Ultimately, what should you use to loosen impurities before trying to use your home vacuum? What miracle formulas do vinyl cleaning machine manufacturers use? They are probably not something special, only that keeping it a secret ensures the sale of the replacement fluid, which I suspect must be the real deal, something like printer inks, inevitably when you go to use it after a while of inactivity, the cartridge is out of stock or dry.
Maybe someone tried this method ......
How To Deep Clean Your Vinyl Records With Wood Glue… And Ten Things That You Shouldn’t Use To Clean Your LPs – Every record tells a story
How To Deep Clean Your Vinyl Records With Wood Glue… And Ten Things That You Shouldn’t Use To Clean Your LPs – Every record tells a story
Not really. Quite stable for the most part. The trouble starts when you add heat. The Hydrogen chloride gas will basically drown you from the inside out if you breathe enough of it.
It it were me and I had access to these fancy microscopes, I would water down some hydrochloric acid to beyond even muriatic acid and do like Pano, grab some old records. Run them through a regular disk washer or sonic washer first to get most of the crud out then apply the acid solution and have a look at what it's doing. Don't worry about the PVC, it's immune to acid but it's a good idea to water it down just for the applicator.
As Galu observed, when I cleaned all the grunge out of my Nirvana albums, there was nothing left. 😀
I thought was had some CLR here, which is a weak acid for removing lime and scale, but we don't have any left. Muriatic acid should work too, I'll check the hardware store next week.
I thought was had some CLR here, which is a weak acid for removing lime and scale, but we don't have any left. Muriatic acid should work too, I'll check the hardware store next week.
Whilst I have been tempted with an ultrasonic unit I've come to the conclusion that, once visible surface crud is removed then if it still sounds noisy then its likely to be damaged. BUT I have had a few where first play after a clean pulls a huge amount of crud out which has made me consider having a crud-off stylus for this purpose. Extreme profiles such as the Namiki MicroRidge and the Gyger signature have a problem where they bottom out after 300-500 hours so getting a part worn stylus and just removing a bit of the tip will give a stylus that will get deeper into the groove than any other and so clean out the crud. First attempt to get this done ended up with a stylus loss so I'll have to wait until I wear another stylus out to try it again. It would make the cleaning process tortuous, so only for cases that are really cruddy and worth recovering.
So scrub, rinse, vac, play, rinse vac would be the sequence. Too much hassle in most cases.
PVC in a pure form is quite brittle. Therefore, besides some thermo stabilizers (PVC is only stable up to approx. 180degC), it contains a lot of other additives to make it a suitable material for technical applications. Using some acids to clean vinyl discs may dissolve these addititives and change surface properties as a consequence.
Furthermore, PVC is not stable against hydrocloric acid ! (also not stable against nitric acid and sulfuric acid)
Furthermore, PVC is not stable against hydrocloric acid ! (also not stable against nitric acid and sulfuric acid)
I have heard of the wood glue cleaning method, but have not tried it. so can't comment on how much of the grunge is removed or is not removed.
Maybe that should be an experiment - groove micro photos, followed by wood glue cleaning application followed by more groove micro photos. I do not know how well the wood glue is at wetting the vinyl surface; i.e. does it really wet and get into the grooves or does it just sit on top of the surface and dry?
Regardless of how a person removes the carbonate from the bottom of the groove, you really have to hear your favorite record without the grunge. You will be shocked at how much more information is coming through your system.
Would be great if someone else besides me could report on the sonic improvement. If someone in the US is interested, I would be willing to take photo micro graphs of their record, clean it multiple times, retake post cleaning images and return to them - if they were willing to report on their listening audition post cleaning.
Maybe that should be an experiment - groove micro photos, followed by wood glue cleaning application followed by more groove micro photos. I do not know how well the wood glue is at wetting the vinyl surface; i.e. does it really wet and get into the grooves or does it just sit on top of the surface and dry?
Regardless of how a person removes the carbonate from the bottom of the groove, you really have to hear your favorite record without the grunge. You will be shocked at how much more information is coming through your system.
Would be great if someone else besides me could report on the sonic improvement. If someone in the US is interested, I would be willing to take photo micro graphs of their record, clean it multiple times, retake post cleaning images and return to them - if they were willing to report on their listening audition post cleaning.
I tried the wood glue (PVA) method decades ago. It goes deep into the grooves indeed, but I noticed some issues.
- It is difficult to apply it evenly. At thin spots it tears, and difficult to peel off. Thin patches remain here and there, especially at the edges. If one tries to scrath them off with fingernails, the record will be damaged.
- It generates static electricity when peeling off, which immediately attracts dust. Your record would be full of dust particle on its surface.
- You have to wait to dry it overnight.
Laying a thin piece of paper on top of the PVA helps peel it off.
- It is difficult to apply it evenly. At thin spots it tears, and difficult to peel off. Thin patches remain here and there, especially at the edges. If one tries to scrath them off with fingernails, the record will be damaged.
