A few ways to not really clean a record 

A few people asked if the record cleaner spray and micro fibre cloth I used at the end of the video on the normal record removed the noise. Unfortunately not. This spray/cloth was also how I’d attempted to clean the Trimicron record in the past before giving the other ideas you saw demonstrated a try. There are some links to the products in the video description text box.

The problem is plain to see. That record is covered with microscopic grooves and bumps. Give it a good polish with a Dremel and some polishing compound and it will be much quieter.

Your neighbours must wonder what the hell you are doing sometimes. Is he playing with the puppets again? No he's pressure washing a record.

This man woke up one day and decided he needed to power wash a Beethoven record. What an absolute delight and legend this man is.

only Techmoan would have a sink that is perfectly shaped to clean a record lol

> Somebody suggested pressure washing > It's the 8-bit guy I'm not even surprised. Maybe the feature is region-locked to Dallas, TX.

Just limit your record playing to the morning at breakfast time, when you are eating your Rice Krispies, and you won't notice!

An acetone bath for 24 hours will reduce crackles and scratches to zero... However this is because you will have nothing to play :D

1:58 didnt trust that first product when i saw they spelled "Cleaning" as "Cleanig"

Attempting to Powerwash a record is such an 8 Bit Guy thing to do. Next time he might tell you to Retrobright it or to try Baking Soda.

Some of the crackles were exactly the same in the before and after. That suggests record damage, or the product doing nothing. I think it's damage.

I've heard that pops and crackles also result from the decay of the record itself: some records were made using low quality vinyl mixtures that contained abrasives which broke down and created microscopic cracks in the grooves.

28 years as a DJ ... mostly used an ultra fine brush, whilst the record spun on the deck. Gotta say the best results were from a sink full of warm water, and a squirt of fairy liquid :) sad but true. There is a difference of course between the wide groove 12 inch vs the album. I got better results cleaning the 12" disc. All the best.....J

Nice update to the original video. Seeing a record power washed and scrubbed in the sink was fun and amusing.

I love how the box says, "Cleanig Pack". Quite a professional product 😂

When I started buying vinyl in my teen years the guy who's store I would shop at used to clean my purchases for no extra cost with an amazing machine that was like a cross between a record player & a vacuum cleaner. He'd pop some liquid on the side that needed cleaning and then switch the device on. It was about a minute per side and was pretty loud, but you could instantly tell the difference.

It seems to me your techniques are actually doing their cleaning job fine: they were full of dust, and then you looked again with the microscope and the dust was gone. So their job, in and off itself, is done correctly. That the vinyl still crackles, with no dust left, simply means the cracks didn't come from the dust to begin with.

I have never had very good success removing the kind of high frequency crackle heard in this video. I've tried water and soap, the Disco Antistat cleaner bath and the Okki Nokki record cleaning machine. The crackle became less, but never disappeared which leads me to believe this may be caused by worn out or damaged grooves. Imagine the noise is not caused by a piece of dirt in the goove but by a piece of vinyl missing from the walls of the groove.

