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First off i am really, really cheap.
Nothing is cheaper than water from the tap.
(and if you live in an area with water shortages, this may not be the best method for you)
After various means of cleaning LPs.. I have come down to just a rinse with a medium stream of water from the tap. Lukewarm, and turning the Lp so the water runs down the grooves all around, twice. each side. pat dry and standard vacuum with a brush attachment to final dry.
They LOOK so good!! like new.
I am finally really happy with a cheaper than dirt means of washing Lps that works well. Fast, easy, simple. cheap! all my requirements met.
And the Lps play clean clean clean.
Follow Ups:
The stuff is $12 a half gallon ,you cut it about 20 to 1 so it lasts .....well, I really don't want to think about that! It's amazing!
"First off i am really, really cheap."
That doesn't sound right; perhaps you mean frugal...
In my left sink well is a round seafood tray with the rubber pads from my Orbitrac cleaning system. Spary cleaner on record, use Disc Doctor pads to scrub, quick rinse under the tap (which is filter), then a submerse in a distilled water bath in the right well of the kitchen sink, then onto a dish drying rack to drip dry. After doing a dozen or so, I finish drying with my Nitty Gritty vac.
Somewhat similar process to yours. Seems to work fine for me.
marc g. - audiophile by day, music lover by night
Of the water in your local system. I used to live in Ocean City, MD and the neighborhood that I lived in was served by a local well and small distribution system. The first 4 years that we lived there the water that was delivered was sort of red and stained everything that it came in contact with.
We ended up spending $5000 on a really good water treatment system and the quality of the water that was fed to our home, including the outside faucets, was so good that any testing of the water yielded no suspended particles. It was about as good as triple distilled water and it could be used to clean LPs without any problems.
I moved to the Baltimore area, please don't ask why, and the quality of the water here is much worse than in my former home. Since I've lived here I have had one toilet replaced due to build up of calcium deposits and there is another toilet that is showing signes of the same thing.
I have one of those refrigerators with a split door with the freezer on one side and frig on the other. On the freezer side there is ice and water dispensers. The water dispenser has whie stains on the paddle that you press with the glass and it has to be cleaned at least once a week.
Like I said it is very dependant on water quality and that is as variable as the neighborhood that you live in. Assuming anything could be wrong. You can buy a small and inexpensive test kit that can test the quality of your water. If you are interested in what is coming out of your tap.
Its a very good thing to know and it can explain why you may have to replace faucets and plumbing fixtures as often as you do. Water softener systems can be had for much less than the $5000 I wrote about above. My system was the extreme, whole house thing, with double tank reverse osmosis drinking water system and extra filtering. If you need a water treatment system it may be much less expensive for your needs.
Ed
We don't shush around here!
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof
That's not cheap Elizabeth , that's being thrifty :^). And they say water is one of the best universal solvents . I would make sure its filtered well, maybe reverse osmosis filtering
Elizabeth is cheap and lazy (she said it, not me).
I'm cheap too. And I wash records at the kitchen sink. I use warm water (95 degrees Farenheit - I've measured temperature). I spin the record in the warm water for a couple minutes to bring up the temperature of the entire record. Warping has not been a problem - records get flabby but flatness returns. I use detergent. I rinse with distilled water using a spray bottle that has a stream nozzle. Wipe dry.
Before washing I dry brush (Audio-Technica stylus brush - animal hair with a square cut) to move dust out of the grooves. *Tedious* - I know. Not every records needs brushing or needs much brushing.
Some records have lots of dust. Some records do get quieter with cleaning - not all do. Dirt on the record makes a crackling sound throughout - but I believe you can have similar crackling caused by cheap vinyl or worn stampers.
I have had a few records that I've brushed more than once because after play, I could see that more dust appeared - dragged up by the stylus. I'm talking fine dust, not fibers or dandruff flakes.
If you take the time for dry brushing, you are going to find problems that you might otherwise miss - stuck-on dirt, scatches. You might save yourself from a damaged stylus.
If you try brushing, do it in direct sunlight with the sun at a low angle. The low angle lets you hold the record comfortably, horizontally and it highlights the dust. I also use a de-soldering bulb - a rubber squeeze bulb that you can re-purpose to blow air and blow off dust.
