Record Cleaning - part 1: the myths, the theory, the practise unravelled. 

I wanted to come back to an aspect you made brought up in this video about disliking air drying, also, if I remember correctly, with ultrasonic machines. In the videos about the humming guru and the Degritter you did not mention it again. Did you change your mind?

Hi Dave, I just found your channel. I have been through several different cleaning methods over the 40 years I've been doing this hobby. Like many I satarted with a microfibre brush and fluid aka Discwasher. My current routine, while a bit more labor intensive yeilds the best results I have found. I use an Ultrasonic cleaner with homebrew chemicals containing IPA, a suficant, distilled water, and a small amount of detergent. Once done in the ultrasonic, I vacuum the record with an okki nokki (original) that I picked up used. It is night and day better, both visually and sonically, to even an air-dried ultrasonically cleaned record. I really enjoyed your discussion.

The following i have used for years always with great results - Knosti Disco Antistat cleaning bath, Tonar Wetgoat cleaning brush with VinylShelter cleaning fluid, dries naturally in a rack, perfect every time, no residue or water marks, fluid is strained to remove dust. 78's i use the same method with clean water with a tiny drop of Fairy liquid. (-:

Really useful overview, thanks. Experience always preferred over mere conjecture.

Great video. After much research into RCM’s l settled on purchasing the Loricraft PRC6i in 2022. I bought it direct from the company and apart from the positive reviews, and the PRC6i being quieter than the PRC4i. The deal breaker, was the company throwing in the accessories- soft dust cover, the brushes etc. as a special offer. It wasn’t cheap, but l knew that l didn’t want to buy a cleaner, and be left wondering what if. As my my first ever RCM experience l must add it is was a game changer.

Hi Dave, I enjoyed your video for a hot topic at the moment. I use a humminguru (purchased from the original Kickstarter campaign) and am very happy with it. The reason I went with the HG over a generic Ultrasonicator (US) is that the transducers for the HG face the record surfaces directly whereas the generic US transducers are usually firing up from the bottom of the tank. I think this could make a difference in record cleaning efficiency and direct cavitation into the grooves. The other aspect of the HG I like over some of the more expensive ulatrasonicators is that the volume of water in the bath is only 400mL or so compared to much larger volumes in other machines and I imagine this improves the effectiveness of the lower powered transducers used in the HG. I got a spare water reservoir for my HG and now routinely do a first clean with distilled water with surfactant (G-sonic but photo flow or tergiklean works well too) and then a final wash in distilled water only with the auto wash/dry program. I typically wash 5-6 records at a time for each program for efficiency. I take your concern around air drying but if you do a final wash in distilled water I think there would be very little if any residual gunk to worry about. I am very careful to let my records air dry for an hour or two after the HG dry program anyway since I would never want to place a record with any residual water in to a sleeve for storage or even worse for playing. Love your channel.

Thanks, Dave, for your nice and complete response. Looking forward to your Blue review.

Fantastic video very helpful,over the past year i have just started to enjoy my vinyl collection again after years of digital only listening,as such i have needed to clean the records as they have just sat there for decades,i use your alcohol solution and agitate with a wide brush then vacuum off,it works really well the only downside is its so labour intensive and i have lots to do but just cant warrant the spending on an all in one machine

I clean every record I buy, new or secondhand, before playing. I use 2 Knosti Antistat baths and I have great results. One bath with a mild solution of 'Winyl pro clean 6' diluted in distilled water and the 2nd bath filled only with distilled water for a rinsing stage. I rotate the record in the first bath for maybe up to 2 mins depending on the severity of the dirt and maybe 30 seconds to a minute in the rinsing bath. I let them dry on a rack naturally and never get residue issues. After they're dry I always put the record into a fresh rice paper sleeve. This has worked flawlessly for me for quite some time now and I would highly recommend it to anyone who needs proper results on a budget.

I've found that L'Art du Son fluid used liberally does a great job of making records static cling free.

Yet another great video Dave! I have a Pro-Ject VC-S2 Alu which I’ve been using for the last 3 or 4 years and during that time I’ve cleaned my entire collection - and have found it on the whole to be a fantastic machine. After experimenting with a few different fluids I was recommended L’art du son and have used that ever since - and I find it to be excellent. I can’t believe the amount of people who will complain about pops and clicks (particularly on new records) but haven’t even bothered to clean it properly before playing! I think many folks would be surprised by how much a proper clean eliminates static. I’ve recently been in discussions with a buddy of mine (who happens to run a record stall) about buying a decent ultrasonic cleaner and also a record flattener, with the idea setting up a side business offering those services so I’m really hoping we can get that going. Maybe then I can justify the purchase! Take care

