So, how do you clean your vinyl?

[Saracen999]

No, not your kitchen floor. Vinyl records. LPs.

We're supposed to be having a vinyl resurgence and, yes, I know that this is a tech forum and most of you are probably more interested in streaming or media servers (me too) but I know there are vinylheads here too.

So, how do you clean your records? Do you clean them? Manually with brushes, etc? Some plasticcy fluid bath thingy? Semi-automated vacuum system (the Pro-ject ones look interesting) or a space age ultrasonic contraption costing as much as a small (nearly new) car?

And does it work?

Are you happy with the results?

Or is it just too faddish, too much faffing? And yes, i know you don't need to wash a bitstream from Tidal.

[Spreadie]

Manually, with a velvet brush. It's worked fine for the last 30 odd years.

[g8ina]

I use a simple Knosti and this recipe :

https://londonjazzcollector.wordpres...r-vacuum-rcms/

I also keep Ilfotol and have 5ml bottles if anyone needs it Its a bit daft to buy a litre for a 5ml dose !

[DanceswithUnix]

I used to use a hand held carbon fibre brush which I bought as a student before playing a record and putting away to get the dust off.

Then I used to use a record cleaning kit that came with solvents and sponges to remove any mould release agent left on the record from manufacturing, that made quite a difference.

But even when I had more spare time and ears that could hear the difference, that was all such a faff compared to putting on a CD that records were always a bit of a treat, even though I thought they sounded better

[Unique]

carbon brush here. have an anti static gun too, one from the 70s. i generally look after my vinyl so it doesn't get dirty. second hand stuff i buy is either unplayed for collectible reasons, or it's from someone who's looked after them or cleaned em first. i know someone with a record store who would buy stuff from boot sales and then put them in a plastic basin with soapy water and clean them with a sponge and dry them and sell the 50p stuff for multiples of a tenner. he'd worked in second hand record stores for years and new it was the stuff you put in the fancy things that does the job rather than the fancy things themselves. perhaps different if you bought some super expensive gear but he was dealing in old rare records for geaks

[Ttaskmaster]

Lint free cloth seems to be how we always used to do it. Probably get some anti-static ones nowadays, though my vinyl hasn't been played in roughly two decades.

[Saracen999]

So, at least so far, nobody using vac systems, let alone ultrasound?

Note : I may have been watching too many YT videos, especially by those either self-identified as "audiophile", or who manufacture, distribute or retail (or all three) cleaning systems .... and therefore could easily be classified as "would say that, wouldn't they", with a large dose of estate agent (realtor, for those over the pond) "fixer-up opportunity".

However .... well, Michael Fremer (editor of an audiophile mag) did once say (paraphrasing a bit)

Want to start a fight? Go to an audiophile exhibition, get a bunch of record fans together and say "Do you use alcohol in your cleaning fluid"

Then stand back several paces, quickly, to avoid getting embroiled in the resulting fisticuffs.

Those that say "brush", or "brush and zerostat", me too.

My audio equipment is decent, but not top-notch. Well, mostly not. But it is pretty decent. Put it this way, I've just found out the turntable I bought in the late 70's would probably, in good condition (and mine is) fetch about £2k, possibly more, second-hand. That shook me. Add to that a tone arm that a lot of reviews now say rivals SME for quality (that shook me too, as it was quite a bit cheaper) and a reasonable moving-coil cartridge.

So, anyways, my issue is this :-

- I want to digitise my LPs and have put together my phase 1 gear to test. Essentially, a Behringer UFO202 phono pre-amp and USB ADC.

- I want to test that first, as it was only £20.

- Phase 2 is to run the TT into the phono input in my '70s amp, then to the line-in of the UFO202.

- Phase 3 will be a Pro-ject phono pre-amp into the UFO202.

- Phase 4 will be replacing the UFO202 with a decent audio IF (probably MOTU 2 or MOTU 4) as and when the damn things come back into stock. Note, the MOTU is for a completely separate purpose, but will double up nicely,

- Final point - while my soul is at least enthusiat-grade if not audiophile, my ears are several decades past optimum.

