenty of room..

nspindel

It's a very fun rabbit hole, though!

gdb

How long to clean these ???

hochpt21

gdb wrote: »

How long to clean these ???

Just run that sucker through the car wash.

Msabot1

Don't let yer LP's get filthy in the first place! Take care of yer stuff dude!

hochpt21

Msabot1 wrote: »

Don't let yer LP's get filthy in the first place! Take care of yer stuff dude!

Well, since I was born after lp's stopped being produced for the most part...tell that to all the original owners :eek:.

Msabot1

Hey man didn't mean anything other than well kept stuff will bring ya lots of years of enjoyment,something you can pass down to your kids someday! Treat those LPs with TLC you won't regret it! Welcome to vinyl dude!

nspindel

For one thing, it's amazing how much even brand new vinyl needs a cleaning. Second, as a frequent buyer of vintage vinyl, there's nothing that makes me happier than taking a filthy record that I bought for $1, running it through the cleaner, and ending up with a shiny new-looking record. There is nothing more important than cleaning your vinyl. I spent more on my record cleaner than I did on my turntable.

vcwatkins

Love my cheap plastic bathtub (Spin-Clean)! Throw a little Thierry Mugler in the water and they come out smelling good too. Kidding! Now if George will just stop selling his good old stuff, I might be able to catch up. OK I admit it, I'll never catch up.

doctor r

Even with my VIP RCM I have the "received from George" pile that never seems to disappear. I have just accepted that there will never be a day that I am caught up on my cleaning duties .

nspindel

Slow and steady wins the race!

SCompRacer

hochpt21 wrote: »

Well, since I was born after lp's stopped being produced for the most part...tell that to all the original owners :eek:.

I was born way pre-CD. Back in the day we organized parties over new vinyl LP album releases. Always had my trusty Discwasher and dust bug! I have albums over 50 years old that are in better shape than I am. :cheesygrin:



Still using Tergitol solution followed by clear distilled rinse on the Nitty Gritty, scrub with MOFI brushes, steam only when necessary. Heck, my Nitty Gritty RCM even has a CD cleaning attachment.

SCompRacer

doctor r wrote: »

Even with my VIP RCM I have the "received from George" pile that never seems to disappear. I have just accepted that there will never be a day that I am caught up on my cleaning duties .

The way it should be! The to be cleaned and heard pile should always be large!:cheesygrin:

nspindel

I bought an early pressing 1967 UK Mono Sgt. Pepper album on eBay. When I received it, it was filthy and it sounded awful. I first used my dust brush on it, that helped somewhat, but it was still really bad. You could actually see how much crud was in the grooves, I'm not just talking about fingerprints. Then I put it through my VPI, gave it the full treatment, starting with the steamer. Let me tell you, that 45-year old record sounds beautiful now, and is nice and shiny. And if you put it head to head with the cd, the ones that just came out in 2009, the old vinyl blows the cd away. And I'm only using a $70 cartridge. There is simply nothing more important when playing vinyl than having a very clean record.

doctor r

Loved my dust bug! Still have the Discwasher with the slanted bristles as apposed to the useless ones sold today. Use it occasionally as the first step to lift a lot of visible debris. I have started using the Audio Intelligent three step process with Enzyme, Super Cleaner, and Pure Water. Excellent results. I Use the VPI brush on the enzyme and MoFi brushes for the cleaner and water rinse.

I really miss the new album parties. What a great memory and a great time. (Or was that one of those if you remember it you were not really there situations?)

rromeo923

I second the Steam cleaning. That in conjunction with vacuum can do wonders.

trans am

does anyone use woodglue? I need to clean my steely dan collection.

SCompRacer

trans am wrote: »

does anyone use woodglue? I need to clean my steely dan collection.

So far everything I have encountered on a record was water-soluble and removed with my Tergitol solution or steaming. I've seen the glue method on the internet but never tried it.

nspindel

The glue thing seems like a nifty gimmick, but not exactly practical. Apply the glue, them wait a few hours for it to dry thoroughly, peel it off, flip, and repeat. If you have a stack to clean, it'll take years!

trans am

^^ I hear you buddy. I just wanted to know if anyone on the forum was into it. I do the dish solution method. its just getting motivated. My steely dan records are almost unenjoyable because they are do dirty. I need to get in the groove.

