Record Cleaner Side Effects?

I know of no negatives at all. Been using an original Nitty Gritty since the early 80s and am still amazed at what it can do. I like the manual machines better than the automatics and would recommend the $200 Record Doctor from Audio Advisor (a Nitty Gritty clone).

Hi,

IMNSHO, record cleaning is a no-brainer. I've been collecting vinyl for over 35 years and see/hear no evidence that record cleaning machines damage the software. On the contrary, failure to do so will embed debris into the vinyl permanently. Remember, the solvents used in commercial and home brew cleaners contact the recording for a very short duration and by design are compatible with vinyl, leaving no residue. Following machine cleaning place the disks in polyethylene sleeves and use a carbon fiber brush before and after each play. Clean your stylus often with a brush and periodically with a commercial cleaner. Replace your cartridge before the stylus is worn to a point of damaging the vinyl.

I recommend a vacuum record cleaning machine although it matters little if the cleaning is done automatically or not. So, your choice of machine should be determined by your budget, the volume of work to be done and the level of labor you are willing to invest with each disk. The basic Nitty Gritty and Disk Doctor machines are likely 99% as effective as the most expensive machines. DIY plans are available online. If you are handy and buy the vacuum source at a yard sale you can build a great cleaner for less than $20.

Using a commercial vinyl lubricant (Gruv Glide) or a vinyl preservative (Last) is a personal decision that, IMO, will not damage the recording and will most likely add to its life expectancy.

Develop a routine of proper handling and storage of your music and your great grand children will be enjoying your library long after your passing.

Others may take issue with my suggestion for polyethylene sleeves saying that rice paper is preferred. I'm the only person I know that has done a burn test on every available sleeve that I could find. Even the outlets that advertize rice sleeves are actually supplying polyethylene. Sleeves available for as little as 7 cents each (Sleeve City) are chemically identical to VPI sleeves at nearly 50 cents each. Rice paper sleeves were manufactured long ago and, to the best of my knowledge, are no longer available. They can be identified by folded and glued edges and crack with age.

These are just the opinions of an old fart that still enjoys my oldest recordings as much as the newest. Still, they are worth exactly what you paid for them.

Enjoy,
Patrick

If you are worried about the cleaning solution leaving residue, simply rinse the records off in a thorough manner with distilled or de-ionized water after the cleaning.

Personally, i've got three record cleaning machines and this is the order that i clean them in. First of all, used records get "scrubbed" by hand whereas new records go directly to the next stage. This stage is a side 1 cleaning using a VPI 16.5 machine using whatever cleaning solution ( VPI, Record Research Labs, etc... ) that i have handy. The record is then flipped to side two and placed on the second VPI 16.5 and that side is cleaned in like manner. From there, the record is tossed onto my Nitty Gritty 1.5Fi and rinsed with distilled water, one side at a time.

While this sounds like it is a pretty expensive and thorough approach, i spent less on these three machines than one could buy a single VPI 17 machine for. To top it off, two ( one VPI and the NG ) out of the three were purchased from dealers ( Music Direct & Audio Consultants ). The second VPI was purchased here on Audiogon from a local that treated it like it was made out of gold.

Other than that, i think that the folks at Last know what they are doing and i wouldn't hesitate to use their products if one was so inclined. Only problem is that they can become quite expensive if going "whole hog" on their cleaning / record maintenance program. Sean
>

I have owned the Audio Advisor $200 model and now use a VPI 17. The VPI does a much, much, much better job of sucking up the fluid off of the record. No matter how long I went with the AA machine there was always a little moisture on the record when I was done and the VPI seems to get it all.

I also use a large amount of rinse water, spraying it on as the vacuum is running for a couple of rotations. I put it on just to the point where the water it is about to run off the record and then let the vacumn run for a about 3 more times around to dry. This you can't really do with the AA machine because the VPI vacuums on the top and the AA machine from the bottom.