Who Made The First Record Cleaner For Home Use?

Abner Doubleday. (nt), posted on July 21, 2014 at 15:25:05
bruckner9 Audiophile Posts: 1184 Location: So Cal Joined: August 14, 2003	nt

RE: Who Made The First Record Cleaner For Home Use?, posted on July 21, 2014 at 17:17:24
middleground	Obviously a charlatan.

My first on was a plastic shell that you stood the LP up in ....., posted on July 21, 2014 at 17:26:19
jnr Reviewer Posts: 2164 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Joined: April 5, 2000	It just had brushes and antistatic brushes. You turned it on the LP went around and the brushed cleaned it and a fan blew the dirt or more like dust out. This thing didn't work as good as a Diskwasher pad. Funny thing I had a 45 player as a child that came in the same plastic clam shell. theaudiobeatnik.com

Vac-O-Rec maybe.., posted on July 21, 2014 at 17:52:35
hifitommy Audiophile Posts: 15387 Location: canyon country califiornia, orig from buffalo ny Joined: June 9, 2000	but we called it Wreck-O-Vac. it didnb't wet the record and seemed useless. i never saw an audiophile that owned one. ...regards...tr

That's the one. NT, posted on July 21, 2014 at 19:35:03
jnr Reviewer Posts: 2164 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Joined: April 5, 2000	. theaudiobeatnik.com

RE: Who Made The First Record Cleaner For Home Use?, posted on July 22, 2014 at 02:35:17

Myles B. Astor
Reviewer

Posts: 326
Location: New York City, NY
Joined: April 12, 2000

Earliest I've seen is Percy Wilson in the '50s.

That machine is of course the forerunner to the Keith Monks.
Myles B. Astor

Hoover!, posted on July 22, 2014 at 05:46:13
cpielock@eaglebrook.org Audiophile Posts: 524 Location: western mass Joined: May 11, 2004	Who else!

RE: Who Made The First Record Cleaner For Home Use?, posted on July 22, 2014 at 06:08:57
kentaja Manufacturer Posts: 4614 Joined: March 26, 2001	If you mean the first machine like the Keith Monks, i.e. wet-and-suck, and affordable enough to own your own machine, that would be the Nitty Gritty. As I recall the first machine came out in 1981/1982.

But before that......, posted on July 22, 2014 at 07:25:19
Batman Audiophile Posts: 4194 Location: Western Pennsylvania Joined: March 31, 2000 Contributor Since: June 16, 2000	There was Discwasher, not a wet and suck but it was reasonably effective. I still use one for touch up. Then there was DustBug :-)

IIRC, the Monks machine debuted around the mid-late 1970s. /nt\, posted on July 22, 2014 at 08:09:38
Opus 33 1/3 Audiophile Posts: 4184 Location: D.C. Area Joined: February 19, 2014	Opus 33 1/3

I had one., posted on July 22, 2014 at 08:14:37
volunteer Audiophile Posts: 5666 Location: Louisville, KY Joined: January 7, 2012	It was reasonably effective at removing surface dust. It didn't do any real cleaning. -Wendell

RE: But before that......, posted on July 22, 2014 at 09:09:32
kentaja Manufacturer Posts: 4614 Joined: March 26, 2001	Yes there were any number of ways to clean records before any of the machines. Before the Nitty Gritty we all used something like the Disc Washer but lusted for something like the Monks. Nitty Gritty and VPI were the first to really scratch the itch!! They were the first to make owning your own machine affordable. I bought the original Nitty Gritty in 1981 and it is still going strong.

Here's one., posted on July 22, 2014 at 09:47:39
Opus 33 1/3 Audiophile Posts: 4184 Location: D.C. Area Joined: February 19, 2014	Opus 33 1/3

Watts Parostatik Disk Preener , posted on July 22, 2014 at 10:40:24

Rob Doorack
Audiophile

Posts: 5378
Joined: May 26, 2000

The granddaddy of all record cleaners might have been the Watts Parostatik Disk Preener, which dates to the 1960s I think. It was a velvet cylinder with a foam core that one moistened with water. The humidity released from the damp foam when you wiped dust off the record with the outer velvet layer was supposed to reduce static on the LPs.

Before the Watts, people used cloths to wipe dust off records. EMI sold one called "Super Emitex" that was supposed to have some sort of chemical on it.

