Record cleaning - what's your method?

HiFi Guy said:
Goo Gone?
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You can use Goo-Gone...sometimes. If it is a glossy cover, a tip-on, usually ok IF you use a small amount and get it off quickly before it penetrates. Bear in mind that a Goo-Gone spot on a glossy cover will go away, with a fair bit of time.

But a non-glossy paper or textured cover, no. The Goo-Gone will likely take a piece of the cover along with it and/or leave a decent and obvious spot of discoloration.
 
When I worked at a couple bookstores in college we used Ronson (Ronsonol) lighter fluid — what you put in a Zippo. Q-tip on, paper towel off and then the sticker just came off. It has such a fast evaporation rate that it never did damage. I’ve used it subsequently on other books… but never on records.

Caveat: don’t burn down your home. I’ve seen this question asked before and not offered this as an answer because this is secretly how the Universal vault fire started — and also I haven’t done it in a long time as college is far, far distant for me

But it did work so…shrug?

I might have made up a bit about the vault
 
Of all places for a sale to come up for record cleaning stuff, Menards was not at the tip of my list. Anywho, here's a sale for some stuff that you may find useful for $5. I know we all have better options, but heck the antistatic brush might be worth the price alone.

www.menards.com

Vinyl Record Cleaning Kit

This five-in-one cleaning kit has everything you need to keep your vinyl records in mint condition. It includes a microfiber cloth and anti-static carbon fiber brush that are ideal for light surface cleaning. To get rid of dust and static, use the vinyl cleaner solution and velvet brush. Keep...
www.menards.com www.menards.com
 
folsom_lives said:
Of all places for a sale to come up for record cleaning stuff, Menards was not at the tip of my list. Anywho, here's a sale for some stuff that you may find useful for $5. I know we all have better options, but heck the antistatic brush might be worth the price alone.

www.menards.com

Vinyl Record Cleaning Kit

This five-in-one cleaning kit has everything you need to keep your vinyl records in mint condition. It includes a microfiber cloth and anti-static carbon fiber brush that are ideal for light surface cleaning. To get rid of dust and static, use the vinyl cleaner solution and velvet brush. Keep...
www.menards.com www.menards.com
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EVERYONE wants a piece of the vinyl bubble, lol
 
Struggling a bit to make sense of why this keeps happening with my VPI 16.5, any insight would be appreciated.

I clean with AI No 6, vacuum for ~2x rotations, rinse with distilled water, vacuum for ~2x rotations.

In the past, I've noticed if the wand can slowly pull loose and impact suction. So I have made sure it's fully in and the clamp is as tight as I can make it. Yet sometimes, and without any real rhyme or reason, there'll be residual water left on the records. You can kind of see it not fully sucking up as the record rotates and "smearing" across the record. Sometimes lifting the wand then going back for a rotation or two will do the trick. Other times it just doesn't really seem to matter and there'll be trace amounts of liquid remaining. I'll just keep rotating until it's fully dry, sometimes wiping down with a microfiber cloth before resuming.

I've double checked the wand is fully seated and that there's no lint or anything on the tube's velcro pads. As an example, yesterday I cleaned about 6-8 records over the course of an hour and had no issues with residual moisture. Today I cleaned 5 and on the 3rd I started having the issue.

I compensated by using less liquid but it still was having an issue. There was an intermittent "hiss" that almost sounded like there was a leak/crack somewhere but I couldn't find any cracks in the tube and the wand was about as firmly inserted as I can get it.

Any idea what I'm missing?

EDIT: Going 3x rotations and another 1x or so helps get them fully dry, but it just still feels like maybe the velvet on the pads is saturated and leaving residual moisture on the records in that portion after turning off the vacuum tube where it still sticks to the record slightly
 
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ngower said:
Struggling a bit to make sense of why this keeps happening with my VPI 16.5, any insight would be appreciated.

I clean with AI No 6, vacuum for ~2x rotations, rinse with distilled water, vacuum for ~2x rotations.

In the past, I've noticed if the wand can slowly pull loose and impact suction. So I have made sure it's fully in and the clamp is as tight as I can make it. Yet sometimes, and without any real rhyme or reason, there'll be residual water left on the records. You can kind of see it not fully sucking up as the record rotates and "smearing" across the record. Sometimes lifting the wand then going back for a rotation or two will do the trick. Other times it just doesn't really seem to matter and there'll be trace amounts of liquid remaining. I'll just keep rotating until it's fully dry, sometimes wiping down with a microfiber cloth before resuming.

