Washing a dirty LP record using soap and water - cheap and safe method! 

That's the cleanest sink I've ever seen in my life. It looks brand new.

FFS .all you idiots who say this doesn't work ...have you tried it?? it DOES work... i have just done a load of mine and after drying completely play brilliantly .. records have been around since 1948..how do you think they were cleaned then?Auto cleaner from Amazon? errm no i dont think so...

Dude I thought you said “clean your sink”. Not “buy a new one”

WARNING! Yes this almost always works great (been doing it for 20 years) however BE CAREFUL with the labels! Most are basically water proof, but some flat/matte/stamped etc labels can get ruined/smeared. I try to avoid submerging entire disc. Also 78s are not vinyl and break easily especially if you use warm water!

i agree with everyone below you dont need some ridiculously expensive machine to clean a record just good old soap and water

Back in the late 70's, an audiophile at Pacific Stereo in Milwaukee WI told me to gently wash my LP's like this. I've been cleaning my 1700 LP's like this for over 40 years and haven't lost a patient yet...

i use tap water whithout any soap if record has just dust or static if there are other spots or finger prints i use dish soap...i dry them with kitchen paper...my records where stored not used for 30 years...this method is working great...no needle jumping...no problem with the labels

Most of the clicks and pops are produced by static electricity. As long as you return the record to it's sleeve when done, it usually stays pretty clean. I have owned records for over 40 years that still looked and played like new. I used to sell the Discwasher line in my store and used the Zerostat to remove static build up. It really worked well, but I noticed that cleaning a used, dirty record with plain water also removed the static build up just as well. I think cleaning the record with a brush or cloth promotes static build-up.

When he talks about the warm room, I wanted to touch my screen to get some kind of idea, as to what his room temperature might be....

That's pretty cool, I might try this! Would be great if you did a sound test before and after cleaning :-)

Do not run them through the dishwasher. They come out like plastic meatballs. This guys method works fine.

Thanks for sharing this! I am going through my late uncle’s collection, and I’m finding a lot of water damage, dirt, mold, etc. I am using this method in the records themselves (with great success) and using disposable bleach wipes on the covers/sleeves that can be salvaged. So thankful to be able to keep his collection of about 125 records alive and making music!

OH FOR FUCK SAKE WHY DOES EVERY FUCKING RECORD CLEANING VIDEO HAVE A COMMENT SECTION FILLED WITH PEOPLE SAYING THEY'RE WRONG

Just did this to some of my really old Cher/Beatles etc albums..and they sound brand new again! No static or pops!! Thank you so much!

Cleaning mine like this for 30 odd years, works fine, cheap and easy.

I used this method today to clean an lp by the band Chicago. Had a skip in it. After cleaning and drying, the skip is gone and the record plays perfectly, Thanks for sharing!

That's WAY too much work to clean a record. Just drop it in your toilet and flush twice :)

Well I just washed an LP which was full of static, and every track had jumps on it. I used luke warm water, in the kitchen sink. Used a brand new bath sponge. Bog standard water from the top. Rinsed it with water. Allowed to dry off naturally in the plate rack. No noticeable static. And as yet, ZERO jumps. That was on a 30 year old album...

I was a little nervy with this at first so I tried it on a record that was all scratched and crackled and I didn’t really play. It was immediate change and sounded great. So then even with still a little nerve I did the record that I dropped on the floor and it sounded so much better, I went and cleaned all of my records like this so now I know I don’t have to buy an expensive record

I have never seen so many snobs when it comes to vinyls. Some of us do not have a record store within 100 miles, I do have a water softner, and have been doing it the same way since I was a kid (40+ years). Still playing my same records. Its plastic, its tougher than we think. Keep clean with a good stylus.

Most Labels are actually plastic coated and therefore water does them no damage. However, several labels, mostly from the 60s are matte, with water soluble ink. Be extra careful. I've had a bad experience with an original CBS Brubeck record, that also left part of my towels bright orange!

I usually use a washing machine and dryer. The fabric softener gets rid of the static and gives the music a warmer sound.

