What Cleaning Solution Is Use For Outside Of Audio Equipment

Vinyl record cleaning solutions are one of the most highly debated topics amongst collectors. The importance of maintaining clean records is undeniable. The benefits are numerous: extending vinyl life, improving playback, preventing needle wear. You tin can even increase the value of some records with a good clean.

However, at that place is no clear consensus on which method is best. There's certainly something to exist said nearly dry cleaning with a castor or microfiber material and no solution. Simply at that place comes a time in almost every record'southward life when a more intense approach is necessary.

Even the nigh careful among the states are prone to touching the vinyl surface, which leaves deposits of oil that tin article of clothing away at the cloth over time. Mildew can form in humid rooms, and unless you shop vinyl properly, your records can go afflicted. Not to mention those records y'all dig through at thrift stores or garage sales! Record cleaning solutions help to combat these and other vinyl ailments.

We've given some guidelines on an efficient process to clean vinyl records, but nosotros stopped brusque of prescribing a specific cleaning solution. We just didn't feel confident in recommending 1 over the balance. With and then many fervent defenders in unlike cleaning solution camps, how could we without a proper test? This brings us hither to the Discogs labs. We tested pop cleaning solutions on some of the dirtiest records we could find.

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Bootleg Vinyl Record Cleaning Solutions

We volition be covering only a few of the many homespun cleaning solutions you can find across the web. We provided a basic control group using tap water. We iterated on this using the normally suggested solution of distilled h2o, dishwashing lather, and isopropyl alcohol. We also wanted to effort ane of the most anxiety-inducing but passionately defended methods: wood glue.

Command: Tap Water

Score: two/5
Summary: Quick, only lazy. Step up your cleaning with a amend solution.

Every bit far as solutions go, there is nothing simpler or cheaper than turning on the faucet and giving your records a rinse.

This method was very quick. Nevertheless, every bit you might expect, h2o by itself was not effective at removing the tougher stains on this record. It did remove some of the lighter marks after some pressure was practical with a microfiber material, ultimately leaving the record looking somewhat better than it had before. That being said, we would never recommend this method. If yous are going to take the fourth dimension to clean the records, yous might too do information technology better than this.

Isopropyl Alcohol, Distilled H2o, and Dishwashing Soap

Score: 3/five
Summary: An affordable surface clean, but it's not going to remove the tougher spots.

The exact mixture is one part isopropyl alcohol, one part distilled water, and ane to two drops of dishwashing soap. This combination of fluids is widely recommended as an efficient mixture to clean records using what are household materials. The three ingredients were like shooting fish in a barrel to measure and easy to mix. To use, we ordered a cheap spray bottle online. This makes for a simple awarding merely might not exist necessary if you lot're looking to salve money. Once we sprayed the solution onto the vinyl, we applied light force per unit area, in a circular movement, to a microfiber cloth to work on the stains.

The record needed a good rinse later application because at that place was a shiny picture left on the vinyl surface. We found that the solution did remove quite a lot of crud, as evidenced by the before and after. However, information technology was not great at removing some of the tougher spots of the exceptionally dingy we used. Not shown in the pictures are the copious amounts of fourth dimension and elbow grease required. Nosotros re-cleaned this record with professional solutions later and easily removed more grime.

Wood Glue

Score: 2.v/5
Summary: Remarkable effectiveness, but besides expensive and cumbersome to be used outside of rare occurrences.

Coming out of left-field is the recommendation of forest gum. we idea this was a kind of sick joke that persisted through vinyl forums, but it turns out some collectors swear by wood gum for heavy-duty vinyl stain removal.

This process is cumbersome. Wood gum is tough to work with; you're going to want to consider gloves and a surface that you won't mind tossing out when done. Every bit you can see from the prototype, wood glue was hard to apply in an even layer on the vinyl surface. Y'all'll likewise need a lot of the stuff. We used about 1-fifth of a canteen just for a single side of a record. You'd probably end up going through a bottle in less than 10 records, though mayhap we could become more than efficient over time.

It likewise takes longer than any other method tested. For wood glue to be effective, you demand to allow it dry, then pare it off, and then rinse, then dry once again. Drying out the wood glue as well takes upwards a good amount of space. I've got to say though, the peel was pretty rewarding.

In what was probably the biggest surprise of the entire experiment, the results were fantastic. We deliberately used 1 of the dirtiest records for the solution and information technology removed the vast bulk of crud in one application.

