trav0810 586 Posted May 11, 2014 Posted May 11, 2014 I know some of the more fortunate members here have some REALLY nice record cleaning machines. But, for those who don't; Has anyone tried Clean Grooves? I have a dozen or so albums that I would like to have professionally and when I was doing a search, this Clean Grooves seems to come up frequently.
trav0810 586 Posted May 11, 2014 Author Posted May 11, 2014 $5.00 each plus shipping!!??? Well, $4 if you send more than 20. And that includes a mofi anti-static sleeve and a new outer cover sleeve as well.
trav0810 586 Posted May 11, 2014 Author Posted May 11, 2014 http://www.spincleanrecordwasher.com/index.php I had one, it was "OK", but not quite as thorough as I was hoping for. I have a few albums that have no marks on them, but have a film on them as if they had been lying around open in a Cigar Bar.
pindrop 330 Posted May 11, 2014 Posted May 11, 2014 So the top cleaning fluid and brushes that go in those $2500 cleaners isn't available? From what I've seen they rotate the disc and vacuum.......
mbskeam 1,975 Posted May 11, 2014 Posted May 11, 2014 http://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/record.html http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-501243.html I use one part of 90% Isopropanol, three parts distilled water and a drop of Dawn. 1
Jim Coash 126 Posted May 11, 2014 Posted May 11, 2014 I use a sink full of warm, soft, filtered water with one drop Dawn and two drops bleach. I clean each record carefully submerging the vinyl but avoiding getting the label wet. I place them in a dish drainer vertically to dry for a few minutes and then use a soft lint free cloth to dry. Finally I place them flat on my granite counter top on another dry lint free cloth and the use a Discwasher with my own cleaner to give them a final going over. If they are warped, I place them between two pieces of 3/4" finished plywood using a soft cloth between the record and the wood. They go into the oven on the middle shelf after an hour of preheat to 250 degrees. Once in, I turn off the oven and leave the record over night. In the morning, 90% of them are perfectly flat. A second treatment will increase that to 95%. A few just never seem to get perfect but most are still playable. If the records are noisy due to ill treatment I either live with it or, if I really want to have a good copy of that recording I still have some of the old Ball record treatment. That sometimes makes a big difference. I always save the original sleeve but the record goes into a new VRP every time after I clean it so I know it has been done. I use a Sharpie to date my ownership and when it was cleaned for the first time. I never have done a record more than once. Never needed to. Vinyl is superior. Period. Jim 1
trav0810 586 Posted May 11, 2014 Author Posted May 11, 2014 So the top cleaning fluid and brushes that go in those $2500 cleaners isn't available? From what I've seen they rotate the disc and vacuum....... I think it's the vacuuming that makes a difference. With the Spin Clean, I think the crap settles back into the grooves if the album is really dirty.
trav0810 586 Posted May 11, 2014 Author Posted May 11, 2014 I use one part of 90% Isopropanol, three parts distilled water and a drop of Dawn. I do the same with a couple drops of Kodak PhotoFlo to help with spotting. The solution is great, but the lack of a good vacuum cleaner seems to be the issue.
trav0810 586 Posted May 11, 2014 Author Posted May 11, 2014 I use a sink full of warm, soft, filtered water with one drop Dawn and two drops bleach. I clean each record carefully submerging the vinyl but avoiding getting the label wet. Jim I'd end up dropping them in the sink and have a bunch of Albums with no labels.
SteveFord 1,119 Posted May 12, 2014 Posted May 12, 2014 If you hunt around a VPI 16 might pop up fairly inexpensively as people upgrade. If you have the patience get two heavy sheets of glass, glue them to some 1/2" plywood, stick the cleaned record in the center and stick a gallon jug of water on top of it to flatten out the warps. It takes a while but is much safer than using heat which can deform the grooves leading to the dreaded Wheep WOW! syndrome.