This is one of the worst record cleaning videos out there. If you want to destroy your records, use this method.

Amazing that this video didn't evoke round condemnation from the audiophiles.

Yeah get dat label nice and wet

Fine method. Just keep in mind that during the first play after the washing there will be some surface noise. Don't panic. It will be gone with the second play.

This is the way I have been cleaning my records for decades and it works fine. People have a tendency to overcomplicate things when it comes to vinyl these days; for many years, this is how almost everyone cleaned their records (if they did it at all). It was only later that expensive machines and unnecessary techniques like wood glue started popping up. Thanks for showing others how to do it in this video.

I just put them all in the dishwasher. Works perfectly for me.

You cleaned the record with a ring on your finger, this seems like a big no no

I'm going to try this on some 45s from 1949/50. They're sticky and gross from decades of neglect. Wish me luck!

Problem here. First minerals in the water Second the water is going to loosen label if you repeatedly soak your records. Third the towel you are using is addig cotton fibers to the record and will create surface noise.

This really works, use a microfiber cloth to clean them after

It is indeed the best and cheapest way to clean dirty records. Let the fools mess with wood glue and such.

I just tried this for the first time. I was terrified! 😁 My albums had been in storage for about 30 years and recently I had my ancient HiFi restored so got them out. Billy Joel's Innocent Man was stupidly noisy, clicks and pops galore, although the record looked clean. So I washed it. I'm gobsmacked. What a difference! Still scary though 😁

Excellent! This is pretty much how I clean all my records.One thing I discovered though is that some older albums have dye in the labels that will run when exposed to water. For these you really have to be extra careful not to get the labels wet.

Is this dude for real? 😂

You know how to get vinyl enthusiast to do the dishes? Tell them they will sound better if you clean them!

Worked great! I took 50 year old Christmas records I found at the thrift store, grimy, dirty, and it looked like there were even scratches on these 0.99 cent vinyls, nothing to lose, washed them with dish soap, and a wash cloth...worked perfectly! I was amazed! Thanks again!

I ate my vinyl record trying this

just tried, absolutely perfect! i can finally enjoy that donna summer!

The information at the end is incorrect. Wet playing a record actually creates a plasma, not just superheated steam. It will melt right through your record and damage your turntable. I knew a guy who wet played a record and the ball of plasma it created went right through the turntable and then through his entire stereo rack, through the floor and into the basement. Luckily his son was doing an experiment with ultra powerful electromagnets in a ring and they somehow captured the plasma. It's been years and that ball of plasma is still there. Hopefully the magnets never fail. It could burn a hole striaght through the earth. BTW- Nice sink.

I just got abbey road on vinyl and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that I have no idea what I’m doing

I've been doing this for over 40 years now, works perfect. Been collecting since i was 12.

I will say this is a recording device. If you use the spray or the dish washer the sound of the water hitting the record will be recorded creating distortion in sound(as he mentioned playing a wet warm record). Hot water is even worse as it can warp the record like hot sun rays. Wetting is good like in the video, just don't pressure spray. I would not use dish soap as there are chemicals that can damage. The labels are the money maker if you are selling. Don't damage the paper.

Another Pro-Tip that I learned is if you have a warped record, just put it back in the jacket and run it over with your car a few times.

You could just take advantage of the hole in the vinyl and put a string through there for it to hang on when you dry it.

But wait can't you ruin it by doing that method

Yep, I've been doing this since the 80s! Works a treat. I clean it as you do (only with cold water) but then I rinse it under a strong running tap to 'dig out' all the murk and suck out any residual rubbish and water using a record cleaning machine. Dries in seconds. And LP is like better than new again.

Brilliant! This method lifted 50 plus years of dirt & grime on old vinyl albums ~ resulting in a superb record surface shine. Great video!!

West Bruce & Laing. Goooood stuff.

