How to Clean Your Vinyl Records
Cleaning your Vinyl records is one of the basic and most important things a Vinylhead should know when starting their vinyl collection. Whether new or old, every record needs a bit of love and care. Remember, DUST is the biggest enemy of Vinyl and if not properly cared for, records can start to show serious wear quicker than expected.
Cleaning your records is an easy process which does not really require much preparation.
But before we start on any methods, make sure you use gloves while cleaning your records. Just like dust, fingerprints can pose a big problem for your records too as greasing of records can gather debris of dust on that spot.
On that note let’s talk about ways which can help you in cleaning your records. I am going to talk about everything from brushes to liquid solutions so that all of you analog people can make sure your records are clean and honestly it will only upgrade your listening experience. Also, as a general rule it is always a good idea to clean your records before playing even if it’s brand new. Vinyl records are prone to dirt and dust, which can lead to scratching of the record. This is why it is important to clean your vinyl records regularly. There are many ways to clean your vinyl records, but we'll go over the most popular methods below.
1) A vinyl cleaning Brush
Whether your record is freshly pressed and just arrived in your hands or you have a very old record which you want to clean, a vinyl cleaning brush can make a huge difference. When using a vinyl cleaning brush what you want to make sure is to get your record and make sure to run the brush along the record’s groove in a clockwise motion or a counter clockwise motion. Basically, what the vinyl cleaning brush is going to do is clean away all the heavy dust and dirt which is on the surface of the record. You can go for Ortofon Record Brush which can be a good and a long term investment. The brush features two rows of tightly bound carbon fiber bristles that are designed to remove dirt and dust from the record surface and remember when using the brush try not to press too hard.
DONTS: Never ever use a toothbrush on your records to clean them even if the bristles look similar. The plastic bristles of the toothbrush can scratch your records.
2) Cleaning records using household products
To start cleaning your records manually, you can start with 3 things: part distilled water, part dish soap and a microfiber cloth
When it comes to deep cleaning the manual way, mix part distilled water and part liquid soap and get cleaning. Dont scrub your records, be gentle.
Make sure you are using distilled water as the minerals from the running tap water can damage your records.
Pro tip: If you can't find distilled water in your nearest grocery store, no problem; You can boil the water and let it cool down with a lid on. Using this cooled down water instead of directly using tap water can make a huge difference too.
Once you have given them a good wash, make sure to dry them on a dish rack and wipe off all the excess water with a microfibre cloth. You can find a good quality one at Decathlon stores across the country.
The cleaning cloth you use is important, here, as you want to prevent static build-up during the cleaning process. More static means more dust. Microfiber cloth are static-resistant, so they make for a great cleaning method and also make sure. Wipe the record in a circular motion with a microfiber cloth after using a liquid cleaning solution.
Pro tip: Add two drops of white vinegar to the home made mixture of soap and water. You might not see the difference immediately, but trust us, this works like magic!!
DON'T EVER USE TISSUE PAPER ON YOUR RECORDS TO DRY THEM OFF. JUST DON'T
3) Keep Stylus clean
One more step which I think many vinylheads forget is to keep your stylus on your turntable clean too. In the same way that dust and dirt build-up on your records, the same thing happens with the stylus on your turntable.
Even if your record is at its cleanest but if you forget to clean the stylus on your turntable, in the long run this can damage your records. Take a closer look at the needle, if you see dust gather on its tip, clean it right away.
You can give the stylus clean by dipping a cotton swab in alcohol and gently wipe it over the needle area of your record player. This will remove dirt and residue from the needle area so it does not affect sound quality when playing your vinyl records.
Also you can use a fine soft tip brush to clean away the dirt or dust on your stylus.
Pro Tip: If you can’t find a soft tip brush, guess what you can use a soft bristle makeup brush as replacement and a temporary fix.
Just remember not to put too much pressure on your stylus!!
4) Use a deep groove record washer system
A Deep Groove Record Cleaner like a Spin Clean helps in reducing pops and crackles. Album Cleaner May Fix Skips That Have Lingered for Years
5) Rent a cleaner:
Rent a cleaner for a weekend!
Tell us how many records you have and what's their condition like and you can spend a weekend cleaning your records. We will send you the spin clean machine, solution and the cloth.
If you wish to clean your records but dont intend to buy the machine, you can fill in the details in the form below and our team will get back to you at the earliest with all the details.
https://forms.gle/oJVtAWWcAzV4WP5V8