Record cleaning - what's your method?

Selaws said:
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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This is very impressive. I'm not sure I have the patience for it, but I'm sure I could buff up quite a few of my covers this way.
 
Poly-Rythmo said:
This is very impressive. I'm not sure I have the patience for it, but I'm sure I could buff up quite a few of my covers this way.
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Once you have a method its surprisingly easy. I cleaned those 3 in my lunch break and still had time to eat, so maybe 30mins whilst watching tv.
 
Picked up a sealed copy and was unsure if the haze that was starting to form would disappear after a bath in the US cleaner, happy with the results. Sonically, the 09' KPG pressing is miles ahead. My lamp is from IKEA and shows any imperfection.
IMG_0035 by c c, on Flickr

IMG_0036 by c c, on Flickr
 
notjhill said:
Picked up a sealed copy and was unsure if the haze that was starting to form would disappear after a bath in the US cleaner, happy with the results. Sonically, the 09' KPG pressing is miles ahead. My lamp is from IKEA and shows any imperfection.
IMG_0035 by c c, on Flickr

IMG_0036 by c c, on Flickr
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If you want to see analy the grooves, you need a black light. It shows every crack, pop, gray hair, etc...
 
Ok, the time has come to move on from my Spin Clean and get a more efficient vacuum cleaning system. I just have too many records piling up to clean, and I can’t bring myself to do it. Don’t want to spend a grand - anyone here have and use the Record Doctor units? They seem to get good reviews and cost a lot less than the VPI…
 
Psymon said:
Ok, the time has come to move on from my Spin Clean and get a more efficient vacuum cleaning system. I just have too many records piling up to clean, and I can’t bring myself to do it. Don’t want to spend a grand - anyone here have and use the Record Doctor units? They seem to get good reviews and cost a lot less than the VPI…
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I have a Record Doctor V and it does a good job. I recommend replacing the standard brush with a softer $8 goat hair brush - the standard plastic bristle brush can cause microscratches on records that are not audible, but can mar the appearance. The build quality is merely sufficient; I had to go inside my 3 year old RDV to reglue the downward suction tube recently.

Still, I purchased a Humminguru this year. I found that the time required to manually clean records on the RDV still left me with a pile of uncleaned records. The Humminguru is not really faster, but it is automated and I can do other things when the record is cleaning. Thus, I have cleaned a lot more records. I am also more apt to clean new records with the 'guru than I was with the RDV.

I still keep my RDV to clean really dirty thrift finds before putting them into the 'guru. I find that I am purchasing fewer of those recently and have been using the 'guru exclusively. The 'guru does clean records to a level that the RDV cannot do alone.
 
Angsty said:
I have a Record Doctor V and it does a good job. I recommend replacing the standard brush with a softer $8 goat hair brush - the standard plastic bristle brush can cause microscratches on records that are not audible, but can mar the appearance. The build quality is merely sufficient; I had to go inside my 3 year old RDV to reglue the downward suction tube recently.

Still, I purchased a Humminguru this year. I found that the time required to manually clean records on the RDV still left me with a pile of uncleaned records. The Humminguru is not really faster, but it is automated and I can do other things when the record is cleaning. Thus, I have cleaned a lot more records. I am also more apt to clean new records with the 'guru than I was with the RDV.

I still keep my RDV to clean really dirty thrift finds before putting them into the 'guru. I find that I am purchasing fewer of those recently and have been using the 'guru exclusively. The 'guru does clean records to a level that the RDV cannot do alone.
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Thanks! This is great info
 
Psymon said:
Thanks! This is great info
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It might also be worth checking out the Project VC-S2.

A few of us Brits bought them a few years ago when an eBay seller had a really good discount on them and I have to say that it's been one of my best record-gear related purchases. Really simple to use, very sturdy, and the results are fantastic. The only change I have made is to buy a 50p squeeze bottle with a spout (like a cafe/diner sauce bottle) to apply the liquid in a more controlled way.

VC-S2 ALU – Pro-Ject Audio Systems

www.project-audio.com www.project-audio.com
 
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