Is a record cleaner sensible for me?

A

AVphile

Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2018
Messages
87
Location
Las Vegas
Having significantly upgraded my digital sources earlier this year, I then decided to upgrade my 30-year-old turntable and 25-year-old cartridge. Accordingly, I recently purchased a Technics SL-1210G turntable and Hana SL cartridge. I then decided to take a cold, hard look at my record collection, comprised mostly of records I -- and my now wife -- purchased from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. In total, our collection is about 300 records. Realistically, we have no interest in ever again listening to more than half of them and have separated them into a very large stack that we shall be taking to a used record store.

Let's say that we have about 125 remaining records we are looking forward to listening to in coming weeks. Ideally, they should first be cleaned. In so far as the future, I anticipate we shall be buying one to two new records a month. Initially, I thought that I should purchased a DeGritter Mk II machine. Financially, though, that is borderline absurd. The average cost of my cleaning our record collection (assuming we actually cleaned every record) would be more than $25!

There are many, many other record cleaners which, based on their prices, are significantly more cost-effective. I just don't know which would be best suited for my need. Essentially, I want one that is easy to use and does an acceptable job, is dependable (doesn't break in the first 50 hours of use), and is realistically priced for a collection as small as ours.

I welcome advice and suggestions. Thank you.
 
I have used a VPI 16.5 for the last 20 years or so. Not the most capable machine but it gets the job done with a minimum of fuss and bother.
 
While I own a Degritter (bought from Mike) and love it if you in fact tend to just occasionally play your 125 Lp's with no interest in growing the collection I see zero sense in spending that kind of money on one.

At a minimum get a spin-clean or pick up a good used VPI 16.5
 
I sold my trusty VPI 16.5 for the Humminguru. The VPI is probably is better for really dirty records but I've bought most of my collection new, so the utlrasonic does great, takes up little space and is pretty much automated. Also I have a similar size record collection, so spending 2000-4000 for a high end machine just does not make sense. HG just came out with a new improved (and more expensive) model. You could add prewash with a Spin-Clean to get the best of both worlds for not too much money,.
 
A cleaning machine is a good investment. You can buy a cheap one that can do a good job or you can buy an expensive one that can also save you a lot of time.
Most folks who own a cleaning machine do not clean their LPs before every playing (assuming that after cleaning the record is stored in plastic sleeves and they are handled carefully).

That means that the most tedious work is cleaning your existing collection the fist time.
A friend of mine paid a neighborhood kid an hourly rate ($10-$15) to clean his entire collection. After that initial cleaning, he would clean a record by himself as he added it to his collection. That’s an option that can save time and money.

I have owned several VPI machines. You can find them used for very reasonable prices. They don’t look great but they do the job. Also, they require your full attention while cleaning.

Of course you can go overboard and buy an expensive ultrasonic cleaning machine if you want. You can just set the record in the machine, turn it on, and come back after 2-5 minutes to find a clean record.

Whichever unit you get, you probably want to do the cleaning outside your listening room since most of them are very noisy which prevent you from cleaning a record and listening to music in the same room.
 
Look at whatsbestforum and find Timas Do It Yourself Record Cleaning Machine. Or some thread title along that line. Its super long. In it, Neal Atin, I believe talks about chemicals to clean a record. He answers my questions on using brushes and distilled water with Lincol and Tergital. I have a spray bottle with a detergent in it. I have a Zero Warer table top filter for wash rinse and bucket to cstch the water. I have a spin clean for final rinse. I have about $160 in materials and get a very clean record. Its labor intensive. But you only have 150 plus a couple a week. Hand cleaning works great for the money.
 
I use an older VPI 16.5 (mine is about 15 years old) I did a few mods (installed a cooling fan, and caulk sealed the top). As I inherited my dad’s old record stash, and frequently shop the used vinyl market, I need to be able to handle difficult cleaning situations. The 16.5 is up to $999 this morning on Amazon though, and this market is now crowded with competitors, more, and less, expensive.

I use Audio Intelligent record cleaning products. New vinyl gets record cleaner, and water rinse, used vinyl gets an enzymatic treatment first.

The vacuum machines get loud, so I tend to do cleaning in batches, wearing some sort of hearing protection and do 8-12 records at a time. I keep a stack of “to be cleaned” records, eith new purchases, or in use records that need recleaning.

For a small, static, vinyl collection there are less expensive options as mentioned in posts above can work well. Home made solutions, lots of rinse water, and drying rack.
 
aKnyght said:
have a look at the humble spin-clean ...very budget friendly, will never suffer a mechanical failure and does a fantastic job!!
Click to expand...
I don't have a lot of albums and they are not my main source so I got a Spin Clean and it worked as good as I expected and needed. Probably not worth buying a mega buck cleaner unless you have a whole lot of albums.
 
You still need detergents to break oil from hands and food. Detergents work on mold also. The detergents are really a surfactant that let the water penetrate deeper into the grove. Otherwise there is a charge on the vinyl that repels the water and it won't get to the bottom of the groove. You still need distilled or 0 Water. The minerals in water will ruin your records.
 
Kingrex said:
You still need detergents to break oil from hands and food. Detergents work on mold also. The detergents are really a surfactant that let the water penetrate deeper into the grove. Otherwise there is a charge on the vinyl that repels the water and it won't get to the bottom of the groove. You still need distilled or 0 Water. The minerals in water will ruin your records.
Click to expand...

Not all record cleaners need detergents. The Klaudio, for example, uses distilled water and no detergents.
 
I use ultrasonic too. I have Tergital in the water. I have to rinse when done. Hence the 0 Water counter top filter hanging over the edge of a table into a bucket, rinse 1. Than a spin clean with pure water rinse 2. Then dry. I brush with Lyncole between untrasonic cycles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top