-esc
.
into a wide salad bowl filled about 4" deep with distilled water (about a quart+). I spin the record around in it a few times and then do my drying regimen (towel followed by vac). That quart of distilled water costs maybe $.30 (based on $1.19 for a gallon). It's not the ultra purified stuff but I figure what the Hell as it seems to work and I haven't noticed unpleasant nasties.
--------------------------
Do I have to spell it out?
C----H----E----E----S----E
A---N---D
O---N---I---O---N---S
Oh no.....
Not exactly what I'd want to publicly describe myself as being cheap and lazy.
I used to care about how I looked.
I used to care some about what others thought about me.
I am now old enough to drop that shit.
I look like an old hag (which I am.)and dress like a street person.
I smell bad. I wear really torn up dirty old shoes
I do not give one god damn bit what other's think of me.
So telling the truth (which I still think matters) is more important by far than what someone I will never meet, nor ever see, thinks of me.
I know nearly all twenty-somethings (and most thrity somethings, and PLENTY of the wealthy) clearly feel that what others think of them is far more important than honesty, or morality. (this from actually them telling me yes it is more important)
All that matters to me is how I think about stuff. Stating what i believe. and just living my life the way i want. Which includes being honest about being lazy as Hell. Good enough?
Just kiddin'
:)
Short’s the best position they is. Bullet in the Brain
Damn Liz you sound like the perfect woman ,very low maintenance. Try match.com and you will get thousands upon thousands of replies hehehe
a gigantic compromise...
Not meaning to be creepy or offensive or anything, but that is exactly how I pictured you......
.
It might be fine to use tap water to clean your records, but as to actually drinking the stuff I remember what W.C. Fields had to say about it .....
I use George Merrill's GEM Dandy cleaning system which aside from the cleaning solution (or none if desired) is essentially a high pressure water stream from the faucet. I live in St. Louis, where we have some of the best water in the country (as rated by the Mayors of large cities). After cleaning, dry with a microfiber towel and air-dry for about 20 minutes.
Works like a charm. . .although I have been thinking about getting a RCM for the vacuum capability.
Try putting the record in a plastic sleeve right after vacuuming and see what happens. My albums go in new paper sleeves for at least 20 minutes to thoroughly dry.
Purified water is $0.35 a gallon at Price Chopper, made to order by a 'vending machine'. Aquafina bottled water would be my 2nd choice.
Playing records wet does quiet them down, but the saying goes 'Once you play wet, you must always play wet'. Do you ever find black gunk stuck to your stylus? What is that stuff and where did it come from?
Regards,
-reub AKA CAC Certified Audio Cheapskate
.
Short’s the best position they is. Bullet in the Brain
I'd surely drop an LP every now and then doing that, but then again I'm a klutz.
After vacuum cleaning on a KAB EV-1, I set the album in a letter rack (with cushion dots applied; they only touch the record label) to dry until the next album is finished cleaning (maybe 10 minutes). It's fully dry by then, and not left out any longer than neccessary to limit any new dust accumulation. Every LP gets a new polylined sleeve and the jacket gets a clear poly cover.
I use an Acoustech Carbon Fiber Brush before each play. I don't live in a scientific clean room, but I do the best I can.
See ya. Dave
I learned as a teen many years ago not to wash piles of Lps aand just stick them into sleeves. (especially plastic sleeves!!)
I only wash a LP if it needs it just before play.
New to me LPs go straight into the shelves until i want to play one.
I have a multi step process for cleaning my records, Disc Doctor or Audio Intelligent multi step processes via manual method at the kitchen sink or w/the vpi 17 down in the basement. But, for my mom, the stream of filtered water at her kitchen sink is the way to go. And she has the best supply of old soft cotton rags.
BTW: You might like to have on hand a Groovemaster Label Saver for those valuable records whose labels might bleed. William Sergent(wmsar@cox.net)makes and sells them for about $50.00 each.
due to hard water ions in tap water, primarily.
I agree with the routine completely, but would recommend, to make the methodology universal, a rinse or two with distilled water at the very end.