Community Admin AndrewJohn 10,453 Posted May 12, 2014 Community Admin Posted May 12, 2014 On the SpinClean, I was at AXPONA, a couple weeks ago, and one of the vendors there in the vendor room, was selling these. I had seen them before. His pitch made me do some Google-ing. There's a number of threads that point out that the SpinClean re-applies the dirt, since the solution sits there, record after record. A few people say that the SpinClean solution they sell has a flocculant that is supposed to aggregate the dirt, and make it settle out at the bottom. Seems the physics of motion of the record agitating the solution would be a greater force - and many of the opinions online seem to support that side of the argument. The cleaner I'm thinking of now, is a reasonable alternative - that is a solution and vacuum drying machine, but is economical. And, from what I can tell, it is conducive to using a home-grown cleaning solution, like some of these here. Check out the PHK. I haven't purchased it yet, and wonder if anyone here has tried one. They require a wet-dry shop vac. Frankly, they look like you could get the parts from Home Depot, and build it yourself - but this guy in Brazil has already make the system. Here's a Vinyl Engine review LINK HERE. And a YouTube DEMO VIDEO. And they seem to be a bit tricky to purchase. The company's website is no longer up (was up a few weeks ago). When I looked they were about $200. Which, for a record cleaning service at $5 a record, would pay for itself after cleaning 40 records. Has anyone seen or have an opinion on this unit? Any thoughs on reverse-engineering it with home-depot PVC parts, a motor and a shop vac?
trav0810 586 Posted May 12, 2014 Author Posted May 12, 2014 If you hunt around a VPI 16 might pop up fairly inexpensively as people upgrade. If you have the patience get two heavy sheets of glass, glue them to some 1/2" plywood, stick the cleaned record in the center and stick a gallon jug of water on top of it to flatten out the warps. It takes a while but is much safer than using heat which can deform the grooves leading to the dreaded Wheep WOW! syndrome. I haven't really ran into any bad warps yet, just filth. While I would love to have one of the VPI's, I imagine (even used), they are beyond my means!
mbskeam 1,975 Posted May 12, 2014 Posted May 12, 2014 http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=318672&highlight=ultrasonic+cleaner enjoy..... bbbwwwwhhhhaaaaaa welcome to the dark side 2
Community Admin AndrewJohn 10,453 Posted May 12, 2014 Community Admin Posted May 12, 2014 http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=318672&highlight=ultrasonic+cleaner enjoy..... bbbwwwwhhhhaaaaaa welcome to the dark side OK, That is going to take some time to really enjoy..., and I'm looking forward to it. Why? As the punchline goes... "There's a pony in there somewhere!" I'm going to find it. Thanks for the reference! 1
CT-Seven 764 Posted May 12, 2014 Posted May 12, 2014 but the lack of a good vacuum cleaner seems to be the issue. Anyone here own a Rainbow?
ClevelandVinyl 8 Posted May 13, 2014 Posted May 13, 2014 I don't want to give a commercial on my services on the forum but I do the same service except I offer Ultrasonic cleaning as well. It cleans WAYYY better than any vacuum machine. I used almost all of them. I ve probably ultrasonically cleaned about 1,500 records for my customers in about 9 months time. Forum members get a 10% discount off the prices. Email or check out my eBay store if you are interested. I've been cleaning records for 10+ years, all methods, email me if you want to chat about what works best and what is a waste of time and money. I'm happy to help! Greg 2
Jim Coash 126 Posted May 13, 2014 Posted May 13, 2014 Does anybody remember the Record-Vac? It was sold on TV as the "best" way to easily clean all records. It was also called the record "burger" because it kind of looked like a Big Mac. There was a vertical slot with felt pads and brushes mounted along the edges to contact the record surface while a battery operated motor turned the record. A lot were sold and soon there were complaints that records came out worse than when they went in. Nitty Gritty and VPI were always very good systems but I never invested. My method seems to work as well as anything and is gentler and more thorough than most. Clean your vinyl! Jim
mbskeam 1,975 Posted May 13, 2014 Posted May 13, 2014 I got a bottle of Tergitol®, 15-S-7, Surfactant now I can get to work..... :--d thinking about ultrasonic, but right now the vpi is doing okay. I do think I have 1 record that I cant get to sound better, I am starting to think is damaged, of course its one I really like (this mortalcoil) all my other sound great after cleaning.... I did a before an after on a few just to see whats what.
Gene C 1,748 Posted May 13, 2014 Posted May 13, 2014 Get one of those Groovmaster's off of eBay and submersing the LP won't be an issue. I Karmaed one of those off last year here. The thing worked perfectly.
Community Admin AndrewJohn 10,453 Posted May 13, 2014 Community Admin Posted May 13, 2014 Does anybody remember the Record-Vac? Sure do. And the Ronco system!
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