The only real way to clean records without doing more harm than good, is to vacuum the dirt off with a VPI Record Cleaner. Those are expensive, and most people would rather buy records, than spend that kind of money. Playing a dirty record will do irreparable damage. Imagine if you will the tip of the phono stylus riding through dirty record grooves, it is acting like a miniature steam roller weld
ing debris to the vinyl walls, the dirt also acts as a sandpaper expediently lowering the life of the stylus. This is even a problem with brand new records, as they are full of static and attract dust like a brand new PS3. Vacuum cleaning removes the grime, as well as the static, meaning you won't have war with dust. People go into all sorts of crazy cleaning methods, virtually all will damage the records. Tap water will not break the vinyl's surface tension and will not clean down into the grooves. Tap water, wood glue, and window cleaner will also leave deposits in the records. use Glass Plus, Simple Green, Goof Off,Goo Gone, lighter fluid, Windex or ANY type of window or glass cleaner whether it contains ammonia or not. [Ammonia is like cyanide to vinyl, you will do more damage than you can shake a stick at. Records can actually turn white as the ammonia reacts to it's PVC and plasticizers] Fantastic ,409,alcohol [denatured or otherwise],dish washing detergent, dish washing rinsing agents contain harsh water softeners. The same applies to methods like Glass Plus, Windex and Simple Green. Without a vacuum, all the sediment will just be forced deeper into the grooves including residue left over from using these cleaners,You cannot rinse this stuff out with tap or distilled. It will NOT reach the grooves bottom You CANNOT towel dry an LP to get to the bottom of the grooves, using a towel will only aid in forcing surface sludge back in again. SO, you could just scrub all your favourite records, that you paid a fortune for and took years to find, with a brillo pad and some lighter fluid. It's up to you.
12" LP's: £3 per record
7" single: £1.50 per record
It is preferred if you contact me first, I respond very quickly, just to let me know you are coming round. If you prefer to post your records to me, that can be arranged, again contact me so we can arrange postage.
