Record cleaning - what's your method?

Piratenovelist said:
Has anyone heard of or used this?
I’m looking to upgrade from my spin clean this Christmas.

m.vevor.com

VEVOR Ultrasonic Cleaner 6L Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner 7-12 Inch 8 Records Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaning Machine 180W Ultrasonic Records Cleaner with Drying Rack for Home Store | VEVOR US

Discover the VEVOR Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner's top-notch 304 stainless steel build and its ability to deep-clean 6 records at once, effortlessly adjusting to your needs.
m.vevor.com m.vevor.com
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I believe at least a couple folks here are using them.
 
Piratenovelist said:
Has anyone heard of or used this?
I’m looking to upgrade from my spin clean this Christmas.

m.vevor.com

VEVOR Ultrasonic Cleaner 6L Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner 7-12 Inch 8 Records Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaning Machine 180W Ultrasonic Records Cleaner with Drying Rack for Home Store | VEVOR US

Discover the VEVOR Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner's top-notch 304 stainless steel build and its ability to deep-clean 6 records at once, effortlessly adjusting to your needs.
m.vevor.com m.vevor.com
Click to expand...
Yup, I believe @91X is a Vevor user
 
Angsty said:
Thought about it. Refuse to indulge my inner crazy any further.
Click to expand...
I proceeded to order one. Kind of interested to see the before and after shots. I get my kicks off old vinyl clean up challenges.


Maybe I just need it after calling the Wolfe 🐺
 
Tried out the IPA (not beer although consuming) plus Tergitol combo in the US.
Primo results. Highly recommend.
Does require some research on the amounts for a given tank size.

It's taking the cracks and pop reduction to another level.
 

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Jbraswell said:
Tried out the IPA (not beer although consuming) plus Tergitol combo in the US.
Primo results. Highly recommend.
Does require some research on the amounts for a given tank size.

It's taking the cracks and pop reduction to another level.
Click to expand...
How was the combo better than Tergitol alone?
 
Angsty said:
How was the combo better than Tergitol alone?
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There is a degritter thread on the SH forum.
It's fairly lengthy.
Adding the IPA creates some kind of swelling with the FOD in the grooves to allow it to release better.

It made some older records very quite after the first wash.
 
Jbraswell said:
Tried out the IPA (not beer although consuming) plus Tergitol combo in the US.
Primo results. Highly recommend.
Does require some research on the amounts for a given tank size.

It's taking the cracks and pop reduction to another level.
Click to expand...
What’s IPA?
 
I mean it sounds like I put another cart on the TT.
The frequencies are so much clearer and higher.
Crazy what the IPA/Tergitol combo did.

I put 210ml of 50% IPA and 2.5ml T in my 6L tank.
Ran it on a super slow rotation with 35-40C temps for 25mins.


Rinsed with squirt bottle of distilled H2O
 
There has been a long running debate on whether isopropyl alcohol should be used to clean records at all.

In low concentrations, it probably does no harm to PVC compounds. In practice, I avoid it because the material I am most interested in removing are silica and other minerals that are not affected by IPA. The detergent itself should be capable of removing organic and inorganic crap.

Since the Library of Congress uses Tergitol and water without alcohol with its archives, that’s why I asked the question.

Cleaning and Archival Standards of Care - The Vinyl Press

Cleaning vinyl records practices and standards
thevinylpress.com thevinylpress.com
 
Cleaning records is like many things with vinyl, it’s possible to slip down the rabbit hole and lose perspective. An example of that is this 180 page manual on cleaning records. It’s way, way over the top.

For the Humminguru, I generally look for a minimal concentration of surfactant to help remove grunge from the grooves and surface. I use products that don’t harm the vinyl, don’t leave a filmy residue and do not turn my house into a chemistry laboratory.

Tergitol works great, but it has specific handling properties that edge into “chemistry lab” for me.

 
Yeah Neil is OHHHH-C-D.

He has debunked the IPA harming vinyl in that degritter thread.
I trust his advice. He's not out to make any money off folks.
It's bizarre he hasn't jumped the shark and bought a US machine yet.
 
In addition to the IPA, I first tried the vinegar acid wash Neil recommended in his previous report. So so results... Nothing in th results worth mentioning.

Then, I bit and bought some of this.
Wow. Great results!
Can't recommend it enough.
Brush it on with the record doc brush.

Wash it off with tap H2O and the put it through the US. Killer results. Stubborn pops will just start disappearing.

Alconox 1832 Citranox Phosphate-Free Concentrated Cleaner and Metal Brightener, 1 quart Bottle

Amazon product ASIN B008KMFCPI
 
hahahaha_totally said:
What is the advantage of using a UV lamp to inspect a record instead of normal light? I thought UV and vinyl were enemies.
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Allows you to see the FOD not visible with normal lighting.
Looking at my hands, not sure I would eat with them any longer 😁.

In the pic above, you can see almost no white specs. The one spec shown was on surface only.
That's a 1971 BBK. It's pretty dang clean as you can see.

I can't see any harm shining it for a few 10 seconds.
Hours... might be a problem.

I just wanted to see the visible results with various cleaning process stages.
Mainly the older, pre-owned vinyl. There was a pop on Tin Pan Alley that was driving me ape shit.
FYI- I am not sure this trick works for some of the brighter colored vinyl out these days.
 
While we tend to focus on the cleaning of the records themselves here I thought I would share some success I had at lunchtime cleaning some sleeves. The sleeves themselves were incredibly grubby as are the records BUT having bought from this seller in the past I knew they tend to clean up very well. As a result, the seller grades them well below what can actually be achieved. The records have some light surface marks but it's mainly just dirt.....and a lot of it. I will run them through the Project VC-S2 and I imagine any issues will be removed.

For the sleeves, I just use a cloth dampened with very hot water. I also have a blunt scalpel that I lightly and very carefully scrape along the surface for very stubborn bits (such as the tape residue). This combo works really well with laminated sleeves and although I have seen people recommend lighter fluid and the like, I personally have never encountered a mark that stubborn.

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