Steam cleaning records 2

Wr4 , You have a excellent point. My guess is they applied sota materials drawn from nature, no exclusive "human-made" material. Just as Edison & his team did. I own a few very early cylinders, they are 99 percent'ish beeswax. But do try the Disc Doctor products , the inventor is a 78 collector. And yes, no one had the household steamers until 15-ish years ago-We are far better off in more ways than they.

ordered a steamer finally. meantime cleaning with distilled water/isopropyl. finish with a modified home vacuum cleaner. noticed a drop in highs. cleaned stylus, still same. then added couple drops liquid dishwashing soap to the mix. little better but still missing 'energy' and a little highs. disc doctor site mentions several plays needed cos stylus is tracking a newly exposed groove. anybody else has same problem?

solved the problem. turned out to be a dirty stylus after all! i had only dry brushed the stylus in the excitement of the moment. when i wet brushed it, was clean and clear. whew! still a few pops and crackles so waiting to see how many of these steam cleaning does away with!

Steviboy: Good to know the problem has been resolved. Please keep in mind that the condition of the LP determines the outcome. Records that suffer from playback problems associated with manufacture or rought treatment most likely will always have "pops an' clicks". "Dirty" recordings are just that filled with dirt/dust of all sorts. A record cleaning fluid is strongly recommended to bring the dirt to the surface so the steam can wisk the debris off. I know that you are facing challenges finding local resources , do the best you can with what is available. The very best to you.

hi crem

i've solved the cleaning fluid issue too! found isopropyl lab grade 99% and distilled water from a supplier who sells to labs so when the steam cleaner reaches me in bout a week i'm all set!!! :) GRIN thanks for all the encouragement will update on steam cleaning when i do it in a week or two.

with regard to cleaning i'm using the method recommended by the disc doctor, scrubbing with homemade flat brushes lined with velvet for time being till i get the disc doc brushes and fluid. and microfiber cloths to mop up and modified home vacuum velvet lined slot after final rinse. have an old dual idler drive 1219 to clean on.

with regard to the record conditions yup you're right. some improve dramatically some you can see the damage is stylus inflicted and buying another copy is required.

regards