cleaning records

[juliun_c90]

any advice? picked up a load of old 4 hero and tek 9 12"s for almost nothing but they're shot to shit with grime. had the cloth and lighter fluid out but with limited success.

any suggestions?

[Be-1ne]

any advice? picked up a load of old 4 hero and tek 9 12"s for almost nothing but they're shot to shit with grime. had the cloth and lighter fluid out but with limited success.

any suggestions?

i was going to suggest the lighter fluid one, in that case washing up liquid and a soft sponge. these are the two tricks i know and got taught by some record collectors i worked for about 15 years ago.

[south3rn]

i'd die without this stuff

spray on enough to lightly soak the record (keep off label) and let it sit for a few minutes. use the brush (one of the kits comes with a brush) to clean it out. use the cloth (should come with a cloth, if not then use a lint free cloth) to wipe off fluid and let it dry before storing or playing.

[mattrelton]

On more than one occasion i have heard n-type talking about using 'battery water' to clean his records.
I don't know what this is, but i imagine that if you can find out, it will a good thing to use, as i'm sure he knows a thing or two about dubs.

[boogiemeister]

if the records have dust/dirt in the grooves, the best way is to put some record cleaner on em and play em front to back several times (use an old needle). This will get the gunk out of the grooves. all other residue should go off with a cloth afterwards. has worked wonders for me on several occasions.

[mattrelton]

any advice for how to clean beer soaked records?

[lukki]

Microfiber cloths...You dont even need chemicals once you start using these, simply warm water to dampen it...Put it on the turntable and manually spin it around to gather all the gunk, wiping the entire record as it passes under the rag.

I get them at the auto supply store



I used to use groove glide with the little pad, but haven't even bothered once I got a pack of these ($10). Plus you can always have them on hand, and give one to every one of your homies!

[sonar]

On more than one occasion i have heard n-type talking about using 'battery water' to clean his records.
I don't know what this is, but i imagine that if you can find out, it will a good thing to use, as i'm sure he knows a thing or two about dubs.

battery water is just distilled water isnt it?

[missedthebus]

any advice for how to clean beer soaked records?

some lovely person managed to coat a few really top plates of mine with beer, used two cleaning products stanton record cleaner and am record cleaner, one uses a cloth the other a felt handheld jobby (dunno what its called). Kind of worked but I still get a slight crackle.


Anyone know a sure fire way to un-warp warped vinyl?? heard about the glass and sun trick, but not much sun in wales! and dont have any big sheets of glass. any other suggestions??

cheers

[boogiemeister]

haven't tried the glassplate in the sun method. The only way I have unwarped a slightly bowl shaped record was by scratching a lot, then it will eventually become flat. However that took a couple months. Any other methods haven't worked like putting weight on the record for months, unwarping by hand etc.
There's a record store in my area that sells audiophile gear who actually has some kind of unwarping machine. Haven't tried it yet. Dude told me that it will only be good for slightly warped records though.
and to get rid of the beer residue in the grooves, do what I explained in my post above. It really does work.

[properauthority]

Microfiber cloths...You dont even need chemicals once you start using these, simply warm water to dampen it...Put it on the turntable and manually spin it around to gather all the gunk, wiping the entire record as it passes under the rag.

I get them at the auto supply store

seems to have worked just fine for me!

[hackman]

any advice for how to clean beer soaked records?

some lovely person managed to coat a few really top plates of mine with beer, used two cleaning products stanton record cleaner and am record cleaner, one uses a cloth the other a felt handheld jobby (dunno what its called). Kind of worked but I still get a slight crackle.


Anyone know a sure fire way to un-warp warped vinyl?? heard about the glass and sun trick, but not much sun in wales! and dont have any big sheets of glass. any other suggestions??

cheers

put the warped vinyl on a flat surface like a table
pile loads of books or other heavy stuff on top so record evenly pressed
leave for a day or two
solved the warps on a couple of my records

[juliun_c90]

Microfiber cloths...You dont even need chemicals once you start using these, simply warm water to dampen it...Put it on the turntable and manually spin it around to gather all the gunk, wiping the entire record as it passes under the rag.

I get them at the auto supply store



I used to use groove glide with the little pad, but haven't even bothered once I got a pack of these ($10). Plus you can always have them on hand, and give one to every one of your homies!

yo. you've convinced me to give it a go. gonna get myself down halfords tomorrow and give 'em a buff up. will report back. stay tuned fam.

[jolly wailer]

I use this everytime I put one on the platter


also know an old old hippy who has never worked a day in his life yet has the biggest collection of old dub I have ever seen and he's told me that the only real way to clean a record was with an autoclave system

[just jim]

Anyone know a sure fire way to un-warp warped vinyl??

i once successfully managed to flatten a record with a malfunctioning hair dryer and a pile of heavy books. i also managed to destroy a couple that way, so i can't recommend it.

a friend used to do the glass trick inside a warm stove. i could never find suitable glass. sorry, i guess this post is pretty useless.

[ammo]

I use this everytime I put one on the platter


also know an old old hippy who has never worked a day in his life yet has the biggest collection of old dub I have ever seen and he's told me that the only real way to clean a record was with an autoclave system

lol. wouldnt that melt it?

[joe muggs]

The microfibre should do it, if not, warm water and a little washingup liquid... or window cleaner spray!

[jolly wailer]

I use this everytime I put one on the platter


also know an old old hippy who has never worked a day in his life yet has the biggest collection of old dub I have ever seen and he's told me that the only real way to clean a record was with an autoclave system

lol. wouldnt that melt it?

no I think the way an autoclave works is that it uses ultrasound vibration in a liquid bath, heat is not used in the process.

[Sharmaji]

the groove cleaner works great. so does gruv glide but it's much more expensive.

to un-warp a really, really warped record, you take an all-cotton towel (it HAS to be all natural fibers), wrap it over the record, and press down on it on the floor with an iron on low. increase the temp very, very slightly until the record flattens out. use at little heat and as little pressure as possible. it definitely works.

otherwise, a few books and a 20lb weight will do the trick.