Great stuff great channel as always Dave, many thanks and so good to see you getting more fans as you much deserve! As seriously as you guys are taking cleaning, you oughta look into structured water - normal distilled or even tap water occurs in 12-13 molecules of water forming a structure like a drop, where as flowing river water is only 5-6 molecules forming a 'drop' due to the spiral motion water naturally flows in in rivers/nature (ref. Austrian researcher Shauberger who documented this first), and it thus hydrates plant/animal cells better. It also washes vegetables a lot better (water gets much murkier vs normal tap water). Recently many activated or structured water devices available, and from my experience some work well as evident from washing vegs and rice to brewing tea/coffee - the drink gets much darker/stronger with structured water as each cell of the tea/coffee absorbs more of water via the smaller 'drops'. My theory - similarly, such structured water washes out gunk from record grooves a lot better, same as it does for washing vegetables. I happen to use a simple Nagaoka kit which has clamps to protect the record label and then you simply wash the record under a tap manually (bit painful) with pine extract/soap which leaves no residue. I have a structured water device on my kitchen tap where I do my washing and in Tokyo where there's a permanent layer of volcanic dust everywhere, I buy used records with Japan-std zero scratches but tons of dust in them that make em sound like hell - washed in structured water just manually, I manage to get rid of most of the static sound usually. Hmmm I shall have to do a test - cleaning one side with tap water and one side with structured water and see if I can tell a difference..

Thanks, Dave, for your logical thoughts. There is a vinyl cleaning specialist, (Perfect Vinyl Forever) in the US, who was recently interviewed, 14 days ago, on the “Sonic Flare” RU-vid channel. The interview is long, and you may want to filter out the childish host, but the specialist brings his own insight into the cleaning process, which includes why you wouldn’t want to use the standard 40-50 watt cavitation, and also goes into the separation of the plasticizers, he says, from the PVC, when a disc is pressed, and how to remove them. He also uses a much higher cavitation frequency to rinse the disc in purified water, etc. I use a Keith Monks machine, and like the way, as does your Loricraft, that the thread, which is continuously refreshed, keeps things as clean as possible. p.s. It would be interesting to compare, a half or quarter track 7.5 ips Columbia reel to reel release of “Kind of Blue” to the UHQR pressing.

Great stuff, Dave. Good to get the tips on sleeves, too. I didn't know about the MA Recordings or Blake sleeves albeit I do have a few of the latter from the smattering of Tone Poets titles I've picked up.

I think Dave has the only video showing proof of a 40-year record not harmed by cleaning with Alcohol.

Two car suction cups around labels, soapy water in sink, clean scourer and goat brush, rinse with low-pressure garden sprayer filled with distilled water

Hi Dave really enjoying your videos on cleaning Vinyl. I am awaiting the arrival of Pure Groove Fluid , what do you recommend the measurements for Mixing this concentrate. Regards and thanks. Keep up the great work.

Hi Dave, most of the time I do not clean my records, because it's just not necessary in my humble opinion, especially most of the time not necessary for new elpees I have bought a disco-antistat with disco- antistat mixture and up till now I have cleaned approximately 20 records (I own about 600 records) and the result is ok for me , I have been collecting for about 50 years and feel no need to change my habits, but it is an interesting video thanks.

I imagine this type of video is time intensive so many thanks indeed. I shall be making some purchases so thank you for the links Edit: do you use an outer sleeve?

Hello mate I enjoyed your video I also have been cleaning records for many many years when the spin claim came out I tried that but I found that I could hear the soap on the record after cleaning. so I just started using distilled water then I found out from some of my subscribers that I should be vacuuming my records so I used the spin claim first and then I vacuumed them and I heard a noticeable improvement in fidelity after vacuuming. then I found out about ilfotol so I mixed the Eiffel with distilled water use this in the spin clean and then vacuumed it off and I found they sounded a little bit better again. Now I found out about TERGIKLEEN and wow using this in the first spin clean to clean then a second spin clean to rinse with distilled water, and then using a vacuum machine to remove the particles that are still in the groove, wow this really is a noticeable Sonic improvement using the TERGIKLEEN but it must be rinsed off. That's why I added the second spin clean for the rinse process. Using anti-static sleeves like the mofi or the QRP is essential to ensure you don't apply static to your records and keep them clean.

