As I’m gradually going through my old LPs, its very clear that some of the discs urgently need a good clean, having accumulated surface noise during long term storage. Ideally I’ll buy an Record Cleaning Machine in time, but they are costly and in my current work / listening room a bit tricky to store.
So, alternatives? I’m sure some of the vinylistas here will have seen some of the (alarming) wood glue LP cleaning experiments featured on Youtube? Scary! Well I thought why not, lets give it a try as I have plenty of wood glue at hand. I decided to use an album I knew to be in poor condition and one I wasn’t too bothered about. And also for crimes against cinema when Elton John was seen to 'act’ in Kingsmen The Golden Circle!
Does it work? Yes. I was actually quite taken aback at the significant improvement achieved with this technique. After the dried glue had been removed and the disc test played, the surface noise was mostly gone, all but a few light pops remained. Now, I certainly wouldn't use PVA or wood glue on a precious album due to the possibility of the glue leaving behind chemical residue and the aggressive bonding capabilities of PVA / wood glue in general, but this was intriguing.
Spurred on by the success, a little research brought up two products called “Record Revirginizer” and “Winyl Record Cleaner”. Intended to be used in a similar way as the wood glue technique, but designed to be much kinder to the vinyl surface. Essentially a light adhesive, deep clean peel.
I ordered a bottle of each and have been experimenting since. Again, not on precious vinyl, but a couple of discs I wasn’t that concerned about and knew to have annoying surface noise. I achieved similar results to the wood glue, only a lot more user friendly in every way. In most cases, nearly all surface noise removed. It won’t repair a damaged / scratched record, but it will deep clean sufficiently to revive an old LP to being playable.
I started off using the recommended 15-20ml, but soon found this excessive and honed my technique to use just 8-10ml per side.
A few step by step pics of firstly how I used the glue, and in more detail, the gel...
Glue applied and left to dry...
Wood glue is easy to remove, once an edge has been peeled away, but much much easier raising the edge with the gel than with the glue…
And the use of the dedicated record gels in detail. A close up of the dirty record before application...
About 10ml Record Revirginizer applied…
I brushed in the gloop with a good quality artists hog hair brush, as its less likely to shed bristles…
Then very gently work the gel deep into the grooves with finger tips. This also evens out the liquid and removes air bubbles. The open time is just about long enough to do this, even in the recent hot weather…
And done! Once applied, it takes roughly four to eight ours to dry per side.
When the gel is still wet, a small paper tab is stuck onto the goo at the record edge, this will help removal when dry. I applied the gel to one side, when touch dry, flip over and apply to the other LP side. Doing both at once minimises the chance of recontamination…
And you can clearly see how clean the vinyl surface now is...
Admittedly, its quite a long procedure and for large collections a dedicated RCM would be the best solution, but I've managed to set up a mini work area (on a drawing board) and have four to five albums on the go at once. I only have a few hundred albums, and not all need cleaning, so a few bottles of gel should see most of the collection in much better shape.
Anyway, hope any bods in the same situation may find the post useful, especially if space is compromised and an RCM cannot easily be accommodated.
Posted on: 30 July 2018 by Yetizone
@Hook. Ha ha! I think its quite an enjoyable process, and really, I find it no less patience testing than ripping CD’s and finding high res artwork etc for a FLAC file.
@Wenger. Time is tight here too most of the time, but I’ve now got a pretty efficient workflow. It takes me around 10-15 minutes to apply gel to five LP sides, usually first thing in the morning, then leave to dry while I work, then do the other side in the evening. Leave overnight and peel off both sides (takes seconds) and pop them in a fresh sleeve. Quite a simple process that doesn’t take up much hands on time at all. Its having sufficient space to set up multiple discs and to leave them undisturbed I find the main challenge.
@AndyP19. I’ve watched some of those videos on Youtube and some beggar belief. I certainly wouldn’t ever consider applying glue on a spinning turntable platter, then spreading the glue at speed using a hard edged credit card! The thought of wood glue meeting a Rega felt turntable mat is not appealing. That guy in the video didn’t apply Titebond (the same glue I used) generously enough. All he needs to do is apply another layer and it will bond to the first, then remove. Alternatively, using a hair dryer (on low heat not to damage the vinyl!) would make the dried glue sufficiently pliable and an edge could be raised with a wooden toothpick. That guys record aren’t a write off at all, he’s just being too precious.
@ Bob the builder. I think an RCM is the ideal scenario and its reassuring to read you are Wenger are getting good results, especially on used and abused records as you seem to have achieved there Bob, that must be very satisfying. Great find on the Miles Davis album too.
@Innocent Bystander. Ah, so you ripped you records to a digital format. Interesting. That had never occurred to me and could be uninteresting idea. Will read up and investigate.
An RCM of some sort will probably be the next step for me I think. Its just going to be tricky housing one. I was looking at the Nessie range of machines over the weekend, and they look like nicely made units and are reportedly very quiet in operation too.
After I'd written the post last night I had my best result so far. A copy of Men At Work - Business As Usual, I thought was so worn / damaged that it was beyond repair and intended to discard it, as it had distortion and heavy surface noise from start to finish on both sides, throughout. Now, its more or less completely silent and that distortion has gone. This was with the gel, not the glue btw. I’ve also been closely examining the stylus point after playing these cleaned discs, and the diamond remains spotless.
Posted on: 30 July 2018 by Yetizone
Yetizone, a really interesting post for those of us who, for whatever reason, have never invested in a RCM. Have you found in difference in results or ease of use between the two gels tested?
In terms of sheer cleaning performance, there’s hardly anything in it. Both give almost identically results.
I prefer the initial application method of the Winyl. As the bottle comes with two plastic syringes, I could accurately extract the desired volume. The Revirginizer does not come with a measuring dispenser - luckily I had a little 50ml plastic measuring cup at hand. Needless to say I use the plastic syringe with both now.
If I had to choose, I’d say the Revirginizer is little more forgiving, especially when a reduced volume of liquid is used - the instructions advise this once the user gets used to the application technique.
The reduced volume, dried Revirginizer film feels a touch more robust. Whereas with Winyl, i’ve found that when dropping down from 15ml to say 8ml, the dry Winyl can tear and become a little trickier to handle as its that bit more delicate, occasionally leaving strips of dried residue - nearly always around the run in and run out grooves, or vinyl edge. These persistent strands can easily be dislodged by rolling up the spent ball of goo and gently rolling over the residue - or lightly rubbing with a clean wooden toothpick, this can also work. This, obviously a compromise of using a reduced amount given the rather high price of roughly £20 per 500ml bottle of each product. Once used up, I'll work out how much per LP it has cost.
Despite those very minor issues, I would not hesitate to buy both again.
