Introduction: For decades, I had a pretty casual relationship with record cleaning. I own a lot of records, bought my first vacuum record cleaning machine in the mid-80’s and didn’t give record cleaning much thought: I’d use one brand or another of commercially available fluid (there were fewer options in those days and occasionally I’d mix up some home brew), apply it, vacuum it using the “cleaning machine” and done. Clean is clean, right? What started me down the path of exploring vinyl record cleaning in more depth over the past couple years was... Read More
Record Cleaning: Tima’s DIY (Ultrasonic) RCM – followup #1
Record Cleaning: Tima’s DIY (Ultrasonic) RCM – followup #1 I am very pleased with tima’s DIY RCM thus far. See Tima’s DIY RCM. The USC tank and filter system continue to operate nominally. I’ve settled on a cycle that clean five or six records at a time. That includes: i) warming up the tank water to 34° C (93.2° F) which takes about 40 minutes, ii) running a stack of records through the cleaner for 15 minutes at roughly 60% power, then running for 6 minutes at roughly 80% power, iii) and lastly letting the records air dry. The Beijing Ultrasonics 10L unit is much... Read More
SIDEBAR ON DIY ULTRASONIC LP CLEANING
SIDEBAR ON DIY ULTRASONIC LP CLEANING I’m delighted that a “pro” reviewer, Tim Aucremann, (better known as “Tima” in audio circles) agreed to address the topic of DIY ultrasonic LP cleaning in a new featured article on TheVinylPress.com. For those of you with long memories, I had published an introduction to DIY ultrasonic cleaning some time ago, with the promise of a more in-depth look. Although I had done a fair amount of research preparing to set up a DIY ultrasonic cleaning system here at TheVinylPress, the project was waylaid by our move to Austin. Tim’s piece... Read More
Tima’s DIY RCM
Tima’s DIY RCM As a dedicated vinylista, I’ve been cleaning records for over thirty years. Sound familiar? Cleaning techniques and technologies evolved across that time and my approach changed with the times. I’ve been using a Loricraft RC3 point nozzle machine and more recently an Audio Desk System. After reading multiple threads on various audio forums about home made record cleaning kits built around larger volume ultrasonic cleaners, I decided to give that a try. Thanks to all who have gone before me, and especially to Bill at The Vinyl Press and Rob at Audionirvana.org, for... Read More
Warps, Budget Ultrasonic Cleaning and Surface Dust: An Introduction
Warps, Budget Ultrasonic Cleaning and Surface Dust: An Introduction I buy a lot of used records and encounter some “challenged” copies in the process. This is hardly deliberate but comes with the territory: sometimes, the records are purchased in “lots” or more often, over the Internet, where physical inspection is impractical if not impossible. Even new, sealed records have problems. (Older “sealed” records can be the riskiest in my estimation- a complete unknown and if too tightly shrink-wrapped, are prone to warps over time). But, through a combination of... Read More
LP Sleeves, Jackets and Care
Veteran LP collectors might regard what follows as overkill, or even contrary to their practice or experience. So I offer this photo-essay of various ways to handle, package and manage LPs after they have been properly cleaned, along with some cautionary notes and guidelines, recognizing that there are many ways to approach the subject and a few “absolutes,” mainly having to do with the fact that some plastics used for outer jacket and inner sleeves, particularly PVC, are known to interact with vinyl records, and should be avoided. You can pick and choose your own method... Read More
Vinyl LP Cleaning- A Photo Essay
Readers new to vinyl LP cleaning might benefit from this quick photo essay. Having just posted a capsule review of The Doobie Brothers- Toulouse Street on the site, I happened to notice another early copy in my “to be cleaned” pile. It was a cheap bin find from some record store in Texas that was shipped back to NY with several hundred other records of mine: It looks like I paid $4.99 for this one and it is a pretty early pressing from the Columbia Santa Maria plant. Under “normal” light, and in the kinds of photos you’ll often see on the web,... Read More
Cleaning Vinyl Records- My Personal Odyssey
My current approach to record cleaning grew from the casual use of a basic vacuum record cleaning machine (a VPI) to more studied efforts to improve the sound quality of older vinyl records that suffered from various forms of contamination. See Record Cleaning- An Introduction. I was cognizant of basic “good practices,” including those described by the U.S. Library of Congress website, which is a reasonable starting place, see Cleaning and Archival Standards of Care. But, in many ways, my more recent experience went beyond these basic practices. An Oversimplified History of... Read More
Cleaning and Archival Standards of Care
My visit to the Audiovisual Conservation facilities of the U.S. Library of Congress was prompted by a desire to learn about the steps a first class archival facility uses to preserve and store recorded media, in particular, vinyl records. There is a wealth of products available to the consumer for record care and cleaning, but very little concrete information about the processes or their effectiveness, apart from what is supplied by the various product manufacturers; most of what I learned was based on personal experience, experimenting with different cleaning methods, machines and... Read More