How To CLEAN & RESTORE Vintage Vinyl Albums | Discs & Covers 

Wow, I always wondered what that "EMITEX" looked like :D

I know someone who sprayed his signed Cold Chisel album cover with hair-spray and discovered how to remove marker-pen writing. :)

While I won’t use wood glue on my playable LPs to keep them clean, when you have a truly noisy record that has visual grunge, the wood glue method actually provides the most improvement as a first step. Afterward then a proper cleaning method to ensure residue removal is complete. Just my experience on resurrecting the worst of the worst.

The most interesting part is the Emitex record cleaner ad was shown on the back every Beatles UK albums as well as the Tamla Motown albums.

Back in the 1960‘s here in Australia, we had Clenidisc “The miracle liquid record cleaner”, and Fredorec “The safe record cleaning sponge”. These products were advertised on the back of the pale pink Parlophone 7’ sleeves here in Australia, and feature on some of my Aussie Beatles singles.

I think that wood glue method, while very tricky, is very effective, if done correctly. This is the method I use for most of my records, and it never failed me yet. I must've cleaned 500 records that way. I've had records that played like VG due to old dirt in the grooves, and after upplying wood glue, they played almost like NM.

Great to learn more and more from you! Great video as always

Very interesting and very helpful. Thanks Andrew for the usual quality infos.

This helped a lot, I’ve started collecting records, but I was quite unfamiliar on how to clean them. Also, loved the intro

Thank you Andrew for sharing that with us I love the fact that you can clean vinyl records. I have my very first cleaning machine I’ve started to clean all of my records so that way they would sound better I have a thought about cleaning the record covers great idea especially with the Beatles 45s and albums.

For people like us,this was great...i subbed you...i knew most of it but still was great!

Another great video with some really helpful tips, thank you Andrew!

Nice video Andrew. That Watt's Dust Bug brought back a few memories! Cheers.

That last tip to clean the flip back edges is a revelation! I always thought that was just wear. On to get some cue tips!

Faab Andrew. Had never seen an Emitex exemplar before. Very informative

You are great . Thanks for all

Great video as always. I particularly like the intro, with the opening shots timed perfectly to the music. Very professional.

Another enjoyable and informative video.. thank you Andrew.

Thank you for sharing Andrew!

Again...I learn something new! I tried hard to keep my vinyl clean but once in a while there was The Woody Allen moment! Great vid again!! really informative!!

Loved this and saved it, I will be going ‘back’ through my collection and cleaning up those rear edges!

Helpful video, Andrew.

I love record cleaning arm I had one in the 70s very is interesting as usual thanks l

A good video with useful tips. I recently bought a Loricraft RCM, having previously cleaned records by hand. The Loricraft is a game changer.

I’ve found using the Spin Clean, which basically gets the record wet and manually scrubs the grooves, followed by the Nitty Gritty vacuum machine works very well. $1 budget vinyl can sound back NM as long as there are no actual scratches. It doesn’t fix truly bad grooves but does take out all of the grime and dirt packed in the grooves after 50+ years.

This stuff is priceless !!! Love your videos !!!

Thank you so much for the history!

Very interesting video! With some treasured albums I store the record in a new inner sleeve preserving the original (within the cover) as they tend to wear with use to the point of splitting sometimes.

Great video! Can’t wait to try some of these techniques

Great episode Andrew. It´s therapautic man!

Very informative Andrew. I like the background music too🙂

What a treat to see the Emitex cleaner for the first time, after reading countless ads on inner sleeves and sometimes even boldly printed on the actual jacket.

4:30 - I was introduced to the Disc Preener over 50 years ago! I bought one myself. They were available separately (at least in The States). I've never seen that fancy chrome version.

Brilliant! Cleaning the flip back edges was a revelation, didn’t realize it could be done.

Another great video. Super work!

Even your cleaning video is super interesting and full of history. Many thanks Andrew!

That, sir, was a masterclass! Thank you.

I'd just watch this guy cos he knows exactly what he's doing. No waffle, no blagging; a knowledgeable man. Not many of those, around.