After growing up with parents that never put their records back in sleeves (every record they collected from the 1950s to the 1980s, so not many left to scavenge from them) and thirty years of my own collecting...my methods: 1. If you get a new or like new vinyl record, or any clean old record, do everything you can to never have to wash it in the first place. Handle it carefully and never allow the record to end up anywhere other than back in the sleeve, temporarily placed on top of its own inner sleeve or on the turntable. Close the turntable lid if you don't want to immediately put the record back into its sleeve. 2. If you get a vinyl record that's only mildly dirty, a little dust or fingerprints, leave it if there's no real audio problems. If there are a few spots that are a problem, wipe gently with a microfiber cloth (used to be just a soft cotton cloth back in the old days) and STRAIGHT alcohol. 3. If you get a filthy vinyl record full of dirt and fingerprints or the main culprit, decades of cigarette gunk, go at it with a roll of paper towels and straight alcohol, folding the paper towels into small alcohol saturated squares and follow the groove with just the right amount of pressure from your fingertips, replacing with a new square as needed until the record is cleaned. If there are big chunks of dirt or makeup or dried milk or...bodily fluids, it's probably best to just start with a sink of soapy water to rinse it away. 4. Shellac or styrene records: Forget the alcohol. Use a cloth dampened with water, avoiding the label for mildly dirty records (or a quick, not too damp wipe of the label if its dirty too). A sink of warm, soapy water for the extra dirty stuff, doing the best you can to avoid getting the label wet. Wipe as dry as possible and then allow to dry completely before playing or returning to their sleeves. 5. Store your collection as far away from a kitchen as possible, and, from a former smoker, DON'T SMOKE AROUND YOUR RECORDS! After that, repeat step one. Keeping them clean in the first place is the only way to keep a record sounding as best as possible. But no matter what you do, the faint clicks and pops are inevitable. Not even if you live in a sterile museum where the only ones handling the records wear white gloves. The clicks and pops are still unavoidable if you want to enjoy your records. Embrace the surface noise...but not gouged/worn grooves. That's another thing entirely.

When I want my record clean I usually find myself at the courthouse. I either pay them off, or with Many hours of effort and dinners and fake emotions.

What I've learned from this video: Don't expect miraculous results after cleaning a record, whatever method you choose.

When I hear pops like that, I tend to think they're tiny scratches more often than dirt/dust. You should try this: An old school hip-hop DJ at my radio station showed me years ago, if your record is noisy like that, put down some water and let the stylus ride in a ring of liquid. It eats up all of those little pops, the difference is like night and day. When he told me this, I thought he was nuts, but it totally works. (At one point, people at the station were using a bottle of record cleaning fluid instead of water, but that ran out quick).

I love the fact that your kitchen sink is perfectly shaped for this task. 😂👌🏻

I recently got a job lot of really filthy 45's, using warm soapy water in a bowl with a dowel passed through the record's hole to allow it to spin in the water without the label getting wet. It worked pretty well, and in fact worked even better when the grooves were agitated with a soft brush. A lot less hassle than using glue!

I just buy the record in CD format, works every time.

I wonder at what point it's no longer dust or mold and just actual damage to the grooves. There's got to be a bit of wear that would be affecting it wouldn't there?

I avoid this issue in the first place by only playing the record once when in mint condition, and then immediately vacuum sealing the record and sleeve and storing in a nitrogen-filled controlled temperature vault. I record the initial playback onto MiniDisc for future playback, thereby preserving the superior pristine vinyl sound.

We DID learn something... we learned that pops and fizzes are not necessarily caused by dirt.

When I was in high school, in 1951, I had a record player that cost about $15 or so. It would play only 45's, and had an osmium needle. That did not last long, and the needle started jumping on the record. I put a pocket knife on the arm, held on by rubber bands, and that kept the arm on the record. It was sort of tough on the records, though, and they did not last as long as I wanted them to.

rather than use the microfiber cloth to dry it, as a microfiber cloth still can deposit lint on a record, especially in/over the groves. The best solution to clean/dry the record is to give the record a rinse or bath as you did in soapy water, but rather than dry it off with a cloth or microfiber cloth, instead after the water bath, rinse or submerge the record with 100%, or as close as possible, isopropyl alcohol. 1. The alcohol will displace any water left on the record after a wash. 2. 100% or as close as possible isopropyl will evaporate off the surface of the record in seconds after the rinse/bath in the alcohol, so you can skip the microfiber step and not risk depositing fresh dust/micro-lint on the record from the cloth which will just land you back at square 1. In my opinion, this is pretty much the best step you can take to cleaning a record outside of purchasing an expensive ultrasonic cleaner and special solution. Also don't forget to give the tip of the record player's stylus a clean, as any lint/dust stuck on it can be wedged between the needle and the grooves which can become audible when they hit certain angles of the walls of the groove or are being dragged/pushed along through the grove by the stylus the dirt/lint are stuck to. Always a cringe moment when people show a zoom in of the record after it's been cleaned while it's spinning on the record player and there's visible lint/hair/chunks of dust stuck to the tip of the stylus being dragged/pushed along.

