Since getting into vinyl a few months ago, I've been reading the various hints and tweaks for getting the best sound out of my modest vintage turntable.

I've been both fascinated and amused by endless threads about record cleaning and (most importantly) how to do it. There is so much information on this and other forums that it's almost overwhelming, and the passion and vitriol can be intimidating. With all the conflicting info, it's taken me a long time to actually get down to the business of cleaning records, but I finally did yesterday.

I'm not going to post the home brew recipe or technique I eventually settled on, because I don't want to start another thread like the ones I've been buried in. But, I do want to say to those of you who are:

1. New to the vinyl scene or getting back into it after a long layoff, and
2. Wanting to make a drastic improvement in sound quality, and
3. Interested in record cleaning, but intimidated by the mixed-bag of advice you find online . . .

. . . just pick a method that has some supporters and makes sense to you and get started.

Several records I thought I'd probably never listen to again came out sounding just great and some of my best records became absolutely silent except for the music. All sorts of noise, static, distortion, and whatever else I thought I was hearing and trying to 'tweak' out my system simply disappeared. Absolutely nothing I've ever done to my system has ever made as big an improvement to the sound as the record cleaning I did yesterday.

Good for you. :thmbsp: The first things you try won't be the last. I'm sure you'll go through various stages of tweaks, discoveries, solutions, brushes, etc. before settling into a long term routine. Just like gear swapping/ modding/mix & mathcing it's part of the fun.

I have settled on a mixture of Dawn, Alcohol and distilled water.

I rinse under running water, apply a coating with a soft paint brush, rinse off.

Then "scrub" in a circular motion with the paint brush and mixture, rinse off with distilled water.

Dry with microfiber towels then put in a dish rack to air dry for at least an hour.

I got a copy of Let It Bleed by the Rolling Stones yesterday and it had dust, mold and stains on it.

After giving it a good wash it played fine with very little surface noise.

That record looked like it had been through the works when I got it and it looked as good as new when I was done.

One word here: GLUE
See other thread stickied in the Forums!

Its my standard "first attack" (after dry/damp/dry discwashering) for deeply soiled LPs

Glue is like work.. nothing like using a buck of glue on a 50 cent record... I have yet found an LP that I couldn't clean with soap and water....

Glad to hear the OP is just finding something he likes and going with it.. I've been washing LPs in the sink with soap and water since the late 70's... it hasn't failed me yet, however, I do use a vac now, which I didn't do back then, but it's still basically a soap and water process...

charlottemi, I too have recently re-entered the vinyl-spinnin' arena, and agree totally with your post. I had a couple used records that were unlistenable before cleaning, and nearly perfect after. The phrase "just do it" comes to mind.

Glue is like work.. nothing like using a buck of glue on a 50 cent record...

Sometimes this is true, but other times its more like using a buck of glue on a 50 cent record and ending up with a $1.50 record which is very enjoyable!:banana:

(but it does take much more time)