Deep Cleaning Records With Steam?

Hi Neil :
Thank you for reading the Thread. Neil, I have a feeling that perhaps you have a better verson of the Hot Shot than I .

What I observed was that my Hot Shot unit would throw a splat of hot water out of the nozzel for a mil-a-second whenever I pressed the trigger. I compensated for what I felt to be as a problem by "shooting" the unit (with or without the nozzel) into a folded over towel before starting a project.

When I first used the Hot Shot the splatter thing was not a big deal, only following hours of useage. I use the Hot Shot to lessen household tasks and it works just fine, its just that that S&S would sometimes wet unprotected LP labels something I try to avoid.

In regards to the Perfection Steam Cleaner, that unit has yet to splatter & splurt. In my opinion, the steam mist from the Perfection is finer with greater head of steam pressure than the Hot Shot 350 version # A. Taking off the nozzel the Perfection produces a controlled "tear-drop" of steam that seems to me to have better defined boundaries, ie no splatter & splurt and longer steaming times.

I note that quality control issues for the Perfection units have occurred : A steamer emailed me stating that his first unit was defective. It was returned to Walgreens and replaced . That person sayz he feels the Perfection is easier to use, holding a head of steam longer than his Hot Shot. His observations are the same as mine. I recall that Michael Freemer complained to me via email over the short steaming times for the Hot Shot. When I emailed him recently about the Perfection his response seemed to be that steaming times didn't really matter to him anymore.

Today, I am awaiting the delivery of a SteamFast that I believe to be identical to the unit sold by Mapleshade in its steam cleaning package for $150US. We will wait an' see if its money well spent or down the drain.

Neil, If your Hot Shot is operating well with a tight head of steam , go for it. Get Steamed and enjoy the results... I think your use of a dish thinger for drying LPs is a smart idea. Keep'im Comming

I bought my Hot Shot from a place in Texas I found on-line after googling it. It was a rebuilt and cost me $45, delivered, I think, just after Fremer's mention of it. I haven't had any problems at all with it and it performs perfectly. I have to let it heat up for about 10-15 minutes and then the steam is consistent.
As for the dish rack, I actually use it to set up the LP to shoot the steam at it. I got the idea from Duane, the Disc Doctor. He suggested it for drying the records after using his brushes and cleaners. After I steam the LP, I use his stuff to clean it, and then dry it on my VPI 17, which I use to clean LP's that are not that dirty.
The steam and disc doctor process is more rigorous and I only use it for really bad records that I'm interested in. I'd rather use the RCM and spend more time listening.
I wonder if, as a practical matter, there's that much difference among the steamers. I see there is a McCulloch. similar to the Hot Shot, for $49:

http://www.allbrands.com/products/abp02644-0086.html

--Neil

Thanks for the tip. It brought back valuable vinyl back to life. Learning as I am going. Got quite a few to clean so... I try to speed things up by steaming on a Nitty Gritty. Applying solution, steaming, vacuuming. All the stuff that can't be removed previously is coming off. Thanks.

Got a Hotshot and it spits and splatters. Letting it heat up for awhile and not overfilling helps.

Secips : Good to know the results of your steaming efforts. Its amazing what life can return to vinyl thru steam cleaning. Have you ever pondered how many critical reviews for decks , tonearms & cartridges would have been different had the reviewer steam cleaned the LPs ? I know I have and I am regularly astonded by the steaming results even on new,clean vinyl. I use a VPI.16 to augment the cleaning process . In some cases the results are beyond expectations, simply breath-taking. Since I discovered steaming I always look in the cheap LP bins for that dirty "gem". I smile all the way home and to the bank.

As for the Hot shot's "S&S" it does appear to be a unit to unit thing. We all shall see if the SteamFast is "better" but for now I'm using the Perfection and maybe the Hot Shot 350A from time to time. Secips, thanks for the suggestion, I'll be more careful on the fil-line.

I just bought the Perfection steam cleaner at Walgreens. Since I was impatient, I tried it with filtered water on some records I didn't care about. Just blasted them with the steam and wiped with a nice thick microfiber auto detailing cloth from Target. Quick, simple, and more effective than my Nitty Gritty. Highly recommended.

One thing that bothered me was the nasty burning plastic chemical smell from the steam. We are all so worried about having the purest water, but in the end contamination from the plastic leaching nasty stuff into the steam is probably a bigger problem. The records sounded great, however.