Dawgfish

trans am wrote: »

^^ I hear you buddy. I just wanted to know if anyone on the forum was into it. I do the dish solution method. its just getting motivated. My steely dan records are almost unenjoyable because they are do dirty. I need to get in the groove.

TA, I tried the dish solution and other home made methods I read off of the net for years. I used to use the steam cleaner method, along with a Spin Clean and used a shop-vac with a micro-fiber rag over it. It worked well but was very labor intensive. I did all of this because I did not want to spend big bucks on a rcm. Then one day I found a VPI 16.5 RCM on the Gon at a price I actually thought was reasonable and bought it. I wish now I would have bought a rcm a lot sooner. It makes cleanup a snap, even with very dirty records (when they are really dirty I still steam clean first) and I actually enjoy cleaning records now. I am listening to records in my collection that I haven't listened to in years because they were so dirty before. I guess what I'm trying to say is if you are serious about vinyl buy a rcm and never look back. They are worth it!

nspindel

I ended up buying the 16.5 from Elusive Disc during one of their 10% off sales. I bought a kit that included a Mofi brush and the two Mofi solutions. If you consider the value of the brush and the solutions, plus the sale, I ended up spending under $500 for the RCM. Sounds like a lot at first, yes. But then consider the size of your record collection. I'm now at about 300 discs, and I'm certain it will grow to 500. If my collection grows to 500, then the cost of the RCM equals $1 per disc. Then think of how much the discs cost. In the case of new issue vinyl, the 180g releases can be anywhere from $20-$40 per disc. So the cost of the machine, when spread over the cost of the music itself, is actually miniscule. And the value it adds is huge. On the other end of the spectrum, consider the bargain basement Goodwill finds. I've bought a good amount of vintage vinyl, not just from Goodwill, but from George, eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, etc. It's quite easy to find great titles, sometimes even for as low as $1. But almost always, vintage vinyl is dirty. Personally, I would much rather have the cost of my vintage album be $2 instead of $1, but have it be shiny and clean. The sound quality is night and day.

So yes, the RCM does seem to be a heavy chunk of money up front. But ammortize the cost of it across your record collection, and it really isn't that much. And the difference in sound quality it makes is huge. I hesitated for a while before buying one, but now that I have it I will never part with it.

hochpt21

nspindel wrote: »

I ended up buying the 16.5 from Elusive Disc during one of their 10% off sales. I bought a kit that included a Mofi brush and the two Mofi solutions. If you consider the value of the brush and the solutions, plus the sale, I ended up spending under $500 for the RCM. Sounds like a lot at first, yes. But then consider the size of your record collection. I'm now at about 300 discs, and I'm certain it will grow to 500. If my collection grows to 500, then the cost of the RCM equals $1 per disc. Then think of how much the discs cost. In the case of new issue vinyl, the 180g releases can be anywhere from $20-$40 per disc. So the cost of the machine, when spread over the cost of the music itself, is actually miniscule. And the value it adds is huge. On the other end of the spectrum, consider the bargain basement Goodwill finds. I've bought a good amount of vintage vinyl, not just from Goodwill, but from George, eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, etc. It's quite easy to find great titles, sometimes even for as low as $1. But almost always, vintage vinyl is dirty. Personally, I would much rather have the cost of my vintage album be $2 instead of $1, but have it be shiny and clean. The sound quality is night and day.

So yes, the RCM does seem to be a heavy chunk of money up front. But ammortize the cost of it across your record collection, and it really isn't that much. And the difference in sound quality it makes is huge. I hesitated for a while before buying one, but now that I have it I will never part with it.

Great post.

It's even better when your wife buys you one for your birthday :cheesygrin:

nspindel

And I'm sure your wife thought of that idea all by herself, and it was a complete surprise!

hochpt21

Why do you think I have been leaving benchmark and jolida webpages up randomly at home. Birthday time is only a month away!

SCompRacer

hochpt21 wrote: »

Why do you think I have been leaving benchmark and jolida webpages up randomly at home. Birthday time is only a month away!

So you gotta go a whole month putting the toilet seat down and taking out the garbage without her asking?:cheesygrin:

I asked my wife for a larger computer monitor once. She pushed my chair closer and said "There you go."