Whenever I buy records I always clean them before they go on my TT (used & new). My belief is the cleaner the record, the better it sounds, and the longer life I am granting my stylus, which I dropped some money into (but will be replacing this summer). After they have had a good clean through a SpinWash (20 rotations clockwise & 20 counterclockwise) I then dry them via a Record Doctor VI vacuum. That's my tried and tested method. It is completely manual, which does take time. I also always brush them with a carbon fiber record brush before lowering the stylus onto the LP. Every record gets the carbon fiber before it gets played.
IF a record is very dirty I will spray it with a cleaner that is made locally and sold at record shops, and give it several cleans using a MOFI record cleaning brush and then I put it through the SpinWash method. Depending on how dirty, I sometimes repeat that 2 or 3 times. Just last week I bought a few records and one of them was a '70s boogie funk record which was in VG condition but had a ton of fingerprints, probably from DJs. By the time I was done cleaning it was sparkling and sounded great with virtually no noise.
All my records are on shelving units, housed in outer sleeves, and stored upright. What I haven't done, however, is replace every paper inner sleeve with anti-static ones. I own far too many records to do that and as I have taken the steps to clean the LP very well, the inner is less of a worry (I know that some will take exception because I am putting them back in a "dirty" inner sleeve, but that is also why I use the carbon fiber before every play).
I actually enjoy cleaning records. I find there is a meditative calmness to it, and the results are always very satisfying.
Yeah, it's not practical to clean records your obsessively - like you say Andres, a quick clean with an anti-static brush before you play tends to do the job 95% of the time. I did go on a mission a couple of years ago to clean up a load of my vinyl with a record-cleaning solution, and then put them in new anti-static inners. I noticed the difference in playback on a lot of these (especially the ones I'd previously used for DJing, which had more fingerprints and general crap on them). The anti-static inners are a good investment - especially if the OG inner is just paper or card, as there's much less risk of scuffing, and the records just seem to stay a bit cleaner every time you get them out.
And yes, I also clean any new second-hand arrivals to get the best out of them - you don't know where they've been or how they've been treated!
Back in the 70s there were a number of cleaning devices and solutions marketed to the aspiring audiophile crowd. I never saw the real audiophiles use anything more than a cloth or brush for the dust
I bought a brand new sealed LP from HMV the other day and the audible hiss was significant from the get-go, even though I used a brush on it before playing. I was told that plastic sleeves can cause a lot of static so I'm more careful with taking new LPs out of the sleeves before playing them. The noise on the aforementioned LP is reducing over time.
Whenever I buy records I always clean them before they go on my TT (used & new). My belief is the cleaner the record, the better it sounds, and the longer life I am granting my stylus, which I dropped some money into (but will be replacing this summer). After they have had a good clean through a SpinWash (20 rotations clockwise & 20 counterclockwise) I then dry them via a Record Doctor VI vacuum. That's my tried and tested method. It is completely manual, which does take time. I also always brush them with a carbon fiber record brush before lowering the stylus onto the LP. Every record gets the carbon fiber before it gets played.
IF a record is very dirty I will spray it with a cleaner that is made locally and sold at record shops, and give it several cleans using a MOFI record cleaning brush and then I put it through the SpinWash method. Depending on how dirty, I sometimes repeat that 2 or 3 times. Just last week I bought a few records and one of them was a '70s boogie funk record which was in VG condition but had a ton of fingerprints, probably from DJs. By the time I was done cleaning it was sparkling and sounded great with virtually no noise.
All my records are on shelving units, housed in outer sleeves, and stored upright. What I haven't done, however, is replace every paper inner sleeve with anti-static ones. I own far too many records to do that and as I have taken the steps to clean the LP very well, the inner is less of a worry (I know that some will take exception because I am putting them back in a "dirty" inner sleeve, but that is also why I use the carbon fiber before every play).
I actually enjoy cleaning records. I find there is a meditative calmness to it, and the results are always very satisfying.
There were so many cheats back in the day.
Zero stat gun
A drop of dish soap and lukewarm ionized water
Old concert t-shirt lightly sprayed with end dust
We were much more diligent with traditional methods at the radio station.
And yes, I am old enough to have been there in the heyday of Ktel records.
Yeah, it's not practical to clean records your obsessively - like you say Andres, a quick clean with an anti-static brush before you play tends to do the job 95% of the time. I did go on a mission a couple of years ago to clean up a load of my vinyl with a record-cleaning solution, and then put them in new anti-static inners. I noticed the difference in playback on a lot of these (especially the ones I'd previously used for DJing, which had more fingerprints and general crap on them). The anti-static inners are a good investment - especially if the OG inner is just paper or card, as there's much less risk of scuffing, and the records just seem to stay a bit cleaner every time you get them out.
And yes, I also clean any new second-hand arrivals to get the best out of them - you don't know where they've been or how they've been treated!
Back in the 70s there were a number of cleaning devices and solutions marketed to the aspiring audiophile crowd. I never saw the real audiophiles use anything more than a cloth or brush for the dust
double tap on all this! curious, what type of solution do you use to clean it?
I bought a brand new sealed LP from HMV the other day and the audible hiss was significant from the get-go, even though I used a brush on it before playing. I was told that plastic sleeves can cause a lot of static so I'm more careful with taking new LPs out of the sleeves before playing them. The noise on the aforementioned LP is reducing over time.
Me fabriqué un estuche con materiales reciclados y estoy muy orgullosa que ahí se mantienen limpitos mis -menos de veinte- vinilitos