stereo for the joy of it - can records be cleaned?

tzh21y,

I’ve seen different sleeve materials interact differently with the record surface, some of the worst are the wiggly "contact patterns" made by some older poly sleeves that affect the surfaces of the vinyl.

If you’ve got "bits" of sleeve stuck on the record surface then obviously those need to be removed from the playing area, and I would use my VPI 16.5 cleaner to do that first, and then use an Audio Desk or Klaudio ultrasonic cleaner (or both) to clean deep into the grooves.

Otherwise, the good news is that sleeve marks/patterns are generally cosmetic and not audible, since they are only on the surface of the playback area (tops of the "lands" between grooves) and not down in the groove walls where the music is.

Having said that, while the appearance of some surface marks will be removed or reduced by thorough cleaning, other surface marks will be impossible to remove, so it’s really just a case of cleaning and seeing what happens..

Let me know if you would like me to try..
Dave

czarivey,

That sounds like a novel approach to cleaning/drying!

What kind of RPM's does your "high speed" drill run at at?

Enjoy the music!
Dave

I have a "audiophile approved" record cleaner I rarely use. I find the most effective clean is to steam clean the record. Get a hand held steamer for about 15 dollars or so, some distilled water, and steam away all the garbage. Wipe the record down with a clean microfiber cloth and you’re good to go.

stringgreen,

Which "audiophile approved" record cleaner do you have?

I have a "factory mistake" record with double labels applied on one side, one of which is incorrectly positioned way off center, such that several tracks on that side can't be played - What brand/model of steam cleaner do you have, and do you think it would be suitable for the job?

If it only costs $15 and you've had success using it with your records, I would very much appreciate it if you could post a link..

Thanks,
Dave

You must be carefull with steam cleaning, the temperature should be precisely controlled. I had a few records cleaned by a pro using sequencially steam and  Audio Desk ultrasonics and then regular machine with just water, and enzyme pre-cleaner before all that. Seven step cleaning, I think. Great results. With my rig, exactly the same as using Okki Nokki RCM with Audio Intelligent three step system, double water rinsing. But I did it very thoroughly, 15-20 minutes per record. High resolution systems might show the difference, though. That kind of pro cleaning was about $6 per record, including Mo-Fi sleeves and shipping, at least. Saves a lot of time and effort if you are prepared to take a risk with shipping. I would never ship my most valuable records, others I would.