Dear Techmoan, Most of those cleaning techniques work well, but practice is needed for perfect results. When washing records, wipe the record in an anti-clockwise direction, following the direction of the grooves. DO NOT SCRUB THEM like you were in your film as this can cause nasty surface damage. Same goes for the drying process (as important to get it right for good results), always dry in an anti-clockwise direction in a circular motion around the record until no more moisture is present (you can place the album on a clean towel & then dry each side with another, or do as I do & dry in a large towel, passing the record round & round steering wheel style). First play will always still sound noisey, but after a play or two & a quick clean of the stylus (with stylus fluid) it should sound perfect...if you have perfected your drying process... As for the goop technique, if you have to apply with your fingers, make sure you apply it as evenly as possible, avoiding ANY thin spots, this will prevent you leaving bits of goop in the grooves when you peel off. This advice comes from a lifetime of record collecting & in a professional capacity, as a mastering/cutting engineer (working as Cutsville). Digging the vids, specially the bonkers old format ones :-))) Best regards, Max "Cutsville" Quirk

I have been into vinyl records for about a year and a half now; and I have not yet bought a record cleaning machine - not even one of those Spin Clean things. I could probably afford one now; but my manual technique, which I am refining all the time, has given me salutary results: A. DRY BRUSHING, which should precede wet cleaning, to remove as much of the loose "highland" dust as possible and prevent it descending to the grooves: 1. Prepare cleaning fluid: 80 parts distilled water to 20 parts 100% isopropyl alcohol. 2. Put a rubber mat on turntable. Turn turntable up to 45 rpm (or 78 rpm if available). Take record out of old inner sleeve. (Always handle record with a microfibre cloth. It saves on wrist gymnastics). Use an arc lighter or similar to de-static surface of the record. Place record on platter. Turn on turntable. 3. Spray carbon fibre brush with distilled water. (This addresses a common paranoia about carbon fibre brushes - that they simply move dust around without lifting it. Trust me, the damp brush will lift it). Brush the surface of the record in the following manner - place at this angle: \ to the radius of the record. 4. Passively gather up dust for a couple of rotations; then brush the record in a series of back-and-forth movements PARALLEL to the grooves; then gather dust passively again, before pushing the brush quite firmly PERPENDICULAR to the grooves, towards the label. Lift brush off surface and examine brush for dust. Flick dust off the brush using the dust-flicker in the handle. Repeat until no further dust is lifted from surface. (Note that the parallel brushing should be confined to brushes that are not worn, since hairs will tend to shed if brush is worn). 5. Lift record off platter. While record is raised, use carbon brush to brush platter mat. Check brush for platter-dust and flick dust off hairs.Turn record to side B and place on platter. (Note that platter brushing requires using a rubber mat or similar, not felt. If you do not brush the platter mat, you will potentially transfer dust between sides, as you can see from the surprising amount of dust lifted from the mat between sides). Repeat cleaning of Side B as per step 4. B. WET CLEANING, whose purpose is to soak groove dust in an isopropanol solution, remove (an admittedly small amount of) this wet dust from the grooves on to a cloth, and to loosen up any remaining groove dust into a slurry for later removal. 6. Set up a work surface - namely, an LP box set with a terry-towel microfibre cloth on top. Place drybrushed record on the cloth. Place a plastic disc on the label to protect it. Spray Side A with the cleaning fluid. Let the fluid soak in; then run finger, covered in microfibre glasses cloth, along the grooves in a concentric spiral outwards to inwards. Bear down quite hard on the grooves at this point. Concentric spirals should be both clockwise and anticlockwise, and reverse directions frequently to encourage dust to come out. Check cloth periodically for residue and shift cloth around to make sure clean spots of cloth are used. Repeat on Side B. 7. You now have a record with damp loose slurry of dirt in grooves, of which a certain amount has been taken away on to the cloth, and the remainder is still in the grooves. Go to the shower. Grasping the disc with a microfibre cloth, flush the grooves quite thoroughly with high pressure cold tapwater. Repeat on Side B. Try to avoid wetting label. This is a substitute for vacuuming the surface of the record, and is intended to flush as much dirt out of the grooves as possible. 8. Your record is now cleaner than before, but a slurry of dirt remains in the grooves. It is also covered with tap water, which will leave a residue. Cover the label again with the plastic disc. Spray distilled water all over the surface very thoroughly, until it saturates and the water starts trickling off the lower edge into a convenient rubbish bin. Repeat on Side B. Your record is now wet with distilled water, which will leave no residue. 9. Air dry until surface is dry. For this use an all-plastic dish drainer, easily obtained from a large hardware shop. 10. When dry, your record now has a certain amount of loose, damp dirt still residing within the grooves. Place record on platter again. Increase weight on tonearm up to 4.15 grams (in my case, the maximum weight possible). Play the record with the weighted stylus three times. Use carbon fibre brush as per step 4. Inspect the brush for dirt and repeat until no visible dirt is lifted. Repeat for Side B. Your record is now clean.