This will improve the playback of a filthy record...But, the minerals in tap water give a very "Hissy", soft continuous scratchy sound to the background. You must rinse the vinyl with distilled water to complete cleaning in your sink....C_S

I just ran out of the solution that my kit had...I'm sticking with this method, Thanks a lot!

I've been working with a guy who was a photographer for my local newspaper in the 60s on a documentary kind of project, and occasionally we talk about random hobby stuff, including record collecting. He helped me clean a few of my records with this technique!

Are You reaady to do it with 1000€ vinyl???? i'm not!!!!!

That’s what I do now 👍 had one of those vacuum cleaning machines for a while that was recommended to me by an audiophile friend but never did like the thing was very noisy and heavy to move around and one day just tried this method and never looked back and sold my machine for almost what I had paid for it 😂

I made my own label protector using two rubber sewing machine drive belts with inside diameter slightly bigger than the label, two 4mm thick perspex discs with diameter slightly bigger than the outside diameter of the belts (cut on bandsaw and centre holes drilled), a suitable length machine bolt plus wingnut and a couple of tap washers to seal the bolt at both ends. This works great at protecting the label. Then wash the record with lukewarm water with a bit of washing-up liquid applied with a fine bristle paintbrush. Rinse under tap and dry with lint-free towel. Washing does make a huge difference to even slightly dirty records and can make them sound almost new again.

I've been washing my LPs in the kitchen sink, similar to the technique seen here, for years. The soap takes care of the greasy fingerprints that attract even more grime, and the water floats away the bits of dust, lint and dirt. I'd go with the air-dry (dish rack) option, though. The towel only offers a chance for lint to get on your records.

This method works great on your records of 'average personal value'. They play better afterwards, absolutely. Distilled water rinse is important! If it is a valuable collector's item, I wouldn't submerge the record because of potential label damage. But the labels are more resilient than you might think, and better to do this than to play a dusty record, driving particles deep into the groove with the stylus and potentially damaging both.

I've used a soft damp sponge and lint-less dry towel for years. Doesn't seem to damage a thing and my records sound great..

Hi. Few days ago I bought old Oscar Peterson record. To my huge dissapointment it was impossible to listen through it as crackingand popping sounds were constant and loud. After listening to first song I gave up. Today I watched this video and thought to myself. What's the worst that could happened? The record is trash at this stage anyway. I used my fingers instead of brush. And I used hand wash soap. Just 2 drops in the sink filled with lukewarm water. THE RECORD IS LIKE BRAND NEW! I actually can't believe my own ears. Sure I won't be doing this often...no need as I take good care of my records. But those second hand records are sometimes in a horrible condition. Have few more from that sale, even worse then Peterson. After I heared the difference I washed Dire straits Love over gold. It's drying on a string now. Thank you so much for this vid!

Important tips for Record washing.

Amazing, My Bruce Springsteen Darkness album was virtually unplayable due to crackling, tried your video and amazing results, like brand new..

Use a Groovmaster Label Saver and take the worry out of ruining the label.

This method DOES in fact work and YES you can get the labels wet but just make sure the water doesn't sit on there for a long amount of time like the video says. I just did this with some old records and I'm playing them as I type this. They work and sound great!

Hey folks, this is great advice. As a vinyl collector of over 50 thousand records, I have used rubbing alcohol for many many years. I spin the tt with my hand and pour just a little while it is spinning. I take a soft terry towel and wipe the grooves while it is spinning. It has worked wonders for me and I have NO scratched or skipping records.

So many people are saying you should not use tap water only distilled water, I have a record washer I paid for £40 but it never got my brand new LP clean so I used a Mr Magic LCD screen cleaner and Anti static cloth for £1 from poundland and guess what? Yes it cleaned my record better and it stopped skipping. Goes to show you don't need to spend a fortune on cleaning.

