Kofi Annan in: "Goo Goo Muck"

[Kofi Annan]

Helpin' your old pal Kofi out is like helpin' out that nice old man who lives down the street. How, I'm not sure, but let's go with that, OK?

So, I purchased an Audioquest Sorbothane record mat for my Thorens TD-160 and it really is a nice improvement. As I start to replay my records through a second time, however, I notice a nasty sound-- like it's got some dirt on it and, lo and behold, there's some sticky gunk on my records.

Lots of them.

Lots and lots.

So I tried to get it off with just some run of the mill cleaner and no dice. Then I ordered some heavy duty stuff and tried that. Nope.

Then I tried EVERY ******** THING I COULD THINK OF-- even at the risk of ruining the record I was testing it on. Soap and hot water, Fantastik, Witch Hazel, Goo Gone. Nope, nope, nope, nope.

So, I had called Audioquest about this issue and they said that "Record Doctor" cleaner would do the trick... only there AIN'T no such cleaner that I can find.

About the residue-- it's like the lefotover gunk that you see when you pull a sticky price tag off a box of Wheat Thins from your local supoermarket.

It won't come off. It won't.

Can anyone recommend a good cleaner that will take this crap off my LPs?

Do it for the old man, won't you?

Kofi

[audio-kraut]

Throw both away - the sorbothane mat and the records and start over again leaving the thorens mat alone. That should teach you to tweak...

I use my original thorens mat on my td 125 and underneath a 1/8 thin "closet liner", some foam material that looks like a net.

[DigitalJunkie]

Iso. alcohol?

Eek,I dunno.
I'm assuming anything stronger,like Acetone would probably ruin the records.

[pixpop]

Well, if it's left over adhesive, you could try goo-gone.

Alternatively, some kind of oil, e.g. olive oil. You would then have to remove the oil with detergent, but that's not too hard.

I've used both these techniques many times with success... only never on an LP. I do have some LPs with price tags on the label, and am planning to use goo-gone to get the residue off, but it's one of my rainy weekend projects. Hasn't rained here in months. Ho hum.

[heater]

Many years ago, when I had hair and it was long, a crazy young girl at a party jammed a big gob of chewing gum into my hair. This was her idea of a prank. I was getting a bit mad about this as I knew it would be hell to get out, but she said "Don't worry, watch this". So she then starts to rub peanut butter into the chewing gum making a nice mess. I guess I must have been drunk enough to let all this happen. Anyway surprise, surprise, the sticky chewing gum soon disolves and is then rinsed away with water in a trice. Amazing. Don't think I ever did see the girl again.

So if nothing else works try peanut butter

[jeff spall]

Hi, I think there's two possible liquids you could use:

first Isopropyl alchohol, which you can get from chemists and is used in a lot of commercial record-cleaning solutions. It's water-soluble so maybe dilute 50-50 with water and a bit of photographic wettng agent. (don't use wash-up liquid, it's full of all sorts of stuff nowdays!)

he second idea, and one that works really well on sticky labels etc., is lighter fuel, but *only* the Ronson brand one in the yellow cans. We used this way back when art studios were full of paper and stuff and cleaning either white art boards or even photographic film left no residue or marks at all. I mention Ronson, because whenever we had to buy another brand, there was always a visible ring where the fluid had been used.

regards, Jeff

[EC8010]

Originally posted by heater
Many years ago, when I had hair and it was long, a crazy young girl at a party jammed a big gob of chewing gum into my hair. This was her idea of a prank. I was getting a bit mad about this as I knew it would be hell to get out, but she said "Don't worry, watch this". So she then starts to rub peanut butter into the chewing gum making a nice mess. I guess I must have been drunk enough to let all this happen. Anyway surprise, surprise, the sticky chewing gum soon disolves and is then rinsed away with water in a trice. Amazing. Don't think I ever did see the girl again.

So if nothing else works try peanut butter

I can't comment on the efficacy of peanut butter, but that post made my day...

[DigitalJunkie]

Heh,I've heard similar stories of people using mayonnaise.

[pinkmouse]

I like the citrus based cleaners myself. They even clear up dried-on gaffa, (duct), tape residue.

[bulgin]

Hi Kofi

I feel for you. And I DID NOT SAY I HAVE FEELINGS FOR YOU!!!!

Here is something which will do the job. Turpentine. Just make sure the cloth you use is superclean, like a terry facecloth. I've used this stuff many times and it has never damaged any record. No smoking or lighting a barbeque fire while doing this, of course.

Wipe in the direction of the grooves and afterwards, rinse in cold deionised water and a bit of iso propyl alcohol.

I would be pretty p#ssed at the sellers of plattermats like this.

Hope it works

bulgin