Try an ultrasonic bath. I made my own system to revolve the record while in the ultrasonic tank. Works better than anything else I have tried...

I thought I was watching Solent Green when the Beethoven started playing - or am I just showing my age? When we got our first 'Hifi' - a Sharp Music Centre my Dad insisted we had to go through a cleaning process using a pad on which you sprayed liquid cleaner. To reduce dust being attracted to the record after using the pad, we then used an anti-static gun. To check the record for static we even had a static tester that contained two metal leafs that would move apart when static was detected. All this came in a kit from Boots the Chemist - back when they sold records!

Sometimes it's just down to the vinyl... I have multiple Harvest/EMI Wire records that were made from recycled vinyl around 1978 and sound like excrement

Actually, wood glue is made to go into tight spaces, so it may work on that Trimicron.

I must be a weirdo because the whole reason I love listing to my vinyl is the cracks and pops, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy like sitting in front of a open fire.

I'm starting to wonder if the noise and pops are due to dirt at all, and are due to physical wear and tear on the groove instead? I'm surprised that none of these methods made any significant difference. I would love to sync up some video with the playback, identify a particular pop and its location on the record, then do some proper microscopy to identify the source of the pop.

A different approach would be to clean the stylus.

I recall being told in the late 1970s, that when a vinyl record is played, any specks of dust on it actually get welded to the sides of the grooves by the passing stylus. If that’s true, no amount of non-solvent cleaning could make up for that. And I suspect that a solvent strong enough to remove such particles would also damage the vinyl itself.

Wow, looks like that Recopack didn't change the box design since the 70ies/80ies.

This is the one reason I felt CD's were FAR better than records when they arrived. Even if you do manage to clean a record perfectly, it isn't going to remain so unless you keep and play it in a Class 1 clean room :)

I've been cleaning / washing my records in slightly warm water with washing liquid in a sink for years.. Then it sits in the drying rack where plates normally would go for 30 minutes or so and done! I've once made the mistake by using a cheap bottle of washing liquid and that made the record release gunk every time it played for a long period of time but it recoved and is fine now so a better brand always helps. In my opinion, this is the best way to clean. Simple, it's free & works.

I learnt 3 things. Some of these record cleaning products available are expensive and don't work any better than washing up liquid and warm water, some records will never be crackle free no matter how hard you try to clean them and your new lights/clamp setup seem to be working really well! Think I'll buy the water proof clamp though, thanks for the review.

I've had really good luck with my Spin Clean. I collect CD-4 Quadradiscs and they need a very clean surface to work properly. The Spin Clean really does get into the grooves to clean out the gunk - you can even see the floaties in the water after doing a few records. I was lucky enough to score a sealed Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack LP. After putting that through the Spin Clean twice, the record has no static noise. It's so quiet, all you hear between songs is the sound of the stylus being dragged through the groove. I think other folks have hit the nail on the head - any surface noise left after pressure washing is probably groove damage.

