NO TWO WAYS ABOUT IT, records need to be cleaned. Dust (and God only knows what else) collects in the grooves, causing ticks, other surface noise and sometimes skips. And used records contain - well, almost anything could be hiding in a used record's grooves. And while there are a plethora of ways to keep your music clean and sounding nice, I'll tell you the way I've been doing it for almost 30 years.
I currently use a vacuum record cleaning machine called the VPI 16.5. I've had it for many years. Before that I had the Nitty Gritty 2, but it rotted from the inside. Yes, you read that correctly. The oak outer casing rotted from inside and I have no idea why that happened, other than it had to have been something to do with water.
I've had no such issues with the VPI.
A good record cleaning machine isn't cheap, and the VPI costs about $900. But it's a good value if you think about it, especially if your record collection is rather large and contains some items of value. The VPI will keep them all in decent condition and sounding pretty good. Note that I didn't say it will keep them sounding "great".
The VPI works like this: you clamp a record down onto a cork platter and flick the "turntable" switch, which starts the record turning slowly. Then you squirt some VPI record cleaning concentrate (mixed with the appropriate amount of distilled water) onto the surface of the record and scrub it in with the supplied brush. The newer version of the VPI has an automatic brush, but I like the control I have over the manual brush that comes with the 16.5 better.
Do not be afraid to apply pressure to the brush. The bristles are softer than your records and none of my records have ever been scratched during the brushing process. Scrub your record thoroughly in every imaginable direction, then rotate the velvet-lined tube into place over the record and flip the "vacuum" switch to the on position. You will hear a very loud noise as the vacuum cleaning mechanism fires up and sucks the liquid and grime and whatever else off your record. Only rotate the record two full turns. It will be as clean as the VPI can get it.
Once done, unscrew the clamp, flip the record over and repeat the process on the other side.
What is described above is the manner in which almost everybody uses their VPI 16.5. But it should actually just be the last step in the cleaning process. Before you do this you should first perform a couple of additional steps. Read on …
1. You need to clean the velvet arm pads. The velvet arm pads on the VPI 16.5 (and all other vacuum record cleaning machines, too) are black for a reason. If they were white they'd quickly turn black due to all the crap that's collected in your records' grooves. As such, the issue with vacuum record cleaning machines seems to be this: if you own one and don't clean the velvet arm pads before you clean your records, you're just smearing gunk all over your records. Don't believe me? Wet-clean the velvet on the plastic suction arm and look at what comes off it.
Yuk!
2. You can easily remove the arm of the VPI for cleaning. Use a very diluted mixture of unscented Liquid Tide laundry detergent and water. Soak the velvet arms for a minute or so and then scrub the velvet pads with a nail brush that you will use only for this purpose (no sense spreading nail fungus across your record collection). Follow this with a bath of steam-distilled water and shake dry.
But wait. There's more!
3. To keep the velvet from drying stiff, prepare a very weak solution of unscented Downy fabric softener. After a quick dip brush the velvet with a different nail brush and follow that with one more steam-distilled water bath to remove the fabric softener.
I didn't say cleaning records was going to be easy, but the VPI 16.5 does a decent job if used properly - and my records usually sound better afterward.
Usually.
And then there's something called cavitation …
I currently use a vacuum record cleaning machine called the VPI 16.5. I've had it for many years. Before that I had the Nitty Gritty 2, but it rotted from the inside. Yes, you read that correctly. The oak outer casing rotted from inside and I have no idea why that happened, other than it had to have been something to do with water.
I've had no such issues with the VPI.
A good record cleaning machine isn't cheap, and the VPI costs about $900. But it's a good value if you think about it, especially if your record collection is rather large and contains some items of value. The VPI will keep them all in decent condition and sounding pretty good. Note that I didn't say it will keep them sounding "great".
The VPI works like this: you clamp a record down onto a cork platter and flick the "turntable" switch, which starts the record turning slowly. Then you squirt some VPI record cleaning concentrate (mixed with the appropriate amount of distilled water) onto the surface of the record and scrub it in with the supplied brush. The newer version of the VPI has an automatic brush, but I like the control I have over the manual brush that comes with the 16.5 better.
Do not be afraid to apply pressure to the brush. The bristles are softer than your records and none of my records have ever been scratched during the brushing process. Scrub your record thoroughly in every imaginable direction, then rotate the velvet-lined tube into place over the record and flip the "vacuum" switch to the on position. You will hear a very loud noise as the vacuum cleaning mechanism fires up and sucks the liquid and grime and whatever else off your record. Only rotate the record two full turns. It will be as clean as the VPI can get it.