That's the one..cont'd, posted on July 22, 2014 at 11:05:51

hifitommy
Audiophile

Posts: 15387
Location: canyon country califiornia, orig from buffalo ny
Joined: June 9, 2000

there are pics in the link PLUS:

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/101/1011829.html

from a couple of years ago.
...regards...tr

the link

I think I had a Vac-o-Rec in the early seventies, but , posted on July 22, 2014 at 15:24:07
tinear Audiophile Posts: 65782 Location: Kansas City, KS Joined: April 9, 2006	most of those memories are etched in fog.

$10.88, the Ronco Record Vacuum..., posted on July 22, 2014 at 15:49:42

bruckner9
Audiophile

Posts: 1184
Location: So Cal
Joined: August 14, 2003

available at all Walgreens, Woolworth, Woolco, and Wards (or any other store starting with a W)!

but no mention of cleaning the fingerprints she's adding to the mix in this ad!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVpwXSjBZ48

I liked this thing a lot. I don't know why they quit making them. NT, posted on July 22, 2014 at 16:24:16
jnr Reviewer Posts: 2164 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Joined: April 5, 2000	. theaudiobeatnik.com

RE: IIRC, the Monks machine debuted around the mid-late 1970s. /nt\, posted on July 22, 2014 at 20:42:28
hahax@verizon.net Audiophile Posts: 4306 Location: New Jersey Joined: March 22, 2006	It was closer to the mid 70s in the US(I saw one at Gordon Holt's around then)and I believe it was based on a design by Percy Wilson from Gramaphone magazine.

RE: Watts Parostatik Disk Preener +2, posted on July 23, 2014 at 02:47:30
Solidcore Audiophile Posts: 374 Joined: April 19, 2001	Still my favorite record cleaner. I have stocked up on these and have several NOS in original sealed packing. When you have learned how to use the parostatik I think there is nothing better. Rgds Jan

Didn't Al Gore invent record cleaners? /nt, posted on July 23, 2014 at 06:50:26
BPoletti Audiophile Posts: 931 Location: Midwest Joined: October 3, 2010	nt

I had a hand in it., posted on July 23, 2014 at 08:05:22
axolotl Audiophile Posts: 3955 Location: So. California Joined: September 10, 2002	This is why I am no longer bidextrous. axolotl

\Watts/ESL Dust Bug, posted on July 23, 2014 at 11:33:14
briggs Audiophile Posts: 1674 Location: Connecticut Joined: April 16, 2002	A little fuzzy roller that you moistened with Watts's fluid, and -- I believe -- a brush, mounted on its own little arm. It cleaned the record while you played it. I'm rather certain I had one in the late 50's.

I think the Russians did. nt, posted on July 23, 2014 at 11:35:55
briggs Audiophile Posts: 1674 Location: Connecticut Joined: April 16, 2002	nt

RE: \Watts/ESL Dust Bug, posted on July 23, 2014 at 12:01:39
Solidcore Audiophile Posts: 374 Joined: April 19, 2001	Hi Briggs I know Cecil Watts also made the tonearm type cleaner you mention. The Watts Parostatik disc preener I use looks like this. Se the pic. Inside is a kind of spronge that you ocationally dip im distilled water. This keeps the cleaning pad moist wich will help pick up dust from the LP surface. I also found a drawing of the construction of the disc preener. Rather cleaver I think. Rgds Jan

RE: Who Made The First Record Cleaner For Home Use?, posted on July 23, 2014 at 19:07:41

electrovice

I have seen old GE consoles that had a primitive built in record cleaner. The second picture in the link shows a chrome slot in front of the turntable. A record was placed there and spun while the vacuum was running.

John

http://www.phonoland.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3824

Naaa, just the place we can all discuss them without leaving the house!...N/T, posted on July 23, 2014 at 21:32:10
musetap Audiophile Posts: 31872 Location: San Francisco Joined: July 8, 2003 Contributor Since: January 28, 2004	N/T "Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure

Crude picture for you . . ., posted on July 28, 2014 at 00:12:39

alaskahiatt
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Posts: 7501
Joined: December 9, 2000
Contributor
Since: November 1, 2005

nt

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Who Made The First Record Cleaner For Home Use?

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