Brilliant thank u so much for your help

I really love your channel; very informative!

Thanks for this! I found a first pressing Beatles For Sale for £2 but it was beaten up badly, glad I saw this video!

Fantastic video

I loved this! Great production, also.

BEST video I've ever seen on the topic. Especially for the covers. My older brother heard the pencil eraser trick worked on the White Album best of all around 1972 or so. When I worked in used records, if I found a White Album cover that was in generally good repair (US covers with no split edges or writing, etc.), I would give them the eraser once over.

I have had success cleaning album covers with a "dry cleaning sponge", a product used in archival libraries for delicate antique books. Lifts dirt, and can reduce brown foxing, and remove smudges from the non-laminated areas with little scrubbing effort.

I had a "Parostatik Disc Preener" not too long ago. It was actually pretty good for an initial clean of very filthy records.

I'm a Korean Beatles fan who collects albums I learned a lot from your video Thank you

Great tip for cleaning the back covers with a rubber. I have hundreds of records for sale with dirty back covers and I'm going to try that on some of them.

I've just stumbled upon your video's and find them extremely informative and well presented. The background information you give on everything is fascinating and very helpful. I've got rid of all my PVC covers thanks to you, and bought PVC free ones. Excellent channel which i will recommend to friends, I'm subscribed now. Many Thanks.

My back cover was terrible, but with this information I made a slight Improvement bit it cleaned up the flipbacks nicley, but the cigar stains are annoying. Thank you! awesome job!

Love these vids! :)

I would caution people to be very careful cleaning the fold over tabs of a copy of Revolver. I ruined a good copy by slightly smearing the black photo with a little isopropol on a Q-tip.

I love watching you ♡

can you do a video of just cleaning a record and jacket? I found those parts of this video fascinating and satisfying :)

I just recently bought a Pro-Ject vacuuming system used off of someone locally to me and it has been one of the best investments I’ve made!

Wow that’s A great video that you made Andrew I would love to keep all my record and tape whether it be 78 4533‘s even all the Beatles albums. I am the type of collector who loves to collect lots of stuff as long as it is in very good condition especially when it comes to the Beatles and I love the warm sound of vinyl there’s nothing like it.

Totally Fab!

I use "Magic Eraser" on the covers, just dampen and rub but stop before the print starts to come off. Wet it, squeeze it out and go over quickly and than wipe off with a clean rag.

Thank you; most helpful

Over the years, my record cleaning has evolved from just using cloths and brushes to a cheap wet cleaning machine, then a vacuum RCM and I’ve just order the Degritter ultrasonic machine. Expensive, yes, but my collection and system now justify it. I want my records to sound their absolute best and remain in top condition for when my kids inherit them… 😁. Great tips on cleaning the outer sleeves!

Very informative

I remember the dust bug, I used it on my first record player, I can remember my father buying a lot of the things you've shown from the 60's and 70's, those were the days! The dust bug was okay as long as you only used a drop of the fluid, but I swear overtime the brush got hard and damaged the records!

I never saw this video before, but I cleaned the back of my vintage Please Please Me LP (UK) cover exactly this way, with a cotton stick and IPA.

I have a velvet cleaner that you hold over the rotating record to gather the dust. It fits in it's own little velvet-lined case. Probably bought it sometime in the 70's. Didn't know Sgt. Pepper record was that valuable. Mine (US) still has the original inserts. All my Beatles album were loved and played often back in the day.

I just cleaned the rear flipbacks on a couple of very dirty LP covers, as you demonstrated, and they look manifestly better than before! It's a shame that nothing much can be done to cure the yellowing that a great many covers suffer from.

I have always cleaned the laminate and flip back with Surgical spirit gentle and buffed with a dry soft cloth

Great channel love the content. I used to have a loricraft, but I found that it left very fine scratches on the vinyl surface. Would be curious to see if you have ever noticed it? If you get a chance look at the area where the run out groove is. Under a strong mine used to show faint concentric lines. Sometimes the lines would have gaps where the arm would bounce ever so slightly.