I use a specially designed shop vac attachment that’s safe for records. Works like a charm.

Another great video, thank you for your great content you're one of my go to sources for old audio tech and I love that you always give a straight honest answer, its trustworthy. I hope this doesn't come across wrong but this video helped me not worry as much as my records have some static and pops, and I never seem to be able to get them down past a certain level. You probably saved a bit of money buying and trying all sorts of cleaning gadgets thinking I'm missing out on audio bliss or mistreating my records. Thanks!

been enjoying your programs lately, i've searched a lot over the years about cleaning vinyl and a lot of people say to use a small amount of dishwasher rinse aid to help break down the surface tension of the water so it can get in the grooves. i have paid up to £5 per record to have professionally cleaned but still did not notice much difference from just giving a wipe like you in the end. have a good day buddy.

can't beat waking up to a new techmoan video :) :) did anyone else think the box contained two big candles when you first opened it!? lolol love the idea of pressure washing, have you thought about sandblasting..lol great video :)

It's a great hint towards the quality of that Nagaoka Recopack when 'cleaning' isn't even spelled correctly on the main packaging.

For the dirt/dust mostly sits in the bottom of the grove, the most effective way to decrease problems with the cracking noise besides keeping your records clean and healthy is to take care of your stylus. A brand new stylus tip does not reach the bottom for it has contact with the flanks of the groove. That is where the sound is stored - in the flanks, not in the bottom. So the stylus is given a form, that leaves a tiny space between the tip and the bottom of the groove. As time goes by the parts of the stylus degrade which are in contact with the flanks of the groove. In consequence the stylus tip dips deeper into the groove, the chance of contacting dirt/dust increases and so does the cracking noise. The worst case is, that the stylus tip gets in contact with the bottom of the grove. This results not only in the most disturbing cracking, you have additional noise and distortion for the stylus has additional friction with the part of the grove which contains no sound information. So, depending how often you use your turntable, which type of stylus (sapphire or diamond, conical or eliptical) you use, how damaged and clean your records are, how good tracking force and antiskating (if your record player has that feature) are adjusted, you have different lifespans of your stylus. My quick and dirty recommondations: If you listen to 1 to 2 records a day... ...change a conical diamond once a year for they have a approximated lifetime of 500 hours ...change a elliptical diamond every 2 to 2,5 years for they have a approximated lifetime of 1000 hours ...change a *sapphire* stylus once every 3 *months* for they have a approximated lifetime of *only* 75 to 100 hours --sapphire styluses are often common in very low priced record players (e.g. crosley portable and comparable) --additionally those low price players have a high tracking force... --...and no anti-skating at all promoting one side wear for the tone arm is forcing the stylus towards the record center without anti-skating. ...do not wait, till your stylus is worn down completely ...you can adopt you intervals to your usage on basis the information given above. ...to avoid wasting money, alternativly let your stylus get checked by an expert in the intervals given above - if you have the chance to. ...check tracking force and - if featured - anti-skating settings of your turntable from time to time. ...if your stylus suffers from anything unusual --scratching over the whole record cause you accidentelly touched the tonearm while playing... --contact the platter for you accidentally pressed start without putting the record on... --landing hard on the record for the headshell fell off your fingers while picking a track... --anything else, which can damage your stylus... ...do not play any record until an expert checked your stylus. The worst thing that can happen: The sapphire/diamond disenganges from the cantilever basis to which it is normally glued to without your notice. The next record will be played on blank metal or whatever the cantilever is made of. Hope you find this information useful. Live long and prosper...and have fun with your records :-) Ah, and please excuse my english, i am not a native speaker.

Vinyl hasn't have to crackle free ! That's the charm of it 😉 Greets from Holland 🇳🇱

reminds me of an old liar's club saying...that he played his favorite record so much he could hear both sides at the same time

Try ultrasonic and a anti static hairdryer, you will never want anything else. It plays quiet and you can do multi records simultaniously. It is also much cheaper to run. Pressure washing doesn't get the water in the grooves (surface tension) you need an additive to lower that. Drying a record with a cloth will on get more dirt in and also make it static.