Great video. Ultrasonic then Vacuum is the best way. Tthe humminguru is a just ok unit, does not have a lot of cavitation power, which is the most important specification. The Degriter (only one with 120khz and 300watts of cav power) is very good, KLaudio also very good, AudioDesk has had reliability problems. If using a tank unit, a 120khz (like the Degriter) is best The U/S units that air dry leave residue as you stated. They also only do one record at a time. The SpinClean is different to the Knosti and VinylStyl in that the SpinClean uses pads like the MoFi brush which could load up with grit and scratch records, whereas the Knost and VinylStyl use goats hair brushes. The Knosti and Vinyl Style fluid may leave residues if not used correctly. I use a VinylStyl but i use my own fluid based on the SpinClean fluid with the same flocculant product. (Flocculants encapsulate particles and separate them from the water, dropping to the bottom of the tank). For before play cleaning I use a Maxell battery vacuum unit that spins around the record. Again great and informative video, even for those of us who are well schooled in the intricacies of record cleaning. I personally have been collecting LP records since the late 1960's. Sorry for the long response. Again, a very informative video.

I am scrubbing and vac with audio intelligent solution and a nitty gritty vac...then I run on med cycle on a degritter with the provided surfactant. edit--yeah I use a goats hair brush for the scrub.

Thanks for the well thought trough video! You said that you thought about the ultra sonic (US) bath variant. I have the popular 6 liter DIY variant. There I can clean up to 5-6 records at once. I do not use it so much when it is easier to take use the spin cleaner. One drawback with the US bath is that it takes/consumes a lot of liquid. The other thing is that I believe that it SHOULD probably be better if the transducer is aimed towards the record surface so the scrubbing bubbles can act on that surface. In the US bath the 3 transducers are at the bottom in the bath aiming from the side (from lead in to lead out). I am not sure how efficient or how much inefficient it's ability to form the scrubbing bubbles or not.. But on the other hand if there is more than one record and if we then has the transducers aimed towards the record surface and mounted on the sides instead of the bath then will the middle records get reduced scrubbing bubbles action.. So there is pro and cons with them. I think the "optimal" is one record with one transducer on each side that and create scrubbing bubbles on each side of the record. But I did not believe in scrubbing bubbles but I tried once running with a lot IPA. The alcohol had lower density and i were able to get a lot of microbubbles that formed. So it got visible in that density. Another fun thing is to with liquid and just throw down a sheet of aluminum foil. And just see how the US create holes in the aluminium foil in ~ 1 minute. It is a good test to test if all 3 transducers are in working order. Thanks again for the video.🔉🔊

Great video, Dave. My approach is a hybrid and it may be flawed, so I’d love your input. First, I wet clean the LP with the GEM Dandy device and their proprietary solution, using the MoFi brush to thoroughly scrub. I then rinse with a jet stream of distilled water. THEN I clean the LP again with my Audio Desk Vinyl Cleaner Pro ultrasonic (with its own proprietary solution) which fan-dries the disk. The discs are well cleaned but I wonder if there’s residue left at the end. Thanks!

Thanks for a good video ! 🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪

Great stuff:)👌

I use a watson vacuum machine, 1st step dry brush then spray with watsons deep clean then vacuum in both directions then rinse 2nd step l'art du son using a mofi pad then vacuum then rinse again and vacuum in both directions in all cases 😁 this is done reguarless if its a new record or old I also dry brush both the stylus and record o every turn of a record 😁

I use the Humminguru to deep rinse after vacuum cleaning with L'Art Du Son. It seems to work reasonably well.

When you say "IPA," are you using the 99% IPA or the Diluted 70/30 IPA you would get at a local drugstore?

Hi Dan, have you found that the furutech brush scuffs records easily? I recently bought a cheaper, similar style brush from another company and noticed it scuffs records quite easily. Would love to know about your experience with the furutech.

The ionizer you showed for 2000£ is it a DC or AC ionizer?

Certainly don't use wood glue! That method is bonkers. Years ago, there was a similar liquid plastic solution you applied, left it to dry and peeled it off. Trouble was, after subsequent plays, there was a fine dust build up on the stylus tip. Needless to say, I stopped using the stuff.

Great Video. But it’s given me another reason to despise DSAudio and their BS pricing…

Interesting article much to agree with too. I have a Humming guru and found very quickly the best solution was ultra pure distilled water 90%, 5% 99.99% pure isopropyl Alcohol and 5% Ilfotol. It transforms the Humming guru, especially for any grease related contamination. Le Arte Du Son was great when I had the Knosti cleaner as I'd would spritz the after cleaning with Pure distilled water before drying, as I noticed Le Arte left a small residue if left to dry but that's history now as I am buying a second humming guru to use with pure distilled water only as a final rinse and dry machine. Using my first machine for the 3 way mixture clean. Even purchasing another, the cost isn't in the orbit of some crazy priced machines and the results may only be 99.5% as good as a 6k Degritter it's bloody close enough and I'm delighted with the audible improvements. Could I also point out the Knosti is not the same as the spin clean, they may look similar, the difference is the goats hair brushes on the Knosti are far more effective than the felt type pads on the Spin clean. The results are not even close between the two in my opinion.