So .... overall, I'm digitising my LPs and my ears are the biggest limiting factor. i'm aware of that sad and incredibly frustrating factor. It's a large part of why I'll probably end up selling the LPs and/or turntable, etc, but in the meantime, I want the convenience of my own music collection available on-demand and, most critically, this whole exercise is, for me, a fun project, new territory and interesting. I know I'm making a mountain out of a molehill and going way over the top even thinking about vac systems and maybe even ultrasonic cleaners but, the hell with it, it's a fun project.

That said, my ears are still nowhere near what they were (which used to e really, really good. I think my genetic background, somewhere in the mists of time, included a bat.

So anyway, that's what I'm up to, and why I asked.

At a minimum, the Knosti looks interesting to me. They seem to be currently unavailable on Amazon, though. I am rather more interested in Knosti than similar devices that use velvet pads rather than the goat-hair brushed, though.

Currently, I have day to day cleaners, or rather, surface dust-removers, including the velvet type brush (which I don't really trust) and both stylus brush, and record/anti-static brush, mounted on the turntable, and the old Zerostat gun as well.

But where to go from here?

Knosti? Pro-ject vac? Or there's a (probably) sub-£500 ultrasound project on Kickstarter that looks like going to market maybe this summer. That's probably about my limit for cleaning hardware as this whole thing is a bit of an indulgence, and a £4k ultrasonic? No way. And even the £500 is pushing it.

[g8ina]

Feel free to gimme a bell anytime, turntables is my current thing.

Knosti 2nd hand about 30 quid if you can find one. Couple in the bay at the mo, but one of thems in Holland -

This new one is 45 quid https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393169628339

[Ferral]

Lint free cloth with an anti static spray cleaner. Got it as a kit from HMV a few year back and does it's job.

Most important thing is putting them away away after use I have found

[Scryder]

... Got it as a kit from HMV a few year back and does it's job....

I do miss browsing HMV... loved doing that back when they were open. I've spent countless hours browsing and discovering new music and films.
Online browsing is just not the same.

[Unique]

if it's about digitising vinyl, my suggestion is to save a load of time and hassle and just rip cds or download the tracks wherever possible and just rip the odd track on vinyl if you can't get a decent rip elsewhere. that's what i do. back in the mid 90s before downloading etc i had a standalone cd recorder and recorded my non cd stuff (ie. 12"s and b sides) that you couldn't get on cd. took ages. later on i could rip those cds and clean up on the pc when that became affordable. got all sorts of stuff to rip and clean etc all sorts of stuff now, but i only bother if i can't get it elsewhere. usually if you look in the right places you can get rips of rare stuff by fans of the artists (ie. if you want the rare b side of the japanese import that was limited to 33 copies)

or if you don't need to have the at hand copy, just play it on spotify or whatever and save a load of bother. of course some people may enjoy the process. i got sick of that 30 years ago

if you are only ripping a few records (says the man with a daft number of records and cds), instead of spending money on all the gear to rip and clean and edit, and all the time, even just buying the cd second hand on ebay or music magpie and ripping that instead can work out cheaper and easier and quicker and better quality. some cds are peanuts second hand these days

[Saracen999]

I hear you, unique, but as I said in that long post (yeah, too long to read probably) ....

.... but in the meantime, I want the convenience of my own music collection available on-demand and, most critically, this whole exercise is, for me, a fun project, new territory and interesting. I know I'm making a mountain out of a molehill and going way over the top even thinking about vac systems and maybe even ultrasonic cleaners but, the hell with it, it's a fun project ....

I have one eye on the result, but the other on the process,

[Dougie93]

I am new to record players and so far I'm only using a carbon brush. I am not sure if I have to change it after a while? Some friends of mine say it's not necessary and that it's a forever purchase but I am not that sure...