Actually, more often than not the crackling you here is not caused strictly by surface dust or dirt embedded in the groove, although the latter is a cause due to its persistent nature. In the mid-1960's when I got interested in hi-fi there was a move to low point mass stereo moving magnet cartridges with ultra low tracking weights. Forerunners in this were Shure, with their V15 range, ADC with their 10E series, Pickering, and which would happily track at around 1gm to 1.5gm, but they did need a low mass arm to achieve this. One driving force was the damage caused to the vinyl by playing weights that exceeded the elasticity point of vinyl. This is crucial to record wear. The physical movement of the stylus could reach up to 20G, and at these levels the heat generated actually melts the vinyl briefly after which it should return to its prior state. However, increasing tracking weight actually pushes the vinyl beyond its elasticity point that it doesn't return fully to its prior state and it is this distorted groove that on subsequent playings simply distorts more. In other words, causing irreparable damage to the groove. Damage also occurs when playing at too low a tracking weight for which the cartridge was designed. In this case, the damage really is physical as instead of maintaining contact with the groove. the stylus bounces around in it and "crashes" into the sides of the groove literally gouging the groove in the process. A fourth cause of record crackle is, of course, static electricity.

For afficionados of the jet wash idea, try using a water dental flosser-its more convenient than taking your vinyl out into the garden on a cold winter's day and you can use distilled water instead of tap water.

You should also clean the stylus... it’s probably coated with dust, skin particules... etc

It would be a quick video he said *Proceeds with a still 13 min long video* Never change.

The best results I got were from ultrasonic cleaning. Expensive setup (ultrasonic tank + spinner) but it will give your records a new value.

What’s a few crackles between friends, that’s vinyl. I like it!

I had the Recopack kit almost 30 years ago! It worked well though not so well that I ever bought replacement fluid for it. The applicator is badly thought out and pretty useless on even a slightly warped record, especially on the included, label only, support. The thing is, cleaning the dust, pollen and other deposits from a record will not remove all noise - some of which will be groove damage, scratches and, particularly with pressings from the 70s until the recent revival, crappy recycled vinyl 🤣. BTW I also use one of those 'scopes. They're great if you want to carefully and completely clean the stylus of an expensive MC cartridge (also a lot cheaper than a decent macro lens).

Love the videos, I’m old enough to remember when many of the machines you’ve demonstrated were supposedly the future, and it’s rather funny seeing them becoming cool again. I’ve been battling noise on LPs since I was a teenager and no pressing is perfect. I used to annoy the record department staff in WH Smiths in the 80s by continuously returning scratched records until I got a good copy, and they were nearly ALWAYS scratched for some reason. I'm sure some retailers employed professional 'record abraders'. If you keep records clean from new, and only play them on good gear then they don’t get noisy. I have LPs over 40 years old which sound as good as the day I bought them. I still play them as I like the sound of vinyl albums, am a bit nostalgic, and appreciate the sleeve art, but they are definitely a flawed medium. If I was young now though, I probably wouldn’t be bothered :) For records which are noisy due to dirt but otherwise well looked after, I’ve started using Winyl gel, a recent discovery for me, which is also a film product, but rather easier to apply than the stuff you demoed. Provided the LP is just dirty, and not scratched or worn, I’ve found the result in some cases to be a dramatic improvement, but it does vary, depending on the nature of the noise. Secondhand records which may have been in damp basements or attics for years not only have dust but often fungus too. Winyl shifts both. It also seems to produce an increase in playback clarity in addition to less noise and static charge.

I've had a couple of records and I've tried the wood glue. It sort of works for some things. I've also washed a couple using warm soapy water and very clean, dry microfiber cloths. Now that made a significant improvement to the ones I tried it on. Once dried I was impressed. I probably wouldn't try it on my DSOTM solid triangle copy or other high value items, but for charity shop purchases where it looks like the surface has patches of "fuzzy mould" on it had results.