I spend £1500 for a half gallon bottle of unicorn tears. I never, ever allow the labels to get wet. Only philistines would do such pedagogical work allowing the labels to become at worst clean and at best very clean, as we all know not ideal for labels. The unicorn tears bond to the release spray that seems to get used so much now that it’s a wonder a record will play before a clean (which we all know it won’t). Remember the first brush with the unicorn tears MUST be used in anti-clockwise method or you will find all sorts of fungal growth and spores will be left on the record. This will not happen in the anti-clockwise method. Remember once you vacuum dry to then seal your records in extremely expensive reference original master sleeves so that your hipster and audiophile friends can look at you with that self-congratulatory, knowing look that only the true MoFi purist can impart. Mmmm clean vinyl, stored properly (never, ever in the cardboard sleeves), then stored perfectly on your custom made vinyl shelves (who would store theirs on Ikea, the very idea). One day we’ll save the money to buy separates so that we can finally listen to the music, but let’s not get into the world of fantasy. I can imagine the music by streaming it from one of the wonderful streaming sites. Yes it’s killing music, but we all slowly are any way so why not make it a lifestyle choice.

PLEASE HELP! I'm new to the record world. I bought a used record player, and played several records and they sounded fairly nice. After several plays, now my records are dragging and sounding like crap. I replace the needle but it's still dragging what can I do

Good vid but it's not recommanded to pass the label under Water when it's à paper label, It can damage It.

Option 2 - Go to car wash and stick records out the window

This method is mentioned in a book I ve read on record players. Totally legit.

Interesting that you warn never to play a "wet" record. Some Thorens tonearm models actually had settings for playing he record "wet". Was Thorens, with all of its Swiss caution, mistaken?

i’m gonna attempt this method rn. i’m glad i found a cheap and easy method. all i found on Google involves buying record cleaning brushes and fluid but i knew there was an easier way. thank you for sharing!

Hell let’s just toss it in the dishwasher for a all in one !!!

My refrigerator turns tap water into drinkable water. Is that distilled water?

I put mine in the dishwasher then I tumble dry them in the dryer on fluff. I do about 30 at a time.

I have washed my records this way since the late late 70's. Don't give a rats ass about the label, as long the music sounds clean, that's all that matters. Still have all my albums and other than a few that were lost to "Dog" accidents they still look and sound great. You want to spend money on Vacuum systems and amazing snake oil cleaners, that's up to you, a little over the top for me. This guys technique works just fine as long as you don't care about the label or resell value and only care about the sound and keeping it clean. Fight!!! Trolls abound. Get out the pitch forks and get ready to fight!!!!!

I do that and after drying it I wipe on a very very small amount of WD40 that cancels all static!

This is ok, but I find the best cleaning method to be tinfoil and sand. This is particularly relevant for slap-bass, jazz-rock fusion records from the 70's.

I would certainly use Distilled water to rinse. It's dirty cheap $2 a gallon at Wallmart pharmacy, and you are sure you don't let any limestone/calcium deposits inside those tiny microgrooves. Tap water in most cities contains plenty of minerals, just look near your faucet handles those white deposits, you get the idea, you don't want abrasive minerals inside the microgrooves, especially since most of our records these days are no longer produced - so not replaceable. Otherwise great video and be rather careful about soaking the label - not all labels were made the same, some will resist to water, others won't

This works, but as the gentleman said in the video DO NOT RUB A WET LABEL DRY!!! I only do this method on old NON-valuable records. Just to test our theory, I RUBBED a wet label on a cracked album and the label color washed off. DON’T TRY THIS ON A MINT 1959 COPY OF “KINDA BLUE,” LOL!!! You WON’T like the results!

After watching more"how to clean records" than I care to admit, I find your method the easiest and fastest of the bunch. That is the way I did it 50 years ago. Now that I've got back into the hobby again, I thought I should find a better method. No need unless you want to spend a bunch of money. Thanks so much. I hope many people pay attention to this. Only thing I do different now is use micro fiber towels instead of a bath towel.

I couldnt let the center label get wet like that.

I thought the labels will peel off?,,and soap will leave a residue,when dry?

