You may remember that a few weeks ago, I got given a huge bag of records, some of which were in a bad state. On flickr, there was a small discussion on the best way to clean records. Below is my response. I thought it was too long-winded to leave it rotting in the middle of a flickr discussion, so here it is. Hopefully, someone might make use out of it.
I recently got given a huge pile of records, and these were in absolute states. No covers, records dating from 1962, in a smokers house. I discarded a selection where the owners dog had chewed through the pile. You get the type of condition.
I found a few in the collection I particularly wanted to play.
I had tried a number of things, to help clean my records, with very little success. I tried the quality handwash as mentioned previously, sadly it left too much residue, and actually broke my needle.
I don’t remember what made me try this particular substance, but it worked a treat. Technically, I’ve probably broken every law when it comes to record cleaning, but hell, if it worked for me, it might work for someone else…
My miracle fluid? Washing up liquid.
Currently at home, I use a particular example which is very, very concentrated, bought in bulk, in a big 5-litre bottle. The tiniest squirt fills the sink full of foam. Costs £9 ($18ish) a bottle, but lasts a year.
I experimented, and squirted a big gloop of this stuff onto the record surface, and used a combination of forefinger and thumb to rub the crap off. No water. That comes later.
The more I rubbed, the more came off. I’ve never seen anything like it. The orange syrup-like stuff turned dark brown as 40-odd years of crud escaped from the groove.
The muck coming out was clear to see. Holding the record against the side of the sink, I’d rub off the excess, again with my finger, resulting in dark brown streaks going down the sink to the drain, flipping the record over and doing the B side too.
I power-rinsed it, using the finger-over-the-tap technique, creating a tiny yet powerful little squirt, to clean the record, and remove as much soap as I could, and repeat the process until the excess going down the drain was clear.
Just for completeness, I’d repeat the process, and rinse it again. If the water stuck to the record, this meant there was still a trace of detergent on there, and I’d give it another blast. If the water ran straight off, I’d dry it using kitchen roll / paper towels.
The way to tell how successful the process has been (without playing it) is to hold the record up, at an angle to the light, so the light reflects off the inside of the groove. If it is shiny, there’s a good chance it will play, though the less scratches there are, the better it will play, naturally. If the reflection is dull, repeat the process. If it remains dull, there’s permanent damage to the record.
You don’t have to have the super-thick stuff. I bought some cheap store-own-brand stuff. Much runnier, but just as effective at removing the dirt.
I probably wouldn’t recommend this technique for only lightly soiled records, but when it comes to neglect + nicotine + dog, this procedure worked remarkably well.
Your mileage may vary with this one…
Technorati Tags: cleaning, cleansing, detergent, fingerprints, fix, groove, Music, record, tip, vinyl, washing up liquid