Once done, unscrew the clamp, flip the record over and repeat the process on the other side.
What is described above is the manner in which almost everybody uses their VPI 16.5. But it should actually just be the last step in the cleaning process. Before you do this you should first perform a couple of additional steps. Read on …
1. You need to clean the velvet arm pads. The velvet arm pads on the VPI 16.5 (and all other vacuum record cleaning machines, too) are black for a reason. If they were white they'd quickly turn black due to all the crap that's collected in your records' grooves. As such, the issue with vacuum record cleaning machines seems to be this: if you own one and don't clean the velvet arm pads before you clean your records, you're just smearing gunk all over your records. Don't believe me? Wet-clean the velvet on the plastic suction arm and look at what comes off it.
Yuk!
2. You can easily remove the arm of the VPI for cleaning. Use a very diluted mixture of unscented Liquid Tide laundry detergent and water. Soak the velvet arms for a minute or so and then scrub the velvet pads with a nail brush that you will use only for this purpose (no sense spreading nail fungus across your record collection). Follow this with a bath of steam-distilled water and shake dry.
But wait. There's more!
3. To keep the velvet from drying stiff, prepare a very weak solution of unscented Downy fabric softener. After a quick dip brush the velvet with a different nail brush and follow that with one more steam-distilled water bath to remove the fabric softener.
I didn't say cleaning records was going to be easy, but the VPI 16.5 does a decent job if used properly - and my records usually sound better afterward.
Usually.
And then there's something called cavitation …
NO TWO WAYS ABOUT IT, records need to be cleaned. Dust (and God only knows what else) collects in the grooves, causing ticks, other surface noise and sometimes skips. And used records contain - well, almost anything could be hiding in a used record's grooves. And while there are a plethora of ways to keep your music clean and sounding nice, I'll tell you the way I've been doing it for almost 30 years.
I currently use a vacuum record cleaning machine called the VPI 16.5. I've had it for many years. Before that I had the Nitty Gritty 2, but it rotted from the inside. Yes, you read that correctly. The oak outer casing rotted from inside and I have no idea why that happened, other than it had to have been something to do with water.
I've had no such issues with the VPI.
A good record cleaning machine isn't cheap, and the VPI costs about $900. But it's a good value if you think about it, especially if your record collection is rather large and contains some items of value. The VPI will keep them all in decent condition and sounding pretty good. Note that I didn't say it will keep them sounding "great".
The VPI works like this: you clamp a record down onto a cork platter and flick the "turntable" switch, which starts the record turning slowly. Then you squirt some VPI record cleaning concentrate (mixed with the appropriate amount of distilled water) onto the surface of the record and scrub it in with the supplied brush. The newer version of the VPI has an automatic brush, but I like the control I have over the manual brush that comes with the 16.5 better.
Do not be afraid to apply pressure to the brush. The bristles are softer than your records and none of my records have ever been scratched during the brushing process. Scrub your record thoroughly in every imaginable direction, then rotate the velvet-lined tube into place over the record and flip the "vacuum" switch to the on position. You will hear a very loud noise as the vacuum cleaning mechanism fires up and sucks the liquid and grime and whatever else off your record. Only rotate the record two full turns. It will be as clean as the VPI can get it.
Once done, unscrew the clamp, flip the record over and repeat the process on the other side.
What is described above is the manner in which almost everybody uses their VPI 16.5. But it should actually just be the last step in the cleaning process. Before you do this you should first perform a couple of additional steps. Read on …
1. You need to clean the velvet arm pads. The velvet arm pads on the VPI 16.5 (and all other vacuum record cleaning machines, too) are black for a reason. If they were white they'd quickly turn black due to all the crap that's collected in your records' grooves. As such, the issue with vacuum record cleaning machines seems to be this: if you own one and don't clean the velvet arm pads before you clean your records, you're just smearing gunk all over your records. Don't believe me? Wet-clean the velvet on the plastic suction arm and look at what comes off it.
Yuk!
2. You can easily remove the arm of the VPI for cleaning. Use a very diluted mixture of unscented Liquid Tide laundry detergent and water. Soak the velvet arms for a minute or so and then scrub the velvet pads with a nail brush that you will use only for this purpose (no sense spreading nail fungus across your record collection). Follow this with a bath of steam-distilled water and shake dry.
But wait. There's more!
3. To keep the velvet from drying stiff, prepare a very weak solution of unscented Downy fabric softener. After a quick dip brush the velvet with a different nail brush and follow that with one more steam-distilled water bath to remove the fabric softener.
I didn't say cleaning records was going to be easy, but the VPI 16.5 does a decent job if used properly - and my records usually sound better afterward.
