Deep Cleaning Records With Steam?

12-09-07: Hififile
1) How far do I hold the steamer nozzle from the record?

About 6 inches. I lay an LP on the kitchen counter (on top of a microfiber towel) and use the bent nozzle so I can hold the steamer nearly horizontal. Easier on my wrist.

2) What kind of motion do I use? Circular following the grooves or maybe from top to bottom?

Not sure that it matters, but I generally use a circular motion following the groove. I figure if the steam is moving in the same direction as the groove, it's more likely to blast it out of the deeper part of the groove. I also know that this is just speculation on my part.

3) Is there a particular brand or type of dish rack to get to prevent scratching the record?

I use the garden variety dish rack we already had. It is rubber-coated wire.

4) I'm confused, do you physically towel dry the records, or air dry them in the dish rack??

Personally I use a terry-cloth style microfiber towel (it claims 90,000 fiber naps sticking up per square inch). This helps wipe the gunk and water out of the groove. I then rack the LP after towel-drying it to let any residual moisture evaporate. Also, if you have gotten the label wet, you'll want to rack it until it's dry. You don't want to put a wet record back into its liner sleeve.

To avoid getting the label too wet, I lay an oriental rice bowl over the label. It covers it perfectly without covering any of the groove.

If you have the space available to set up a cleaning area, my advice is to source a junk turntable (Goodwill, your local audio dealer may have taken some crappy trade-ins), which is what I've done. This is the perfect platform for both applying fluid and steaming. You can steam an entire side in about 5 seconds at 45 RPM with a garment steamer. I usually apply fluid with a carbon fibre brush, steam, brush again, steam, brush and vacuum.

Quick, effective, and if you're steaming at 45 RPM you'd have to work extremely hard to damage the record. I like about 2.5-3 inches away.

Readers : I have come across a Microfiber polishing cloth that appears to be significantly better than most cloths on the market. The Flitz 4 star Microfiber Polishing Cloth, www.Flitz.com , is made of Starfiber @ Microfiber; threads are 100 times finer than human hair, absorbs 4 times its weight in liquid and reportly works "electostatically". The cloths are sized from 12x12", 16x16" and 21x24" and range in price from $5.00 to $9.00. The cloths appear to be a perfect mate to our steaming efforts for a fraction of the cost others would charge for similar, but not as superior a product.

What is the best way to do this with an RCM?

Headsnappin: The simplest way is steam, then scrubb with Lp cleaning solution on a revolving RCM,vacuum,steam again to remove all cleaning solution,vacuum again and allow to dry or use a microfiber cloth.

The combo action is using the best of both worlds steam and vacuum : You blast, clean 'an scrubb & suck off the grunge that gets in the way of listening pleasure. Don't let anybody fool you , should you have a RCM use it , your investment is enhansed .