Washing records

[adebov]

Fed up with paying £20 for a litre of anti-static record washing solution (which is basically just a mix of Isopropyl pure alcohol, distilled water and a splash of wetting agent - to reduce the surface tension, so the mix can get deep into the grooves and wash out years of crap)... I've decided to make my own (what could possibly go wrong

 

[adebov]

I figured I'd use vodka, tap water and some dishwashing rinse aid

 

[trm]

I opened this expecting some weird world record attempt thing

Cheap (FFS don't use nice vodka

) vodka and rinse aid should be more than good enough.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[guddler]

I opened this expecting some weird world record attempt thing

Me too!

 

[adebov]

I opened this expecting some weird world record attempt thing

Tee-hee

My alternate title was going to be "how to wipe off vinyl"

 

[trm]

My alternate title was going to be "how to wipe off vinyl"

You made the right choice! Well played soldier

 

[saleem]

i started djng in the early ninties playing dnb and stopped with vinyl around 99 and only started again last year with some cd decks and in the time i had my vinyl i never cleaned them and trust me they got played to heck,specialy on pirate radio on weekly show.

if your tunes play ok and look alright (by that i mean no big lumps of bread and s**t on them) dont clean em.

 

[IDCHAPPY]

The first record I bought was 'Love me do' by the Beatles, I think I was 5

 

[stevebm1]

don't do what I told someone for a joke years ago and use toothpaste,he went mental when he realised I was winding him up.

 

[Milky]

Ronco can help! This looks safe as houses - no bad can come from using it

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=281146654584

Milky2013-08-10 08:31:33

 

[Paul_in_nottingham]

I've done this. I actually have several stacks of records I still need to do.

I've used a recipie off the Internet, I'll try and find it, but in short it was water (de-ironised if possible - use the stuff from your tumble dryer), a splash of washing up liquid and a capful of white vinegar. Worked a treat!

 

[adebov]

if your tunes play ok and look alright (by that i mean no big lumps of bread and s**t on them) dont clean em.

If they're being played on something capable of extracting almost every last bit of detail out the groove, and the records have that detail in the first place (i.e. they're not DnB

) then cleaning them (properly) gets all the hidden dust out, and reduces the static (so they don't attract any more dust).

I've got albums ranging in age from a few years, to as old as I am which sound far better than the CDs. All cleaned properly.

I've even had brand new albums (straight out the sleeve) which have paper dust residue and plenty of clicks & pops (which are mostly the stylus tip hitting a microscopic piece of dust) - even after clearing with a carbon fibre brush.

Ran them through the record cleaner (it's a bath type - although I'll probably switch to a Nitty-Gritty or Moth later this year) - all dust gone, all static gone, plays perfectly.

You just can't get all the crap out (years of cigarette smoke, dust, grime, oils from fingers, etc.) with a carbon fibre brush or one of those damp cloths they used to sell in WHSmith years ago - they just can't get into the groove.

If a record is played with crap still in the groove (even if it looks OK and the surface dust has been cleared) it can permanently damage the record. It adds drag, on the stylus tip, and even with only a stylus force of 1-2g the temperature at the stylus tip is quite high as the stylus tip pressure (onto the groove) is several hundred PSI - by the time you work out the effect 1-2g has at the tip of the stylus.

Any unwanted friction will be turned into heat and you'll very quickly have a bit of dust permanently melded into the side of the groove!

 

[adebov]

I've done this. I actually have several stacks of records I still need to do.

I've used a recipie off the Internet, I'll try and find it, but in short it was water (de-ironised if possible - use the stuff from your tumble dryer), a splash of washing up liquid and a capful of white vinegar. Worked a treat!

I'd be worried about using any amount of washing-up liquid. It contains salts and solids which you wouldn't want on the records (which is why you're using de-ionised water - although proper distilled water would be better as the minerals stay behind during the distillation process).

If "they" recommend not using washing-up liquid to wash cars (because the salts damage the paint surface) would you really want it on your records?

Try adding a wetting agent around 1% of your mix (you can use the type sometimes used by gardeners, or the Ilford or Kodak stuff). It reduces the surface tension of the water, which allows the mix to get further into the groove.

It's not that expensive off fleaBay.

Also near pure lab alcohol (Isopropyl / Isopropanol) 99% or 99.9%, added to the mix will make it dry faster. The "experts" suggest not using 70% rubbing alcohol (which is around 30% water), probably because you're not in control of the water.

The alcohol is used, in the mix, because it dissolves fats and oils (i.e. the grease from fingers because hardly anyone holds records properly).

I suppose it's down to choice, and what you're playing them on, as to whether you wash them at all, use a virtually free mix (only having to pay maybe £5 for some de-ionised water from Halfords), or use a alcohol/distilled water/wetting agent mix (which costs around £5 a litre to make at home, or around £20+ a litre if you buy ready-made branded stuff).

I've done the £20+ one (works out expensive in the long run as it's around 20-25% alcohol it keeps evaporating away), wouldn't do the soap and water thing, so I thought I'd try a home-mix approximating the £20 bought stuff (minus whatever perfume they shove in it, so it doesn't smell like a chemistry lab).

 

[simonden]

I have a Moth RCM pro for my records (Jungle/DnB from 92-97, i stupidly sold my pre-92 records in bulk when I needed some cash).

Moth do a 5 litre cleaning fluid which is approx £40 which can be a real saving if you are using a lot, and when I phoned them up (britishaudio.co.uk) they were more than happy to give me the formula to make myself (can't remember it now)

don't do what I told someone for a joke years ago and use toothpaste,he went mental when he realised I was winding him up.

Ooh - I used to DJ with a guy on radio and he had a massive scratch on a record, someone told him to use toothpaste, results were hilarious. Thing is he then used coca cola to try and clean off the toothpaste.

 

[adebov]

I have a Moth RCM pro

I've just checked out their site...

Can't believe the Moth tonearm I bought maybe 25 years ago (for around £60 new) is now £195 - Ouch!!!
Good job I kept it (it's on my backup turntable - A Systemdek - currently on loan to a friend, along with a half-decent Chinese valve RIAA preamp).

 

[simonden]

Well - that is the only Moth products I have. I am a SL1210 man. My loft has turned into a SL1210 museum (i won't call it a graveyard as they are all fully working).

 

[adebov]

I am a SL1210 man.

Well this is, basically, mine (except I have the LVII instead of the LVIII). So much better than a standard, unmodified, LP12 (and certainly cheaper than going for all of Linn's overpriced mods).
It's good enough for me, anyway.

 

[Jase]

I used to wash old records years ago, as I bought singles from the 60's like The Who, Kinks, Small Faces, and used a method I read in 'Record Collector'.

Dead simple - you use a liquid soap you'd use on your hands, and squirt a few blobs around the vinyl spreading it with your fingers. Then apply some water and work up a lather, rubbing your fingers along the groves in a mild scrubbing action.

Then you rinse it all off ensuring it's devoid of all traces of soap.

Finally you lay it on a tea towel and dab over it to dry it. Once done leave it to air for a while.

Worked for me, but then again I wasn't into HiFi then, so my deck was probably crap and you wouldn't hear the difference anyway! But the records were visibly cleaner...

 

[saleem]

the golden rule has always been,if it works dont try to fix it,after all it already works!

 

[drip dripper]

good stuff , i do havea tip for you not too hot water as you ca warp the record

infact if you got a concrete flowerpot and put a record on it and tipped boiling water on it it would melt into the shape of the plant pot and when cooled you could remove concrete pot and have a record flowerpot

not sure if you wanna do this . im expecting not

get the the decks i love the techinics dmc championships