Hey thanks, you have a good delivery. I haven’t really decided what works good yet, I’m in the process

A good product to try is the Vinyl Styl Deep Groove Record Washer. It's a simple plastic basin with 2 vertically mounted brushes inside. Also has a label protector! It has brought hundreds of records back to life for me.

There is only one solution: Nanobots!

That was all interesting stuff in the end I went for a project II as yet to use but will get round to it.

Dear Analogue Buddy👋😄!!! Thank YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! Warmest Regards my friend!!! You're doing a great favour for us! Always look forward to seeing you. Makes me smile🤗 May you have a lovely audio and musical journey ahead Buddy!🎶🎵🎶🎶💪💪💪😄

A stiff wire brush and oven cleaner followed by wet sanding with 400 grit sandpaper. Obviously!

I’m sensing another episode of techmoan vs the 8 bit guy involving pressure washers at 30 paces

After the sink cleaning, I heard an improvement.

Here's what I do and it works! Wash the record in warm soapy water with a very soft cloth or toilet tissue - really soak it! Wipe off the suds and spray some WD40 on the cloth you just used - just a small amount and coat the record. Then wash off the residue with soapy water such that you are only leaving a minimum of the oil, Dry carefully and use a lint free polishing cloth to finish. I have found that this brings old vinyl around well, kills static and leaves a lubricated groove for your needle! I was told never to do this before I tried it and thought that sounds like a recommendation and did the right thing and did it and I am very pleased I did!

Well, they do make ultrasonic record-cleaning machines. They are rather expensive, but much more effective.

I use a CNC lathe with a horizontal mounted VNMG .004R insert and feed into the groove at 33 RPM. Is this okay?

I have no idea why I’m watching this or how I ended up watching it, but I’m intrigued. This was a nice watch.

I learned about the label protection thing ... very nice! I'd use only water perhaps with some neutral detergent on the first rinse for the eventual grease. Water will help remove the static from the record and hence help remove dust from deep in the grooves. I also would use a natural hair brush (make-up brushes for blush are great) instead of a sponge. Also, the drying in the end might be putting dirt and static back in the record - try a natural dry. For now, my albums will stay dirt until I find a good and afordable way of cleaning them. Those automatic machines are great but 3,000 Euros is way off my budget.

8:52 good to see that retro computer cases aren't the *only* things he power sprays in his driveway.

of COURSE the 8bit guy would suggest pressure washing

That first method reminded me of the record piracy in the 70's. People would pour latex over records to make a mould and then pour acrylic (or similar) into the mould

I thought you were pulling my leg when you said to wash them in the sink. But my mind was blown away when the 8bit guy suggested to pressure wash them.♥️

A long time ago (the sixties) we would balance a coin on the cartidge so the record wouldn't jump a groove, it kinda worked, but records didn't survive long. I learnt later to look after my vynil.

Back in the day I used the Pixall sticky roller ….but hey the static and crackles give my records character..

I just recently started using the warm water in the sink method, with a bit of dishwashing liquid, and I get extremely good results. I actually had a record that skipped on both sides but after washing it with this method, both skips were gone and of course the record was much cleaner. I don't use a sponge like your example, though; I like to use my hands. I can actually feel the grooves and how ultra-clean the surface is.

Love the Pressure washing a record :) 9:35 - I'm setting up a pressure washing line up in my Drive first thing in the morning. I think using some good pre spray will do the trick Thx !

6:40 - I looked at both waveforms and there indeed was absolutely no difference, all of the pops that were on the dirty record were still present on the “cleaned” one.

Great show. I've always liked vinyl....well let me state, I've always loved new vinyl on very nice turntable. I listen to digital music these days and I don't miss the crackling or what sounds like a cat pulling it's claws from a trash bag. It just seems no matter how much money invested in vinyl and equipment, you always get that noise. Thank you for sharing.

I definitely love this channel!

I stored some singles in a damp basement where they got a bit musty with mildew. Talk about crackle and pop when they were played. I cleaned them with some plain water in a small ultrasonic bath and wow, what an astonishing transformation!