A really nice informative video for novices new to this record cleaning caper . As for me i still have my original Watt's Dust Bug with a good supply of spare velvet roller pads and nylon bristle brushes . I also still have the original Parostatik Disc Preener and the Parastat Brush . Also still have EMITEX velvet record cleaner and one of those Philips Record Cleaning Cloths alongside a multitude of other record cleaning brands . .Fine for a general clean and once over . However like you state the best thing to use is a record cleaning machine for a really deep clean and scrub up. I have been applying all those record sleeve cleaning methods for decades now . I tend to give the laminated cover a final spray and polish with a light coating of good old Mr Sheen furniture polish for a really high shine that also act as protective coating .

Lp cleaning machines are expensive, but as you indicated, I bought my NittyGritty vacuum machine in the early '90s and it still works great. I also use an enzyme based fluid. Love your vids!

Informative video, Andrew. I would like to share something I've stumbled on and been doing for years that may sound crazy - but works every time. For cleaning and restoring laminated covers, I first use tissue and some Windex (or similar) to remove dirt from the front and flip backs on the back. I use cotton swabs on the back flip backs. Then, I put a couple of drops of Novus #2 Fine Scratch Remover on a clean tissue and apply a section at a time to the front cover and cotton swab the flip backs. Novus is a light carnauba wax that dries very quickly and will make the treated area look "foggy" in appearance a few seconds after application once dry. Then, I use another clean tissue or soft cotton and buff out the treated area. The end result is a glass like, shiny laminate that is virtually scratch free and looks brandy new again. The results will amaze you. A second application may be needed if the laminate has heavy ring wear. This will not work on non laminate surfaces. Novus costs between $4. and $5. for 2 fluid ounces. I use MoFi "1" cleaning fluid to hand clean vinyl. Cheers.

I’ve had ring marks on the laminated EMI sleeves. Using car polish like autoglym got rid of the ring marks to a immaculate shinny finish on the laminated sleeve.

I have seen the advertisements for Emitex on the Beatles albums and inner sleeves. But this is the first video that explained the Emitex was a pre soaked paper wipe. I had the impression that it was a type of fluid in a spray bottle.

I recently got a HumminGuru, my first ultrasonic machine. I paid $479.00 and after 100+ records I'm very happy with it. It is compact, easy to use and I have had great results, and yes, even with my older Beatles records. I bought the HumminGuru brand surfactant to go into the distilled water (two drops per 400ml of water). I previously used the Spin-Clean. Great video!

I use a warm damp cloth withe 3 drops of rubbing alcohol then apply to vinyl moving in a circular motion been doing that for long while without issues great opening to an informative video

The Loricraft cleaning machine is essentially a re-issue of the Keith Monks machine from 40 years ago. They clean fairly well, but I experienced some scratching from the Monks unit that left some very audible "schlurps" on my audiophile vinyl. I was not pleased. You give passing mention to sonic and cavitation type machines. I have not tried purely sonic cleaners but the cavitation principle really gets deeply down in the groove to remove ground in dirt and mould release, leaving a nearly new-sounding disc that formerly was very gritty and noisy. Kirmuss Audio makes an excellent cavitation cleaner that can handle 3 albums at once and is available from them direct for $870. Some friends and I pooled our hardly-earned cash to purchase one and have not regretted the substantial outlay. There are other similar (and vastly dearer) units out there which I'm sure work as well at least. And the Kirmuss employs both sonic and cavitation action. Another tip for improved vinyl sound: a new stylus, or even better, a new cartridge employing a Shibata or Line Contact stylus. Old records were mostly played with a spherical stylus or an elliptical, which is basically a spherical stylus with the front and back ground off. These types have a very small contact area, which wears out the middle of the groove ultimately. By switching to a much higher profile stylus, you would then be tracing the unworn upper and lower areas of the groove. But it is essential first to thoroughly clean the record before playing, in order to remove the accumulated dirt etc. from the heretofore untraced parts of the groove.

