Very well-written and presented, Andy! As I mentioned before, I used an anti-static cloth, and lightly held it onto the record as it spun on the 'table. I even KNEW that was bad for the motor, but still took short-cuts. Shame on me! Your readers are smarter, and will take far better (intentional) care of their vinyl!
In thinking back to my mid-'70s radio days (where you'd think we'd don lab coats and over-obsess over cleanliness!), I really can't recall much effort being taken in cleaning our vinyl. I imagine we had a perfunctory anti-static cloth, but if you can imagine the number of jocks who handled a record in any given day/week/month, you can guess the abuse those poor discs had to endure! Shameful, really.
I do recall making the occasional request to the program director/music director to replace a given disc or two....likely one that was in heavy rotation (think Fleetwood Mac, say)! It's possible there were dupes lying around of most every album; short of that, a call into the local/regional label rep would've gotten us a replacement disc on which we'd just continue our poor vinyl-hygiene habits!😥
21st century vinyl lovers....do better (with Andy as your handy pro guide)!!💿👍
Thank you so much, Brad! For your kind words and for sharing your (always fascinating) andcdotes from those golden years!
In all honesty I also sometimes take shortcuts, especially by skipping cleaning or doing it perhaps more quickly than I should. That’s also why in my intro I say “we’ve all skipped the cleaning bit sometimes”. It is perhaps coming from this place of honesty that I devised this routine. Far from perfect, but it’s something I can commit to every time I spin (which is essentially every day of my life unless I’m travelling). I think it’s far more important to stick to something you know you can commit to than striving for perfection and failing miserably 😂 Thanks again for your comment and good vibes!
I definitely dust before every play but the deeper cleaning only happens if it looks suspect or I haven't spun it in a long time. I buy a lot second-hand, so I try to make sure all the new adoptions get a deeper cleaning (I like the Groove Washer line of products too, especially the tie-dye print microfiber mat). I should definitely be more ambitious about this...
I hear you, Ken. To be honest, I also pay more attention to cleaning when I notice dust, and especially before spinning second-hand records for the first time. I am a firm believer that proper storage will go a long way to make cleaning easier in the long run.
Very well-written and presented, Andy! As I mentioned before, I used an anti-static cloth, and lightly held it onto the record as it spun on the 'table. I even KNEW that was bad for the motor, but still took short-cuts. Shame on me! Your readers are smarter, and will take far better (intentional) care of their vinyl!
In thinking back to my mid-'70s radio days (where you'd think we'd don lab coats and over-obsess over cleanliness!), I really can't recall much effort being taken in cleaning our vinyl. I imagine we had a perfunctory anti-static cloth, but if you can imagine the number of jocks who handled a record in any given day/week/month, you can guess the abuse those poor discs had to endure! Shameful, really.
I do recall making the occasional request to the program director/music director to replace a given disc or two....likely one that was in heavy rotation (think Fleetwood Mac, say)! It's possible there were dupes lying around of most every album; short of that, a call into the local/regional label rep would've gotten us a replacement disc on which we'd just continue our poor vinyl-hygiene habits!😥
21st century vinyl lovers....do better (with Andy as your handy pro guide)!!💿👍
Thank you so much, Brad! For your kind words and for sharing your (always fascinating) andcdotes from those golden years!
In all honesty I also sometimes take shortcuts, especially by skipping cleaning or doing it perhaps more quickly than I should. That’s also why in my intro I say “we’ve all skipped the cleaning bit sometimes”. It is perhaps coming from this place of honesty that I devised this routine. Far from perfect, but it’s something I can commit to every time I spin (which is essentially every day of my life unless I’m travelling). I think it’s far more important to stick to something you know you can commit to than striving for perfection and failing miserably 😂 Thanks again for your comment and good vibes!
I definitely dust before every play but the deeper cleaning only happens if it looks suspect or I haven't spun it in a long time. I buy a lot second-hand, so I try to make sure all the new adoptions get a deeper cleaning (I like the Groove Washer line of products too, especially the tie-dye print microfiber mat). I should definitely be more ambitious about this...
I hear you, Ken. To be honest, I also pay more attention to cleaning when I notice dust, and especially before spinning second-hand records for the first time. I am a firm believer that proper storage will go a long way to make cleaning easier in the long run.