- It generates static electricity when peeling off, which immediately attracts dust. Your record would be full of dust particle on its surface.
- You have to wait to dry it overnight.
Laying a thin piece of paper on top of the PVA helps peel it off.
Johnss, do you have any recomendation for a surfactant?
I have a Hannl (now Nessie) Record Cleaning Machine. Mr. Hannl once told me that the cleaning agent was developed by a chemist and it didn’t contain any alcohol but among other things a surfactant.
I used it for a while but then I started to mix my own to safe money. It was the classic pure water, IPA and wetting agent mix.
I never investigated it, but there were audible differences when I cleaned the records with the Hannl cleaner and the one I made myself…
Cheers, Boris
I have a Hannl (now Nessie) Record Cleaning Machine. Mr. Hannl once told me that the cleaning agent was developed by a chemist and it didn’t contain any alcohol but among other things a surfactant.
I used it for a while but then I started to mix my own to safe money. It was the classic pure water, IPA and wetting agent mix.
I never investigated it, but there were audible differences when I cleaned the records with the Hannl cleaner and the one I made myself…
Cheers, Boris
Of course, with post #100 he will offer his own, top secret ingredient cleaning lubrication.
Just pay $19.99 and you will receive audio nirvana right after applied to all your records.
Why not create problems at areas where never before were one?
My records sound superb, and with superb I mean superb. Just DIY the right equipment and you'r done.
Never did spend one minute thinking about that "problem".
Just pay $19.99 and you will receive audio nirvana right after applied to all your records.
Why not create problems at areas where never before were one?
My records sound superb, and with superb I mean superb. Just DIY the right equipment and you'r done.
Never did spend one minute thinking about that "problem".
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So please tell us how you determined the chemical composition of femtogram quantities of material with 99.9% accuracy please.
Maybe. The people with golden ears think so.
I read about many people who don't think they can hear records without this or that treatment prior to listening.
If thats true, I can assure you, records sound excellent, even without cleaning.
But for that, you need a top notch hifi audio system. And if you don't have that to enjoy, there is some treatment necessary...
My records sound stunning, right after playing for the first time without any treatment.
So you see, its possible. And I don't need the extra 1% benefit to audition first class sound.
I read about many people who don't think they can hear records without this or that treatment prior to listening.
If thats true, I can assure you, records sound excellent, even without cleaning.
But for that, you need a top notch hifi audio system. And if you don't have that to enjoy, there is some treatment necessary...
My records sound stunning, right after playing for the first time without any treatment.
So you see, its possible. And I don't need the extra 1% benefit to audition first class sound.
Cleaning a new record doesnt make an audible difference, I just see the stuff that comes off of it...
I see! 😎
But, following the discussion, couldn't some of that 'stuff' actually be 'good' stuff?
OK, I'm being flippant. Just ignore me!
But, following the discussion, couldn't some of that 'stuff' actually be 'good' stuff?
OK, I'm being flippant. Just ignore me!
I see that my previous post on removing noise from vinyl was well targeted. A vinyl cleaning with physical means, whatever the method or the formulas of the liquids to be used, will not be as effective as electronic means.
And we won't spend hours of our lives cleaning, just put your favorite vinyl on the TT and enjoy.
A product to enjoy vinyl without noise
I prefer a vague "veil" over a soloist's voice (if there is one) and not an untimely outbreak that spoils my "hypnotic trance" ....😀
There is only one drawback as most of us will be able to realize ...... the cost! I also imagine that those who have the possibility to order one of these artifacts do not love their vinyls as much as the poor like me ...😉
And we won't spend hours of our lives cleaning, just put your favorite vinyl on the TT and enjoy.
A product to enjoy vinyl without noise
I prefer a vague "veil" over a soloist's voice (if there is one) and not an untimely outbreak that spoils my "hypnotic trance" ....😀
There is only one drawback as most of us will be able to realize ...... the cost! I also imagine that those who have the possibility to order one of these artifacts do not love their vinyls as much as the poor like me ...😉
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<I have quite a significant amount of vinyls, in varied conditions, "mint" (very few), many others well cared for but invariably when I listen to them, "clicks and pops" always appear isolated, and from the others, whic....>
I can assure to you, that is much more a problem of your record player system than its with the original LP's.
Otherwise, if you don't want that noise, get a CD player or digital streamer.
Or get a real LP player system that doesn't have those problems at all.
Thats the most effective way to get rid of those problems. But beware of tinkering around the records with some special fluids etc. Thats for sure the wrong way.
I can assure to you, that is much more a problem of your record player system than its with the original LP's.
Otherwise, if you don't want that noise, get a CD player or digital streamer.
Or get a real LP player system that doesn't have those problems at all.
Thats the most effective way to get rid of those problems. But beware of tinkering around the records with some special fluids etc. Thats for sure the wrong way.