"Cleaning" Vinyl Makes It Worse Not Better!

Question for the group, is it true that post pressing vinyl there is a "lubricant" applied (or possibly the release agent?) that persists until you clean it off? Is there any reasson to preserve this for sake of record wear or is this a wives' tale?

@moonwatcher "I think vacuum cleaning done right can get you about 80% of the way to Degritter sound quality"

  I don't think so.   I think the improvement more than that plus the utter ease of use.  You can be doing other things while cleaning records. You still have to buy chemicals; record wash, super record wash, Super Heavy Duty Enzyme action Record wash, a dash of tergitol and wash it all down with $20.00-$30.00/Qt water, not to mention pads and brushes.  I still have $150.00-$200.00 in chems in my Linen closet and tucked away elsewhere.  I've owned a HW16, still own a Record Dr. plus a Spin Clean with bristle brushes instead of pads(I made them with a local hardware store and I think work better).  And those videos, people still do all of that to clean an Lp?  Having  to cover my entire dining table to clean Lp's was just too much and too slow.  Here is a great video from Suncoast Audio with a comparison of a $6000.00 Clear Audio Double Matrix with antistatic wand all in a gorgeous and compact package to the Degritter.  I might add, about as easy to use as the Degritter.  Plus the video is one of the few where I actually hear a difference over the internet.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDe57dgtED8  https://imgur.com/xLtVBY3

@impaler you want to get that junk off the record. The mold release agent residue can increase surface noise and mask some detail. I generally clean new records before playing them.

@vitussl101 maybe so. But I’m more than happy with the results I get from my homemade record vacuum machine. It is head and shoulders above the old Discwasher we used in the 1970s. No, it isn’t as convenient for one off use like a Degritter or the $6000 Clear Audio Double Matrix or whatever you said, but as I stated, I only have about 250 vinyl records and don’t buy new ones or play them like I used to. When records were about $20 a pop, I became more selective. When they became $30, I cut my buying in half. When they became $40, I stopped completely. I’m done.

I can’t see the sense in blowing $6000 on something for just 250 records.

I could buy about 500 CDs for that amount and not have to waste any time cleaning. Or I could pay for Tidal for about 40 years, assuming I live to be 106.

Alternatively, if I really, really, really was anal about it, I could box up the top 100 of them and send them off to be professionally cleaned and returned to me.

Ultrasonic cleaning of records is something Audio Advice or other bricks and mortar places should think about getting into. As a service, say charging $2 a record, it would also allow them to sell associated audio equipment like turntables, phono stages, and cartridges.

The thing is, if people are having to deep clean their records often then they are doing something wrong either in handling or in storage. Once I clean a record with my vacuum system, I generally don’t have to do it again for a very long time. Glad of that.

If a Degritter was $500 I’d buy one in a heartbeat just for fun. But not at $4000. I’d have to own at least 2000 records to justify it.

@impaler Apparently you didn’t watch the video and you completely missed my point. Take care.

  And your question about some sort of release agent on records during manufacture, I once had a Ultra one step pressing that had a ring of a grease like substance around the outer grooves.  Touching it made it smear like grease.  MusicDirect was not sure what it was either.

@vitussl101 Yes, I know what you mean.  The little bottle you're talking about is Mofi's Ultra Record Wash concentrate for ultrasonic cleaning machines.  Again, you can make your own for a fraction of the cost.