Record cleaning

[3db]

Here are some photos of the Ultrasonic record cleaner at work, the stash of records and the dirt I removed from the albums

The results of 30 records cleaned.

 

[adk highlander]

Interesting. What did that unit cost and have you played the cleaned albums to hear a difference?

 

[flyboylr45]

I looked it up. Around $130. Seems well worth it. Definitely speeds up the process.

 

[lovinthehd]

How long since you did any sort of cleaning on the records? What kind of environment were they used in? Sure look like largish debris....

 

[3db]

How long since you did any sort of cleaning on the records? What kind of environment were they used in? Sure look like largish debris....

Those were all second hand records that I purchased so I don't know their background. That large debris started out very small and grew to be that big.

 

[3db]

Interesting. What did that unit cost and have you played the cleaned albums to hear a difference?

I got mine for $185 taxes in, in Canadian dollars . I do notice a difference as it lowers the noise floor of the ticks and pops. They are not as pronounced. Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant was one such album. I used a disc washer brush on it the first time I played it and the rice krispies were so bad that I was going to toss the album out. After the ultrasonic, i still heard the tics and pops but they were much much quieter to the point where I could listen to the material. I'm keeping the record.

 

[Alex2507]

How long since you did any sort of cleaning on the records? What kind of environment were they used in? Sure look like largish debris....

Looks like boogers if you ask me.

Alice's Restaurant was one such album.

I ain't eatin' there. Eff that.

 

[highfigh]

Here are some photos of the Ultrasonic record cleaner at work, the stash of records and the dirt I removed from the albums

The results of 30 records cleaned.

View attachment 77578

Were you using those to move dirt in your garden? Geez!

 

[3db]

Looks like boogers if you ask me.



I ain't eatin' there. Eff that.

This fixes everything

 

[Mikado463]

I too can vouch for ultra-sonic cleaning. I have the Degritter and couldn't be happier with it

 

[afterlife2]

Have the same ultra-sonic my cart for over a year. Seen some great results online. I may pick one up this year. Enjoy, 3db!

 

[dlaloum]

How long since you did any sort of cleaning on the records? What kind of environment were they used in? Sure look like largish debris....

It is often surprising how many such debris fragments are loosened on old Vinyl by an ultrasonic clean!

Another technique that can be used to loosen embedded fragments that even ultrasound won't loosen on its own is to treat the vinul with ArmorAll... (yes the automotive vinyl treatment) - given time (several days to a week) - a very very light treatment with ArmorAll will gradually migrate between the grit and the vinyl in which it was embedded, loosening it ... a subsequent ultrasonic clean, will then release those additional "boulders" (from your needles perspective)....

This can occasionally do magic with older, mistreated records.... sometimes those "pops" aren't damaged vinyl so much as embedded debris, pushed down by a multitude of dirty plays....
Once released, it still leaves behind vinyl damage, but it is far far less audible than the "pop" caused by the embedded chunk.

And yeah, in a perfect world, you wouldn't play mistreated vinyl, but some rarities are just that.... rarities... and if you can't find a way to play them, then they are lost for good.

 

[lovinthehd]

I just expected smaller pieces

It is often surprising how many such debris fragments are loosened on old Vinyl by an ultrasonic clean!

Another technique that can be used to loosen embedded fragments that even ultrasound won't loosen on its own is to treat the vinul with ArmorAll... (yes the automotive vinyl treatment) - given time (several days to a week) - a very very light treatment with ArmorAll will gradually migrate between the grit and the vinyl in which it was embedded, loosening it ... a subsequent ultrasonic clean, will then release those additional "boulders" (from your needles perspective)....

This can occasionally do magic with older, mistreated records.... sometimes those "pops" aren't damaged vinyl so much as embedded debris, pushed down by a multitude of dirty plays....
Once released, it still leaves behind vinyl damage, but it is far far less audible than the "pop" caused by the embedded chunk.

And yeah, in a perfect world, you wouldn't play mistreated vinyl, but some rarities are just that.... rarities... and if you can't find a way to play them, then they are lost for good.

 

[m. zillch]

Show of hands. How many people presoak their dishes before they clean them later? Well guess what. I find if I wet clean records and then immediately play them, their best performance is not in that first play but rather the one after it. My theory is the wet cleaning pre-softens the stubborn deep-down groove dirt (analogous to presoaking dishes), my first play helps scrape away the softer pre-moistened dirt which is then collected by my Shure stylus' built in cleaning brush during that first play, and then the grooves are at their best for the next play.