I’ve heard that vinyl actually retains static, and that causes a lot of the crackling we normally blame on dust. I know there are products/methods for discharging the static, but haven’t tried them myself.

I'm not familiar with the material properties of vinyl; what will damage or affect it. I've never cleaned a record before, either. But I have cleaned other opjects. I wonder if there might be a way to clean that tri-micron record. Here are some ideas… I've found that mixing anhydrous ethanol with concentrate dish soap, and working it into even the most impossible congealed grease from a deep fat frying machine, or a baking pan, will remove it. Important thing to remember with this though: Do not add water to the mixture until your ready to wash it off. (I think that one or both of the substances in the mixture have a stronger preference for water, than they do with eachother. So they separate.) It should be noted that Concentrate dish soap seems to actually dissolve into the anhydrous ethanol, because the viscosity seems to match that of the ethanol. It's also a -really- slippery mixture. Another idea, that is at this point, entirely theoretical, is carbonating some wood glue, or maybe some Elmer's school glue, with a soda machine, to create an expanding foam to turns into a flexible thing you can remove. You might need to water the glue down a smidgeon, to lower its viscosity, so it can get into the groove of things. Not sure how water affects wood glue, but it should be fine with Elmer's glue. One thing I'm curious about, is if carbonic acid have an effect on vinyl. Carbonic acid being something that forms from water combining with carbon dioxide under pressure, when it dissolves into it. I also heard that that's what mainly damages your tooth enamel when you drink soda. …Anyway… The idea is to lift the particles of stuff out of the grooves, instead of pressing down on it and hoping it sticks. Here's a third idea. I don't know why it would work, but it seems to work on a lot of things… Try WD-40 on your vinyl record? No idea what it would do.

used to use a zerostat antistatic gun and a D4 Discwasher kit back in the day. Both are still available. Good luck!

I use the wood glue treatment, titebond 2, and it works on about 2/3 of the records I apply it to. Of course each record has gotten 2 wet wash and dry passes, previous to the glue method. Further, a change in stylus choice, a different shape may alleviate some of this noise. a Microline stylus often rides in virgin groove even if the record is 50 years old.

Could it be that the crackles and pops are caused by micro scratches in the record that you can't see except under a high power microscope? Or are they the result of static electric discharges between the record and the stylus (like a Wimshurst machine)? In the first case, the record can't be cleaned, it's actually damaged at a microscopic level. In the second case, is there any method to "discharge" a record of static electric charge before playing it?

Those crackles are probably little scratches on the record itself. One of my LP's I often listen to is U2 The Joshua Tree released circa 1987 and it definitely looks its age. But it still sounds great. Even with a huge scratch on one side, strangely you can't hear it whilst playing. Every record seems develop its own character over time.

I've used a similar product as that first solution before. It worked great on records so filthy that they were unplayable. It at least restored them to playable condition so long as the grooves were okay. I used it on a copy of Alice Cooper's Welcome to my Nightmare which I got for pocket change as it was being sold as unplayable due to a massive amount of some kind of gunk on more than half the record. It was like coffee, or maybe some kind of syrup. It fixed that record up just fine. I didn't pay 40 Euros though. I paid about 20aud if I remember correctly. The stuff was extremely similar in colour and viscosity to the stuff you showed in this video.

Great video! Never seen anyone clean a record with a pressure washer wow. I've been on the fence about how to go about cleaning my records. I considered buying the Spin Clean record washer and at the price point its not a bad deal. Thing is i don't have very many dirty record so for now going cheap route wood glue and record cleaning solution and microfiber towel.

This is why they make record cleaning machines that vacuum dust off of records. Once dust gets down into the groove it's almost impossible to get it out without a vacuum cleaner. It's amazing how well they work.

It puts the lotion in the groove or it gets the hose again.... Sorry couldn't resist.

Keep them spotlessly clean Mr Moan. I find wet cleaning on my Moth Record Cleaning machine produces reduced surface noise and a great sound

I’m so glad you made this video! You saved me a ton of money haha