Very fine ideas for covers. Records clean best in a ultrasonic. With care.

I use Emitex while drying my hair with a Morphy Richards hair drier with my mate Fran ;)

Cool video! Thanks! I powerwash my records!😆😜✌

Interesting video. I use a spray and velvet brush and is good for my needs.I avoid anything with bristles as I have found over the years that too my bristles come off and end up being undidected on the black vinyl service of my records. Only noticed this when I used the brush on one of my white vinyl records.

I use windex and a suitable paint brush to clean records while they're revolving on the turntable.

Always used Duraglit wadding for laminated covers. Go over with the wadding. Remove residue with toilet roll, and buff with soft/microfibre cloth. It can really make a difference to tired-looking covers. Also good for taking light scratches out of perspex and CD cases. Oh, apart from a soft rubber, white bread(!) can sometimes clean grubby-looking card.

My little tip: If there is writing made with a ballpen on the laminated part of the cover, you can use hairspray (apply to a cotton pad and rub gently) in order to rub it off. Won't work on non-laminated surfaces though (for example, if the ballpen has broken through the laminate, and of course on the back side).

I use distilled water 50% and isopropyl 50% mixture. I spray onto the vinyl and use a fine microfiber cloth, works a treat.

Hello, very nice video. I have the first press vinyl White Album. I'm showing it on my channel. Advise me with what should I clean the cover to make it perfectly white like in the 60s?

Discwasher Systems Discwasher always worked for me.

Medical alcohol wipes are also very good for cleaning laminated covers and removing tape residue etc. I recently had an early 60s columbia LP with a terrible tape job on it. Some time and effort with the wipes brought it back to almost new. The only issue was yellowing on the edge of the rear panel where the tape overlapped onto the paper from the flipbacks.

I can highly recommend VINYL SHELTER Record Cleaner Cleaning Fluid , i have used many types of record cleaning fluid over the years with mixed results, many leave residues which become sticky and damage labels. vinyl shelter is not one of these products, if used properly it works extremely well with no sign of residue but can cause marks on some labels. i use a microline stylus which can detect the tiniest traces of dust, after cleaning with vinyl shelter there is the clearest silence from vinyl surfaces, but will not, of course, remove sctratches! . I use the fluid with Knosti Disco Anti-stat cleaning machine and goat hair cleaning brush (Tonar wetgoat).

I have tried everything from ultra sonic baths to wood glue, but the easiest and best thing I've found are goat hair brushes, they are really effective, and will get the crud out of the grooves left after wet cleaning. The other more controversial thing I sometimes use is Magic Eraser Sponges, used wet and lightly around the disk they will remove tar spots and light marks and leave the surface looking shiny and new, used dry you can remove surface scratches, but the surface will be duller, and probably less saleable. Used aggressively you can remove deeper scratches and improve sound quality of battered disks no end, but they sometimes look horrible after. Why not experiment on some Mrs Mills Lp's from the local Oxfam ;-)

Audio Technica made a cleaning fluid too. And so far I haven’t had a problems with it and I recommend it if you want to give it a try too Andrew. But fun fact the new record cleaning solutions are in a clear plastic and they have no alcohol whatsoever whereas the original early bottles of audio Technica clean fluid did have a little bit of isopropyl alcohol and those were in colored bottles. Are used to have the orange bottled audio Technica record clean solution and it did contain a little bit of alcohol but not severely too much alcohol. It did the job but it definitely thinned one of my albums. However they change the formula to a non-alcoholic clean solution and is way better! The modern cleaning solution from audio Technica so much better it’s just as good as that German record cleaning fluid to be honest with you. Also I did buy that German record clean food and that stuff does great job I cleaned my UK stereo first pressing of help and it sounds amazing now that I cleaned it with Nessie vinyl

I came into this video thinking some tears and water damage not literally VANDALIZED! Great Video!