The downside is we used effectually $i in wood glue for only one side of ane tape, so if you lot do the math with more than a few records, this is easily the nigh expensive solution tested. If you're looking for a manner to make clean an uncommonly muddied record, or just want to impress your friends, woods gum might be for you.

Professional Vinyl Record Cleaning Solutions

There are numerous companies that offer vinyl record cleaning solutions that are both easy to employ and relatively affordable. We put a few of the nigh common ones to the test to see if their claims of providing superior cleaning band true.

Near Mint

Score: 4.5/5
Summary: All around solid cleaner that looks squeamish on your shelf.

Near Mint cleaning solution was developed in the Uk past DJs and tape collectors Russ Ryan and Mo Fingaz. (Full disclosure: Russ Ryan is now an employee of Discogs.)

Co-ordinate to the website, Nigh Mint is the "most effective, chemically counterbalanced, and premium record cleaning solution on the market to engagement, boasting a double-strength attitude." Ryan and Fingaz collaborate with record shops, labels, and others in the industry to create limited-edition bottles, which makes them stand out.

record cleaning solutions near mint

The solution was easy to apply. An additional microfiber white cloth allowed us to make clean a tape without needing any additional materials. Virtually Mint removed a lot of grime and clay — even stuff that our bootleg concoction did not. The white cloth shows the grime you remove right abroad, which visually reinforces the work. The solution leaves a nice shine after.

GrooveWasher

Score: 5/5
Summary: Everything yous need to go along your records clean, with an added bonus of the best microfiber system we tested.

GrooveWasher was inspired by a sometime professor of microbiology named Dr. Bruce Meier. His famed Discwasher kit was one of the first in the market in the 1970s. GrooveWasher is an attempt to honor his Discwasher invention. They strive to provide a consumer record cleaning tool and method that cleans the microgrooves so the honest sound can be heard without doing harm to the tape or the stylus.

Functionally, the GrooveWasher kit is consummate. With other solutions, you might need to purchase distilled h2o or a microfiber cloth to start cleaning. It's convenient to have everything you need in one package. The display kit is an aesthetically pleasing nice touch and helpful for keeping everything in one place.

We were very impressed by the microfiber cloth with the handle. It distributed pressure level well and kept our grimy hands far away from the clean surface. GrooveWasher wiped away stains that looked tough nearly instantly. It would also last pretty long given how piddling is needed to make clean a tape.

TergiKleen Tergitol-based Fluid Concentrate

Score: iv/5 if manually cleaning just a few records but 4.5/five if you take a machine or a bunch of records to make clean.
Summary: An incredibly effective cleaner. Better for vinyl tape cleaning machines than hand washes.

I initially wanted to test the Library of Congress-approved mixture of deionized h2o and .5% Tergitol 15-S-7. I quickly learned that Tergitol 15-Southward-7 is not available from any local shops and must be ordered online in amounts that are both expensive and besides big for this experiment. Since this method requires diluting the Tergitol, the amounts I came across were enough to last nearly collectors a lifetime. Then a coworker mentioned his solution of pick, TergiKleen. Derived from Tergitol, the concentrate tin be diluted with distilled water to create a nearly-match to the original solution.

TergiKleen Tergitol Vinyl Record Cleaning Solution

With the warnings on the box, we decided to use precaution in handling this solution. The concentrate didn't come with distilled water, so that was some other item we had to purchase, which bumps up the price a chip. They recommend using a cake pan to soak the record. Since we didn't have this in the office, a tin bucket was used.

As a manual solution, information technology is probably not your best option. Y'all demand additional materials (bucket or cake pan, distilled water, potentially gloves, etc.) to apply as described. However, we can run across this being the best solution we tested for vinyl tape cleaning machines, such as Spin-Clean or Okki Nokki. It'southward certainly the cheapest per volume after diluting information technology in distilled h2o. TergiKleen is undeniably powerful. We cleaned 1 of the dirtiest records with piffling elbow grease and the record was left in pristine condition.

It should concluding most collectors the full two-yr shelf life, only a few drops should make enough solution for hundreds of records. For collectors who have hundreds, if not thousands, of dingy records to make clean and accented purists, TergiKleen is a great vinyl record cleaning solution. If we do an experiment on cleaning solutions to use with a cleaning machine, we'll test this ane again.