It would be very nice to hear a before and after applying these treatments to make a record better than new and reduce record noise.

soap and water is the best way to clean records. I totally agree. No need to for fancy cleaning agents or some silly special mix some try to flog for 40 to 50 dollars a bottle. Ridiculous. It's so simple and IT WORKS !! If you are worried about the label, just tape it over with some painters tape to protect it. That's it. You tube is full of other methods/opinions, but in all honesty, this is the best way.

ScrewyGrapes method using isopropanol and distilled water with a microfiber rubdown is the best and fastest way! I have used this method on 1000+ LPs with zero problems!

Vinyl Cleaning uncomplicated series with Common Sense

I did this for years and it was just fine.

I'd only use this method on VERY VERY dirty records, It does work, but yeah, keep the labels dry. Not only will the paper bubble, the ink or dye on some will almost instantly start to come off, run, etc. For records that aren't THAT dirty, straight distilled water works best. Most tap water will have microscopic particles while distilled water is much cleaner. All that said, this is a good method for real grimy discs.

Does he wash the label or the vinyl?

I used a cleaning sponge with a bit of detergent and wipe the record in a circular motion. One side then the other. I then run water over the surface to get rid of the detergent and use kitchen tissues to dry the record. This normally helps clean the record well with alot of reduced static. I am getting a label protector off ebay and once I start using it, I should be able to clean the record longer to make sure more dirt is brushed off. But do bear in mind that not all record labels are water proofed. Some I noticed will get wet upon contact with water while others I am able to run water over them. But best is still to get a label protector when doing the cleaning.

lol no. there is not enough energy is a stylus in a record groove to boil water.

So I’ve watched a few other videos and they said not to use soap & water OR anything w/ alcohol in it as it can take off the protective coating & warp over time ??

lmao everyone freaking out over labels use a label saver if you're scared he doesn't have to hold your hand and explain everything and all possible other methods of cleaning you can also feel free to do some research yourself I mean come on it's the freaking internet age you imagine it and it probably exists in one form or another. and if he doesn't want to use one then who cares those are HIS records HE paid for them and YOU lose nothing if something happens to one of HIS records so calm the hell down.

I recommend cleaning the record using the inside of your hand, and the tap, with normal liquid dish detergent. You can easily control the water holding the record in your other hand, and not get the label soaked. No dipping into solution, squirt the liquid on the wet record, then rub it around with your hand a some more tap water...then rinse. The rinse should be a strong tap water dose, which can help clean the grooves, not dipping the record in a rinse.

I use a similar method which has been successful for years. Instead of the pad I use a very soft paint brush in a weak washing up liquid/water solution and dry using very soft kitchen roll. In my opinion, drying with a towel will introduce unwanted fibres to the vinyl.

Paint pads are perfect for the job. i was fortuate to enough to get a 'groovmaster' clam shell label saver from the guy in New York who used to make them, it allows complete immersion of the disc to 'float' the crud out of the grooves. I used to use photographic detergent but it's now hard to find, so often unperfumed dish detergent like 'Sure' (in the UK).

No, no, no! Let me explain. In general, washing and rinsing with soap and water, okay. BUT…the first step is to rinse the record surface with lukewarm water only. That way you remove the majority of dust, grime etc. This allows you to avoid rubbing the contaminants across the surface and scratching it! Then use a bit of liquid soap and water with a clean microfibre rag to clean the record (AVOID WETTING THE LABEL). Run your sink tap water across and down the record to clean off the suds. Then gently shake and tap your record to remove the vast majority of water. Lay flat on a clean (right out of the cupboard) towel and soak up the remaining water droplets. Lean record against something to allow it to dry both sides for probably a half hour or so. Done. NEVER SUBMERGE YOUR ENTIRE RECORD OR YOU WILL DAMAGE THE LABEL. ALWAYS PRE-RINSE YOUR RECORD UNDER YOUR TAP, AVOIDING THE LABEL. THE ULTIMATE WOULD BE TO USE DISTILLED OR R/O WATER FOR THE FINAL RINSE, THUS AVOIDING ANY MINERAL CONTAMINANTS.

Probably the worst way to clean a vinyl, avoid.