LP cleaning

Soccerplyr

How do all you turntable owners keep your LP's clean. I'm looking for the best way to clean mine without breaking the bank. Say under $40. I've never cleaned mine so some direction on how to do it would be appreciated as well.
Thanks
Jeff

AsSiMiLaTeD

Armor-All baby!!!

madmax

It's too tough to do for under $40, seriously.
madmax

Spawndn72

For under $40... Wash then in the kitchen sink with dish detergent and rinse them in distilled water. BTW I am not joking.

Emlyn

A Disc Doctor brush and some home made cleaning fluid would get you started for around $40.

Here's the brush

Search on Audio Asylum or elsewhere for recommendations on making a cleaning fluid concoction (deionized water, alcohol, small amount of mild detergent, etc). Ken Swauger made some good stuff himself and posted about it a while back.

It's better than not cleaning them. A vacuum cleaner is ideal. Audio Advisor has a basic Nitty Gritty machine for not too much. It works very well, but of course is more than you're looking to spend.

madmax

Sorry, didn't mean to sound so negative previously. It's just that recently I've acquired over 2K records. A big percentange of them "bubble up" when I clean them with the VPI vacuum cleaner. This is not meant to be. Most of the cheap cleaning methods leave more crap in the grooves than if they had never been cleaned. You can never go wrong with at least removing the dust with a nice $25 carbon fiber brush before playing. The Hunt EDA mk6 (I think) brush is a good start. $25 from amusicdirect.com.
madmax

Crazed

http://www.amusicdirect.com/products/detail.asp?sku=AALSO01

Emlyn

Ebay item

I thought the old Discwasher LP cleaning brush had been discontinued years ago, but they are still available. These things have been around for decades, and work fairly well. I'd suggest trying a better cleaning fluid with the brush though and making sure the LP is dried of the fluid. The microfiber tends to get soggy quickly, so the brush is usually only good for a couple of LP's before it has to dry out. Should be readily available for under $20.

tomhayes

I have a VPI cleaner which cost about $400 dollars.

But if I only had $40 and a bunch of dirty LPs I'd take them to the high-end stereo store in town that has the $1000 VPI cleaner and clean them there. They charge 20 cents an lp. Maybe you have a store that has that service where you live.

steveinaz

Spawndn72 wrote:

For under $40... Wash then in the kitchen sink with dish detergent and rinse them in distilled water. BTW I am not joking.

Yep, I did this too, back in the days when I had a turntable. Gets them immaculately clean.

Emlyn

tomhayes wrote:

I have a VPI cleaner which cost about $400 dollars.

But if I only had $40 and a bunch of dirty LPs I'd take them to the high-end stereo store in town that has the $1000 VPI cleaner and clean them there. They charge 20 cents an lp. Maybe you have a store that has that service where you live.

Excellent suggestion, Tom. A local snob shop near me encourages this because the owner gets customers in the door to look at other high-end gear. Another suggestion is that once the LP's are clean, stop using the old plain paper inserts in favor of new anti-static plastic/paper ones.

madmax

I heard that some librarys also have a VPI or similar. Maybe a deal could be made? I use the VPI, RRL fluid, MF brush and MK6 carbon brush and seriously, after using it I would not consider not owning one. I would consider it a necessity such as a washer, dryer, refrigerator etc at this point. If you wanted some professional cleaning for around $4 each let me know. I include an outside dust cover and sleeve. Overall cost to clean one is about $3 each. Of course once cleaned, they stay reasonable unless you abuse them somehow. I'll always do one for free as a test just for the input. I run my own snob shop.
madmax

unc2701

Emlyn wrote:

Ebay item

I thought the old Discwasher LP cleaning brush had been discontinued years ago, but they are still available. These things have been around for decades, and work fairly well. I'd suggest trying a better cleaning fluid with the brush though and making sure the LP is dried of the fluid. The microfiber tends to get soggy quickly, so the brush is usually only good for a couple of LP's before it has to dry out. Should be readily available for under $20.

I've got that exact one- works pretty damn good for the cash, but it takes a little time to get the hang of it. Also helps if you have a spare crappy TT do set the records on while you're cleaning them.

Emlyn

unc2701 wrote:

I've got that exact one- works pretty damn good for the cash, but it takes a little time to get the hang of it. Also helps if you have a spare crappy TT do set the records on while you're cleaning them.

That's exactly the way I used the Discwasher brush for many years until I got a Nitty Gritty vacuum cleaner.

One hand to spin the old turntable a few times, one hand to pivot the brush. It did work very well.

janmike

I remember a guy in residence (school days) that washed them in the tub. This guy would not let ANYONE touch his LP's or equipment. He would then rinse them in cold water.

madmax

janmike wrote:

I remember a guy in residence (school days) that washed them in the tub. This guy would not let ANYONE touch his LP's or equipment. He would then rinse them in cold water.

I normally have mine blessed.
madmax