I've double checked the wand is fully seated and that there's no lint or anything on the tube's velcro pads. As an example, yesterday I cleaned about 6-8 records over the course of an hour and had no issues with residual moisture. Today I cleaned 5 and on the 3rd I started having the issue.

I compensated by using less liquid but it still was having an issue. There was an intermittent "hiss" that almost sounded like there was a leak/crack somewhere but I couldn't find any cracks in the tube and the wand was about as firmly inserted as I can get it.

Any idea what I'm missing?

EDIT: Going 3x rotations and another 1x or so helps get them fully dry, but it just still feels like maybe the velvet on the pads is saturated and leaving residual moisture on the records in that portion after turning off the vacuum tube where it still sticks to the record slightly
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I know when your cleaning a lot of records or if you use a bit too much cleaning solution the strips do get a little saturated and will start to smear, that's an easy fix. But, it sounds like your wand isn't sealed, it sounds like there might be a small crack somewhere or the plastic is just getting old and brittle.

I replaced mine with a Delrin wand a while back and it's been fantastic, I'd recommend thinking about going this route if you end up replacing your wand over going with another plastic one.

I'd say it's definitely one or the other, if not both.
 
AnthonyI said:
I know when your cleaning a lot of records or if you use a bit too much cleaning solution the strips do get a little saturated and will start to smear, that's an easy fix. But, it sounds like your wand isn't sealed, it sounds like there might be a small crack somewhere or the plastic is just getting old and brittle.

I replaced mine with a Delrin wand a while back and it's been fantastic, I'd recommend thinking about going this route if you end up replacing your wand over going with another plastic one.

I'd say it's definitely one or the other, if not both.
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I bought the 16.5 earlier this year and have been tracking records/sides cleaned and I'm still way too early into the (advertised) life expectancy of the wand that I don't think it's getting old or failing. Per the VPI manual, it can clean 400 sides and I'm only at 200. I do plan to buy some replacement wands down the road but feels like this should still have plenty of life to give. There's no visible cracks anywhere so I don't think it's broken unless it's hidden supremely well.

I took the wand out and patted the velvet dry with a sunglass cleaning microfiber cloth and when I went back it seemed to handle records better. It's just weird that it happened so quickly while yesterday I managed about 2x as many and didn't have the issue with "smearing."

I think I might start using 3x rotations as my norm. I'm not heavy on fluids but I feel like over time, 2x leaves enough moisture on the velvet pads to create this issue.
 
ngower said:
I bought the 16.5 earlier this year and have been tracking records/sides cleaned and I'm still way too early into the (advertised) life expectancy of the wand that I don't think it's getting old or failing. Per the VPI manual, it can clean 400 sides and I'm only at 200. I do plan to buy some replacement wands down the road but feels like this should still have plenty of life to give. There's no visible cracks anywhere so I don't think it's broken unless it's hidden supremely well.

I took the wand out and patted the velvet dry with a sunglass cleaning microfiber cloth and when I went back it seemed to handle records better. It's just weird that it happened so quickly while yesterday I managed about 2x as many and didn't have the issue with "smearing."

I think I might start using 3x rotations as my norm. I'm not heavy on fluids but I feel like over time, 2x leaves enough moisture on the velvet pads to create this issue.
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Well, keep an eye on things, it's not like more rotations to pick up liquid is going to hurt anything. That said, the wand is plastic and the temps and temp changes can also effect it, plastic can get dried out and brittle, not fig the wand holder as well as it did, just thinking out loud based on your comment that you're hearing a "hiss" at times, that's air.

I'd also say, replace your strips regularly, they do get "matted" and just repel liquid causing smearing even if they're dry ;)

Good Luck :)
 
Yeah the plan is to just stick to the expected life e.g. 400 sides (or fewer). I know it's a racket how much they charge for these things, but ultimately it's pennies per side. The Delrin wand, as an example, would come out to about $.20 per side if I cleaned 400 sides and throw in whatever fluids cost and it's like $.50-$1.00 in supplies to clean a record/2xLP, so I'm not super frugal there. Just more or less trying to make sure there's nothing flawed in my approach given how this happens routinely (albeit sporadically).
 
ngower said:
Yeah the plan is to just stick to the expected life e.g. 400 sides (or fewer). I know it's a racket how much they charge for these things, but ultimately it's pennies per side. The Delrin wand, as an example, would come out to about $.20 per side if I cleaned 400 sides and throw in whatever fluids cost and it's like $.50-$1.00 in supplies to clean a record/2xLP, so I'm not super frugal there. Just more or less trying to make sure there's nothing flawed in my approach given how this happens routinely (albeit sporadically).
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The delrin isn't going to wear out or need replacing ;)
 
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