Usually.
And then there's something called cavitation …
I currently use a vacuum record cleaning machine called the VPI 16.5. I've had it for many years. Before that I had the Nitty Gritty 2, but it rotted from the inside. Yes, you read that correctly. The oak outer casing rotted from inside and I have no idea why that happened, other than it had to have been something to do with water.
I've had no such issues with the VPI.
A good record cleaning machine isn't cheap, and the VPI costs about $900. But it's a good value if you think about it, especially if your record collection is rather large and contains some items of value. The VPI will keep them all in decent condition and sounding pretty good. Note that I didn't say it will keep them sounding "great".
The VPI works like this: you clamp a record down onto a cork platter and flick the "turntable" switch, which starts the record turning slowly. Then you squirt some VPI record cleaning concentrate (mixed with the appropriate amount of distilled water) onto the surface of the record and scrub it in with the supplied brush. The newer version of the VPI has an automatic brush, but I like the control I have over the manual brush that comes with the 16.5 better.
Do not be afraid to apply pressure to the brush. The bristles are softer than your records and none of my records have ever been scratched during the brushing process. Scrub your record thoroughly in every imaginable direction, then rotate the velvet-lined tube into place over the record and flip the "vacuum" switch to the on position. You will hear a very loud noise as the vacuum cleaning mechanism fires up and sucks the liquid and grime and whatever else off your record. Only rotate the record two full turns. It will be as clean as the VPI can get it.
Once done, unscrew the clamp, flip the record over and repeat the process on the other side.
What is described above is the manner in which almost everybody uses their VPI 16.5. But it should actually just be the last step in the cleaning process. Before you do this you should first perform a couple of additional steps. Read on …
1. You need to clean the velvet arm pads. The velvet arm pads on the VPI 16.5 (and all other vacuum record cleaning machines, too) are black for a reason. If they were white they'd quickly turn black due to all the crap that's collected in your records' grooves. As such, the issue with vacuum record cleaning machines seems to be this: if you own one and don't clean the velvet arm pads before you clean your records, you're just smearing gunk all over your records. Don't believe me? Wet-clean the velvet on the plastic suction arm and look at what comes off it.
Yuk!
2. You can easily remove the arm of the VPI for cleaning. Use a very diluted mixture of unscented Liquid Tide laundry detergent and water. Soak the velvet arms for a minute or so and then scrub the velvet pads with a nail brush that you will use only for this purpose (no sense spreading nail fungus across your record collection). Follow this with a bath of steam-distilled water and shake dry.
But wait. There's more!
3. To keep the velvet from drying stiff, prepare a very weak solution of unscented Downy fabric softener. After a quick dip brush the velvet with a different nail brush and follow that with one more steam-distilled water bath to remove the fabric softener.
I didn't say cleaning records was going to be easy, but the VPI 16.5 does a decent job if used properly - and my records usually sound better afterward.
Usually.
And then there's something called cavitation …
BONUS TRACK
HOW NOT TO CLEAN YOUR RECORDS
WOOD GLUE METHOD
WINDEX
TAP WATER
DISH DETERGENT
ISOPROPYL ALCHOHOL
OTHER READS
HOW NOT TO CLEAN YOUR RECORDS
WOOD GLUE METHOD
- A bizarre approach used in an attempt to restore old records whereby wood glue is spread over a record's surface. The glue dries clear overnight, supposedly picking up dirt and dust deep inside the grooves that is removed when peeling back the dry layer of glue. This is a bad cleaning method because, amnong other things, the glue can fail to peel off in one piece like a price sticker on an album cover, which would surely spell doom for your stylus.
WINDEX
- Windex is just plain bad for vinyl because it consists of a bunch of chemicals that will eat your records!
TAP WATER
- Domestic tap water contains impurities. Mineral deposits such as iron can contaminate and damage records beyond repair. Ever wonder why you have to clean rust out of the bathtub? Don't put regular tap water on your records.
DISH DETERGENT
- More bad ingredients that, when coupled with tap water as it usually is, will make your records a lot less enjoyable.
ISOPROPYL ALCHOHOL
- Many record cleaning experts have warned against any fluids with high amounts of isopropyl alcohol because it can remove plasticizers from the vinyl, thus making the grooves brittle. It also dries too quickly to efficiently remove contaminants, which just dry onto the record surface.
OTHER READS
- Audiogon Forums Discuss Vacuum Machines
- Steve Hoffman Forums Discusses Vacuum Machines
- Analogue Planet Discusses Vacuum Machines
- Record Cleaning Machine Reviews
