I wonder whish washing metod do you recommend as much cheap as possible?
I think Disco Antistat Record Cleaner could be good but then i may maybe make the same result with gloves, good micro fiber or cotton cloths and a plastic container and washing lp liquid, and clean by hand?
Some randon questions can i use water instead and how often should a record be cleaned?
If i have a old record maybe i just need to go once to a store and do a ultrasonic clean for 7 dollars and just use a fiber brush before each play?
What about new records? must i wash them also or just use fiber brush?
Having used a bunch over the decades, I’m not sure I would recommend any cheap ones. Too much potential for making things worse. Depending on how bad the record is.
I would, however, recommend brushing the needle off every play. Cheap and important if you don’t already do it. Or use the goo stuff you lower it into.
great and thanks badbeef
what about new records do you wash them?
I have the cheapest brush but i dont know how to cleaned so i used water to clean my brush and the result is not so good, now the brush is little hard, so i am thinking buying another in the future;
but here is many prices but is it really any difference between so many brushes?
I would just get the two Project bits in the top row. Maybe some needle cleaner to put on the brush once in a while. I have two needle brushes and they have very different bristle size. Not sure what the one shown is. I feel better about finer bristles, though at times, the stiffer one can remove stuff more easily. You need to be careful and gentle with them, always drawing toward you, as the the record would be traveling with respect to the needle.
I like the idea of an anti-static brush, but not sure how long it can remain so, unless it is plugged into a grounded outlet And a brush, I currently feel, is doing a very crude job of scraping some of the dust off the top of the grooves, that most likely has nothing to do/has little contact with the dust and goo way down in the grooves that the needle is plowing/surfing through. And looking at it from the needle’s perspective, that upper layer of lightweight dust is as nothing compared with the massive force of the needle down where it matters. Contact area being a teeny, tiny fraction of a square inch, multiplied by tracking force = A Very Large # per square inch, but we’re not dealing in that sort of expansive real estate ; )
Your current needle is telling you the story of every record. It is a certain shape due to both design and age, and so is scraping out a unique path through the muck in the groove.
Nope - it is to brush the stuff off the needle that it picks up every time you play a record, and so I’ve come to feel that it is perhaps first in line before waving a brush at the upper record surface that probably does little in the grand scheme of things.
I doubt very much that any record brush comes anywhere close to getting down into the grooves where the needle goes. Sure - it does a visually satisfying thing, where you see dust removed, but unless the bristles are stylus-sized (they ain’t, and shouldn’t be) I’m not sure how much help a brush is other than as Emotional Support​:stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
Sorta feel that these massive, squared-off bristles are only getting so far down into the grooves - and that the needle itself is operating at a depth where whatever the brush is doing is cosmetic at best by comparison.
What works for me, is “The Spin Clean Record Washer MKII Kit”, it’s fairly cheap. Works like a charm.
After record is washed, I place it on MoFi, anti static record sleeve(not cheap ,but worth it). This goes back inside the record album, and then I place album on a transparent plastic record sealer. This protects the clean record from getting particulates.
When ready to play an record, I use the Milty Zero Stat Gun on the record, and brush the album w AQ anti static record cleaner brush.
Prior to play the record I use my Lyra stylus cleaner, applied w brush or I can use the Blue tac.
I’m in Arizona, so the static is a killer!!!.
Hi , yes I wash the new ones too. You’ll be surprised w the particulates u find. Plus after washing u can store them in the anti static Mo Fi sleeve .
I used up the cleaner that came with the Project VC-S vacuum machine, and switched to the Audio Intelligent No. 6 one-step cleaner to clean the records after each play; For new one I will clean it before playing it; whenever I got the record, new or used, I will use Mofi’s sleeve instead; Also, after playing each side I would use Onzow sticky and clean up the needle. before each play I would use zerostat; that has become the routine and keep the dust and noise in check (at least reduce the chance of adding more dust / noise pops); I think Project came up with metal body VC-S, which I hope is better design; The legacy VC-S has multilayer wood and got swollen up near the adaptor (the screws got loose and start leaking); I have to open it up and fix it with epoxy and water resistant paint; I hope the new design (with appear to be metal enclosure) may have this issue addressed, otherwise it is pretty decent and cost effective vacuum. The brush came with it is of good quality, I bought another one as back up.
To reduce the ESD in winter, I installed a central air humidifier to our furnace to add some moisture to the room (no less than 36%);
And a brush, I currently feel, is doing a very crude job of scraping some of the dust off the top of the grooves, that most likely has nothing to do/has little contact with the dust and goo way down in the grooves that the needle is plowing/surfing through. And looking at it from the needle’s perspective, that upper layer of lightweight dust is as nothing compared with the massive force of the needle down where it matters. Contact area being a teeny, tiny fraction of a square inch, multiplied by tracking force = A Very Large # per square inch, but we’re not dealing in that sort of expansive real estate ; )