Great video! I LOVE cleaning UK Beatles covers. So satisfying! I’ll even share a little secret that perhaps sounds more dangerous than it is...for some of the worst soiled paper rears on both G&L and EJ Day I’ve successfully removed incredible amounts of dirt and even felt marker that wouldn’t come off with eraser using diluted or even straight bleach on a cloth...yes, that’s right...bleach! It has removed some of the worst atrocities I’ve seen and returned the paper to a much cleaner, pristine white. The trick is to take your time and go over the entire thing in even paths or it will look off, and be careful not to get the paper too damp. You can go over the text and photos- in fact you must in order to look right and it surprisingly does not fade them as much as you might think. Barely noticeable tbh. Only use this as a last resort of course and practice only on the most trashed until you’ve got it! ;) I’ve turned many a “ruined” P looking rear cover into a perfectly nice VG+ ... removing even a giant name written in bubble letters using multicolored felt marker. It was astonishing! Question: do you ever use a polish to make the laminate shine again? There’s one I was recommended that only seems to be available in the UK. I’m in the USA and looking for a good alternative.

Great vid Andrew, on laminated sleeves you can use some car vinyl cleaners, not only does it remove dirt it adds an as new finish to them. On discoloured rears you can use bleach or a bleach solution but this is a high risk high reward strat & not something always to be recommended, but if you do i recommend pressing the finished cover as it can ripple if allowed to dry off naturally. As Andrew says, practice on some duff covers first & be wary of bold text as it can sometimes ( but not always ) smudge.

Love my Loricraft PRC6....with modifications.....

Great video. How do you clean the Matt finish covers (USA version you referring to in this video) cheers

great vid - thank you

I'm glad I subscribed to your channel and even more glad to have come across this video. Thanks for all the cleaning tips and advice. I am now hoping to find some method (perhaps you have one?) of fixing my vinyl of Abbey Road which was left sitting in the sun in its cover at some stage. I heard about the panes of glass method but I suspect it would be defeated because the record rim is slightly raised and anyway, warping implies stretching of the plastic to some extent. I can afford to try and restore this particular album because it is the only damaged one in my collection and I do have the CD. But it would be nice to get the vinyl working again if it can be done.

I first brush the record with a good quality record brush, give a quick blast with a cold setting hairdryer, then rinse under lukewarm water and clean with a very soft pad that was made for paint application which I have moistened with water and a mild sugar soap - then rinse again with lukewarm water and dry with a combination of a decent quality micro fibre cloth and another blast with the hairdryer - works a treat with a noticeable improvement in sound quality and reduction of crackles. The lighter fluid does work well and I have used that for several years. The wood glue method can have good results with a rough disc that jumps, so I wouldn't discount that way.

I bought a 2012 pressing of 'Ziggy Stardust' by David Bowie, and it had an ugly sticker right on the paper of the cover even though it was shrink-wrapped new. This video popped into my head, and sure enough, lighter fluid did the trick. You're a saint, Andrew.

The Loricraft is perhaps the best vacuum machine in the world. It's still falls miles short of the best. 1) Use an Orbitrac to clean off surface dirt. 2) Use an Ultrasonic cleaner to clean your record. The AudioDesk Systeme is great as is the Degritter, which is slightly cheaper. Or 3) Use Dr. Kirmuss' cleaning method. It's labor intensive but does a great job. 4) Then place them in high grade rice paper inner sleeves. Sleeve City's Ultimate Inner Sleeves are the best. They're double sided. 5) Place your album into a polypropylene vinyl outer sleeve. At least 3 mil. Sleeve City makes a nice one, but Vinyl Storage Solutions makes a 4 mil that is the best. Alcohol and any formula such as Windex will leave a film that will gravitate to the bottom of the grooves. This build up becomes rock hard over time through friction and can only be removed by an ultrasonic cleaner. This has been proven microscopically. Never play a wet record. The liquid will gravitate up the stylus into the housing where the delicate workings are greatly shortening the life of your cartridge. Next question.

I find it interesting that what i do is basically a home made 1st gen EMITEX cloth, the thing that’s interesting to me is that i learned that from my mom, who learned learned it from her uncle so the advice I’ve been given probably does date to the 60’s!