It’s been 35 years since I bought a new record. Having switched to CDs in 1990, I didn’t bother keeping tabs on what was happening in the world of vinyl. Until recently, when I was gifted a turntable. Eager to try out my new toy, I decided to treat myself to some fresh wax, instead of playing any of my old records.
Imagine my horror then, when I ripped off the shrink wrap on a brand new album to see this:
What’s been going on in the last 35 years? We’re all carrying supercomputers in our pockets, but records are still being made in the 19th century? Well, whatever the reason, I figured I would have to get some kind of record cleaning machine. And so the search began.
After spending the last few weeks reading every post and watching every YouTube video on the subject, I came to a few conclusions of my own:
Couple of points to note:
While there are hundreds of recipes out there, I settled on this one from London Jazz Collector. And it’s worked out great. The secret ingredient is Ilfotol, which is pretty hard to procure. Your best bet is from an online store in the UK. The American alternative, Kodak Photo Flo, is not recommended as it contains other additives like propylene glycol. The bonus you get with Ilfotol is that it actually provides an anti-static coating for your record.
Why is Ilfotol important? Because you need a surfactant to break up the surface tension of the fluid. That’s the only way it’s going to get deep into the grooves. Here’s a pic of a record that’s covered with the cleaning fluid I made from the above recipe.
If you can’t find Ilfotol anywhere, do check out the other options online. Dishwashing liquid, Tergikleen and Triton X100 are some of the other popular choices. But make sure you do a thorough distilled water rinse before vacuuming the stuff off, to ensure you don’t leave any residue on the vinyl.
Finally, here’s the video I’ve been talking about, from the creator of the Vinyl Vac. As I mentioned earlier, most of these items are available on Amazon India. Once you get some practice, it takes less than 15 minutes to clean both sides of an LP. Well worth the effort, and you can hear the difference.
Imagine my horror then, when I ripped off the shrink wrap on a brand new album to see this:
What’s been going on in the last 35 years? We’re all carrying supercomputers in our pockets, but records are still being made in the 19th century? Well, whatever the reason, I figured I would have to get some kind of record cleaning machine. And so the search began.
After spending the last few weeks reading every post and watching every YouTube video on the subject, I came to a few conclusions of my own:
- Wet cleaning is the way to go.
- Wetting the record and then wiping with a cloth merely moves the dirt around. It doesn’t get the gunk off the grooves.
- While Ultrasonic cleaners are effective to an extent, they don’t remove smudges and fingerprints. And the drying process can add static.
- The most effective method for wet cleaning vinyl is with a vacuum machine.
- Vacuum RCMs are expensive.
- The new ones on the market don’t last very long. If it goes kaput, service in India is non-existent.
- Vacuum RCMs are pretty simple devices; they rotate the record and suck out dirt. So why not build one?
Couple of points to note:
- Most of the components shown in the video below are available on Amazon India.
- All the bits put together were less than 13k.
- Do NOT use a regular vacuum cleaner. You can get a good wet/dry VC for 3k on Amazon.
- If you can get the Vinyl Vac from Amazon US, do so. While it’s available from the India store, it’s double the price. And get the one without the juice. It’s better to make your own. Which brings us neatly to:
While there are hundreds of recipes out there, I settled on this one from London Jazz Collector. And it’s worked out great. The secret ingredient is Ilfotol, which is pretty hard to procure. Your best bet is from an online store in the UK. The American alternative, Kodak Photo Flo, is not recommended as it contains other additives like propylene glycol. The bonus you get with Ilfotol is that it actually provides an anti-static coating for your record.
Why is Ilfotol important? Because you need a surfactant to break up the surface tension of the fluid. That’s the only way it’s going to get deep into the grooves. Here’s a pic of a record that’s covered with the cleaning fluid I made from the above recipe.
If you can’t find Ilfotol anywhere, do check out the other options online. Dishwashing liquid, Tergikleen and Triton X100 are some of the other popular choices. But make sure you do a thorough distilled water rinse before vacuuming the stuff off, to ensure you don’t leave any residue on the vinyl.
Finally, here’s the video I’ve been talking about, from the creator of the Vinyl Vac. As I mentioned earlier, most of these items are available on Amazon India. Once you get some practice, it takes less than 15 minutes to clean both sides of an LP. Well worth the effort, and you can hear the difference.
