IDM Mailing Archive

On Thursday, 28-May-98, chris wicks wrote [about (idm) tapwater/vinyl]:

quoted 6 lines Hey, there. Got a question for all of you. I've been cleaning my

>Hey, there. Got a question for all of you. I've been cleaning my >vinyl with an old cloth, moistened with tapwater, and then drying it >off with another old cloth. Recently, somebody told me that this was >a bad idea. Comments? What should I be using to clean my vinyl? >Alcohol? Thanks for any suggestions... I'm fairly new to the world of >vinyl.

nooo! vinyl + tapwater = death.. it will leave some deposits on the vinyl that are bad for it. The best thing to do is buy a record care kit.. Discwasher has a good one out.. It consists of a soft brush, and a cleaning solution.. You put the cleaning solution to one side of the brush, and then put it on the vinyl, and spin the vinyl around (while it's on the turntable) with your fingers, the pressure from your holding the brush down (and you want to apply pressure depending on how dirty the vinyl is) will normally make it impossible to use the turntables motor to spin the vinyl. After you are satisfied with it, you can then use the other side of the brush in the same fashion to dry the vinyl. Don't let the solution dry by itself, I've learnt this the hard way :) anyway.. this is as written in the little leaflet that came with my discwasher cleaning kit.. I've been doing it this way ever since I've owned records. mh.. oh yes.. Once the cleaning fluid runs out, you can refil it with Isopropyl rubbing alcohol.. this is fine, just don't put any hard liquor in there coz it adds some colour to your vinyl and also a shitload of surface noise and other problems :D __ __\ \ / /_\ \ \_____/ "..in whatever you do, if you can't break new ground, what's the point?" - James Cameron

On Thu, 28 May 1998, GamePrg. wrote:

quoted 11 lines On Thursday, 28-May-98, chris wicks wrote [about (idm) tapwater/vinyl]:

> On Thursday, 28-May-98, chris wicks wrote [about (idm) tapwater/vinyl]: > >Hey, there. Got a question for all of you. I've been cleaning my > >vinyl with an old cloth, moistened with tapwater, and then drying it > >off with another old cloth. Recently, somebody told me that this was > >a bad idea. Comments? What should I be using to clean my vinyl? > >Alcohol? Thanks for any suggestions... I'm fairly new to the world of > >vinyl. > > nooo! vinyl + tapwater = death.. it will leave some deposits on the vinyl > that are bad for it. >

What deposits exactly? (Is this a bathroom cleaner comercial?) A few years ago there was an article in DJ magazine on how to care for your vinyl and the `expert' they got in recommeded luke warm water with a little washing-up liquid and a clean sponge followed by a rinse. I have done this and noticed nothing but an improvement in quality. If you have money to spend on fancy cleaning gizmos then that's your business and you can use lighter fuel if you want but (this was recommended for old dub plates) but old soap and water will suffice. Also I use a carbon fibre brush, Tandy/RadioShack do them for a few quid, for every day cleaning. If you really want the best possible results from your vinyl and you're willing to go to the time and trouble of keeping your collection in tip-top condition the disco-matic 3000, or what ever, will probably serve you admirably but really, there's more to life.

quoted 2 lines nooo! vinyl + tapwater = death.. it will leave some deposits on

> > nooo! vinyl + tapwater = death.. it will leave some deposits on > the vinyl

quoted 1 line What deposits exactly?

> What deposits exactly?

probably calcium. i've done the tapwater thing a long time ago and the disc ended up being a total mess. this might depend on what the water is like where you live. i can only advise that whatever you do, DON'T use WD40. this was recommended by a hifi mag. but if you can get through a single track without the needle collecting so much dirt that the needle flies off the groove and into the centre label (i've done this too) then i'll be amazed.

quoted 4 lines ago there was an article in DJ magazine on how to care for your vinyl and

> ago there was an article in DJ magazine on how to care for your vinyl and > the `expert' they got in recommeded luke warm water with a little > washing-up liquid and a clean sponge followed by a rinse. I have done this > and noticed nothing but an improvement in quality.

i can't recommend this. both tap water and soap leave a lot of shit in the grooves. there's only one (inexpensive) solution if you want to really clean your vinyl. isopropyl alcohol (aka tape head cleaner). every used record store i've been to has had a huge bottle of it to clean their records, and they should know. doesn't leave any shit in your grooves (though if you're using spherical stylus cartridges like stanton, this doesn't matter as much). it also helps a great deal if, after cleaning, you play the whole thing backwards with a spare cheap (elliptical stylus) cartridge. you'd be amazed how much surface noise you can eliminate by doing that <waves>