What's everybody using to clean their CD-4 LP's?

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I joined the Spin Clean Club.

I looked at that Canfab one, but, to be perfectly honest, I think some of my records - all of which are second hand with dubious histories - required something a little more serious than a light vacuuming. I'm also pretty chea.... frugal. So, when I saw a Spin Clean at 50% Off, I knew that was the choice for me.

After a marathon of record cleaning last night, I'm pretty impressed. After only a single cleaning, the Spin Clean silenced some notoriously crackly LP's. I'm playing "Road Food" at the moment. Other than a couple brief splattery moments, it's holding strong carrier signal and is much quieter.

My Black Sabbath CD-4 sounds like brand new.

Sure, there's no rebuilding a worn groove - my mildly warped Dolly Parton sounds better but is still pretty crackly. I'm not sure if that's worn groove, bad pressing or just dirty. I may run it through one more time just for giggles.

I was also happy to see that after doing 10 LP's, I didn't get a single label wet. That was my biggest fear - but the water just beads up and rolls around following the runout groove around the label.

Thanks BigBill for the suggestion. (y)

I'm going to run some of my Japanese discs through tonight. They already sound very good, so I'd imagine a light cleaning will only make them sound even better! :music
 
I don't mean to get into a confrontation with Mark because, obviously, RCM's are effective at cleaning LP's and less work.

And then we have Mr. Dorren's (RIP) method which is emulsifying the dirt in the groove and letting the stylus plow it out which is a bit scary but verification has been forthcoming.

Doug
 
I use a Nitty Gritty record cleaning machine (with some home-brewed cleaning fluid) to clean all of my LPs, including CD-4. I find that a good wet-cleaning with vacuum works best.
 
I use warm water and clean them with mild soap, scrubbing back and forth in line with the grooves with a discwasher brush ( the brush you get with D4 fluid). I then rinse them in the sink with the sink sprayer (with warm water). Finally, I immediately dry them with the air nozzle on my air compressor. Even if I get the label wet, I have never damaged a label because they are pretty tough. I really dont want to spend $100 on a cleaning machine and this method works really well for me, especially on dirty grimy records full of fingerprints (nothin like a little elbow grease).
 
You have to be careful with air compressors. Most of them spray a small amount of lubricating oil in the air, and this can be driven into the grooves; softening the (petroleum-based) vinyl ... and it can mess up a stylus too. $100 is not a lot of money. LP damage is permanent.
 
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I use warm water and clean them with mild soap, scrubbing back and forth in line with the grooves with a discwasher brush ( the brush you get with D4 fluid). I then rinse them in the sink with the sink sprayer (with warm water). Finally, I immediately dry them with the air nozzle on my air compressor. Even if I get the label wet, I have never damaged a label because they are pretty tough. I really dont want to spend $100 on a cleaning machine and this method works really well for me, especially on dirty grimy records full of fingerprints (nothin like a little elbow grease).

I use discwasher as well.....mainly for the brush which I find excellent for removing fine dust particles.

I think the lesser you have to apply solutions including soapy water , the lesser chance you may damage or " pit mark " your vinyl's grooves .

I would be oh so careful with the applications you describe . Hopefully it's something you do on very few discs.....there can't be that many that are so dirty you have to go through such a cleaning procedure .

Now ..but if it works for you....well then all the better I suppose .
 
Hi. All

My Spin Cleaner which I have used for nearly 5 years has done me GOOD.
But I am right handed and had a operation on my right hand about the same time I bought the Spin Cleaner its got to point now I cant use the manual operation of cleaning my LP`s any more because of pain it give me I must of cleaned about 5 or 600 LP`s in that time but I still have over a thousand to go, so I have read over time and information on the net about Ultrasonic Cleaners and how good they where so at the local Record shop Auckland City NZ there where celebrating World Record day on Saturday and they had a unit $100 off for only one day and if you where a member you got another $80.00 off so I bought it, and boy does this unit do the job it cleans max. of 5 LP`s at the same time and I tried putting some really grotty LP`s in to clean and they cleaned up like new very impressed I have cleaned about 40 LP`s since Saturday.
I highly recommend Ultrasonic unit to anybody BUT they are not cheap to buy.

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I see variations of those on eBay, but they range from $400 US (for a manual one) well on up to $2500 for a fully automatic deal.
I like clean records, but not THAT much!
 
I see variations of those on eBay, but they range from $400 US (for a manual one) well on up to $2500 for a fully automatic deal.
I like clean records, but not THAT much!

Hi. Q-Eight
Yes I do agree with you on the price of these units But as I said they really DO the job and I only bought because of my hand condition..
 
I have an Ultrasonic cleaner that cost WAY MORE. Yes, it was ridiculously expensive but it does work 'very good'. I say only 'very good' because my brother came by to see and listen to the new cleaner. He couldn't believe the record was not PERFECT after an Ultrasonic cleaning. I had to explain it is still only vinyl and the Ultrasonic cleaner does not remake the the album groves. I'm happy I feel I get them as clean as possible. I then digitize and use Sound Forge to take out any remaining 'tics' and 'tacks'. A lot of money and time but isn't that what listening to vinyl is all about?
 
I have an Ultrasonic cleaner that cost WAY MORE. Yes, it was ridiculously expensive but it does work 'very good'. I say only 'very good' because my brother came by to see and listen to the new cleaner. He couldn't believe the record was not PERFECT after an Ultrasonic cleaning. I had to explain it is still only vinyl and the Ultrasonic cleaner does not remake the album groves. I'm happy I feel I get them as clean as possible. I then digitize and use Sound Forge to take out any remaining 'tics' and 'tacks'. A lot of money and time but isn't that what listening to vinyl is all about?

Hi. OldAsMono
I do exactly what you do digitize & clean any clicks or pops and save on portable hard drives remember these are used 40 year old LP`s in all sorts of condition the Ultrasonic cleaner does not get ride of scratches or scuffs but does get ride of ALL the crud in the grooves and when you have a good LP clean it, it sound even better......
 
That is a great price. Wholesale though. Minimum order there is quantity of 120. I would purchase one. It is not always shown with the "gramophone attachment" and doesn't appear on the picture of the box. Does anybody retail this in the US?
There are several sellers that use the same vat, but sell it for way more. Maybe it's a matter of time before the ebay prices reflect the alibaba prices.
 
Something that is not mentioned is that you have to degas the water for ultrasonic cleaning to perform at its best. The first time you use a volume of water you have to extend the cleaning time, say 5-10 minutes, to degas it first. Or degas and then clean.

Reusing (within limits) the same water/solution seems to be a good idea then.
 
Easy Markshan. I've cleaned them as I brought them home. Recorded them onto Reel to
Reel tape and stored the records.
 
This looks intriguing...


I'm a bit afraid to try this on a quad LP, but I've got plenty of throwaway stereo discs to experiment with.


I've done it a few times. It never hurt anything but I also never noticed any dramatic improvement. The fun part is having the weird yellow "record negative" made out of glue when you're done!
 
I've done it a few times. It never hurt anything but I also never noticed any dramatic improvement. The fun part is having the weird yellow "record negative" made out of glue when you're done!

Never got around to trying it...ended up buying a Spin Clean MKII and it works quite well. It can be a bit cumbersome turning the records by hand though.

It's funny how you can sort of hear the carrier when you run a CD-4 disc through it (sounds kinda like moving a zipper really fast).
 
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