GoodSound! Research Project:
How to Clean Records
As any self-respecting vinyl-lover knows, to
sound its very best, every record, new or used, needs to be cleaned before playing. Yes,
you heard me correctly -- even new LPs need to be cleaned. The mold-release agents
used to separate the LP from the stamper remain on the surface of that nice new slab of
pristine vinyl, just waiting to be removed by your stylus. And used records? Don’t
get me started. You just don’t know where they’ve been -- or what’s been
spilled, dropped, dripped, gouged, ground into, and/or splattered on them.
In my years of collecting LPs I’ve gone through a
number of different ways of cleaning them. By my present standards, many of those older
methods were crude and almost useless, creating more mess than they cleaned up. Still,
anything that helps remove at least some of the grunge from a record is better than doing
nothing at all.
It’s funny that, long before I became an audiophile, I
was aware that all my records should be cleaned. That could have been because, back in
those early days, I was buying tons of used vinyl. I began with just dry brushing, but
soon concluded that that method was almost completely useless. So for many years I used
the Disc Washer brush, which is still available. Using it was easy -- which is probably
why I bothered. After placing an LP on the turntable, I would apply some of the cleaning
fluid to the brush’s leading edge, and brush the record until the fluid covered the
entire length of that edge. I would then rotate the platter by hand while holding the
brush against the record. After making a few revolutions to ensure that the entire LP was
covered with fluid, I then rotated the brush, wet front to dry back, to sop up the fluid.
I realize now that about the only album that stood any chance of getting really cleaned in
any manner was the first one I used the brush on. For the second and all subsequent LPs,
all I was doing was spreading the dirt around rather than lifting it off the record.
After my conversion to audiophilia, I bought a VPI HW-16.5
vacuum record-cleaning machine, which sucks the cleaning fluid off the LP and uses
distilled water to completely rinse and clean it, thereby getting it about as clean as is
humanly possible. Now I could be reasonably assured that I was removing most of the dirt
and grunge from my LPs. I’ve come to the conclusion that not owning a vacuum
record-cleaning machine is one of the biggest mistakes a vinyl-loving audiophile can make.
Once you’ve bought such a machine, it will become
important to decide which cleaning fluid works best for you. I began by using a mixture I
first learned of from one of Jonathan Scull’s "Fine Tunes" columns in Stereophile
magazine. While it worked OK (I never heard anything wrong when playing a record so
cleaned), I was intrigued by Dr. Duane Goldman’s (The Disc Doctor) QuickWash record-cleaning
fluid. Here’s what I did: I spread the fluid on one side of an LP, using one of
Record Research Lab’s brushes to wipe the cleaner deeply into the grooves. Then I ran
another brush, this one soaked in distilled water, over the cleaner-soaked record until
it’s good and soupy. Then, with the VPI HW-16.5, I vacuumed up the
water-cleaner-grunge mixture until the album is dry. After a single use, I was a convert
-- I could hear more music and less noise from records I’d cleaned with
Goldman’s fluid. Sure, it costs more than I was used to spending, but when something
works, I tend to stick with it, and have for many years now. Keep in mind that most good
record-cleaning fluids, such as Dr. Goldman’s, require a wet wash with distilled
water to rinse off all the cleaning fluid and scum.
I recently spoke with a few other folks who have a vested
interest in keeping their vinyl clean, to see how they do it.
I figured that if anyone would have good record-cleaning
tips, it would be Garth Leerer, owner of Musical Surroundings, importers of the Clearaudio
line of analog equipment. Here’s what he had to say: "For wet cleaning, I
definitely recommend using only a record-cleaning machine, typically with a soft
applicator brush for washing, and a bidirectional platter for really loosening up dirt and
other contaminants that may be stuck to the record surface due to ionic charge or finger
oil (residue from handling), and for dissolving those oils. I typically did not do a
plain-water rinse, but with RRL fluid did a Super Deep Cleaner wash/dry, followed by a
Super Vinyl Wash cycle (unless I was in a hurry, and then did only a Super Vinyl Wash). I
think it may be only the stronger or more volatile cleaning fluids that need a water
rinse."
Fellow SoundStage! writer Jason Thorpe is another
vinyl fanatic: "First off, I use my own homebrew cleaning fluid: three parts
distilled water, one part isopropyl alcohol, two tablespoons Windex, and eight drops Kodak
Photoflow. I soak an Orbitrac pad with the cleaning fluid and rotate it briskly. Then I
soak another pad with distilled water and give that a whiz around the record. Once
that’s done, I dry it with my cheapo Nitty Gritty vacuum record-cleaner. I like to
make sure there’s a fair bit of water on the record so that the dirt is well
dissolved. I keep the pads separate -- I’ve marked them with Liquid Paper so that I
can tell which is which. After the record is clean, I put it into a fresh Mobile Fidelity
sleeve."
As you can see, there are almost as many methods for
getting dirt and grime off a record as there are people who clean them. What system you
choose will be up to you, but do choose one -- no record (or stylus) deserves to be played
dirty. Believe me, once you hear a clean record, there’s no going back: Getting an LP
good and clean allows more of the sound you paid for to make its way out of the grooves
and out through your speakers.
...John Crossett
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