By rinse I mean after patting the album dry, lay it flat, spread a tablespoon of water around on it, and wipe or vac dry. Repeat for second side, and do the whole thing one last time.
Dirro what Cpk said. That mountain spring water they show in the opening segment is anything but distilled. It’s loaded with numerous minerals. Additionally, ingesting distilled water is bad for you as it pulls electrolytes for your body and while grocery stores sell distilled water in the baby food section, it is intended to be mixed with a mineral balanced formula making it fit for consumption.
That being said, distilled water is preferred for rinsing LPs.
I can relate to keeping the expenses down on accessories and effort but, I found the Spin Clean for less than $100 quite useful. If you want to be OCD with your cleaning procedure, a final distilled water rinse afterward.
The liquid last long and the drying cloths get the job done without leaving any residual fibers. Actually brings $1.00 finds with crud back to life and may even play with less noise.
many people will chide you about all the contaminants in tap water. Those contaminants are only important if you let the water dry on the record. If you vacuum it off before it has a chance to dry significantly, no residue will be left.However, the above said, I do wash my records with a cleaning solution to get off any fingermarks or stuck-on stuff (it goes with the terrotory of buying used records). I then rinse the record with tap water, as all the gunk is in suspension or solution, and a fast stream from the tap is very good a removing all the cleaning liquid. That leaves a record that is clean, but wet with tap water. At this point I could go directly to the vacuum, and I have done that; I don't see any residue from the tap water afterward. But if I do that, it means that the fabric lips on my RCM get wet with tap water, and the collection box has tap water in it; residue will form in these places. So I have a spray bottled with distilled water, and after the strong tap water rinse, I do a quick rinse using the sprayed distilled water. The result is that my RCM only ever sees distilled water, and the lips and collector don't gunk up. It takes me only 3-5 minutes to completely clean a record as I've described.
Yes, record cleaning fluids do cost something, but it is only a few cents per record, much less than the cost of most of the records. I've found that even the cheapos like Woolite Oxyclean work very well, but I refer to use RRL or DD; they've been tested on a lot of records.
Joe
Edits: 05/08/12
OK. This is too creepy, on my computer your post has an add for Culligan water treatment systems.
"To Do Is To Be" Socrates
"To Be Is To Do" Plato
"Do Be Do Be Do" Sinatra
The ones that don't clean up well with the newly discovered and revolutionary h20 method can be cleaned w/ tranditional fluid and a vac. Of course that doesnt mean that the traditional way is best mind you ;))
With the addition of soft bristles toothbrush, for kids with sensitive teeth, and a drop of 7th Generation (http://www.soap.com/p/seventh-generation-laundry-liquid-2x-free-clear-50-oz-30-loads-231691)for nasty looking LP finds. But vacuum drying is mandatory for me ;)Have not bought any kind of "Audiophile Approved" LP cleaner for almost 4 years now and happy with it.
Abe
Edits: 05/08/12
Did I mention I am LAZY?
So if I had to do more, the Lps would just not get cleaned at all.
A quick vacuuming is the usual. If the LP still looks suspiciously dusty, the I rinse in the sink.
Wonderful. easy, lazy girls dream.
between minerals and contaminants in a lot of water systems
I'd suggest at least rinse with distilled water. Distilled water is still cheap enough -- about $1 for a gallon.
"I smell bad"
Funny, on my computer it's an ad for Irish Spring Body Soap...
I used to live in an area where the tap water would leave minerals traces all over the record surface.Now here where we live it doesn't seem bad at all. But I don't take any chance and stick with warm distilled water applied with a microfiber cloth, followed by vacuuming. One out of two times though this is not enough with very old and crummy records - sometimes looking very pristine and all, but the previous owner had obviously played them with a dirty stylus... Or maybe the guy smoked a pipe all the time! Then I use some soap-based solution, followed by a rinse under tap, followed by the distilled water routine.
Edits: 05/09/12
Just got done having the plumber replace my main bathroom shower faucet. It's amazing what tap water can do to erode plumbing.
If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.
--Zen Proverb
I'm gonna barf.
Reminds me of that movie 'Babies' ... around a few years back. Traced the lives of 4 children from birth. One in Japan, one in USA, one in Africa, and I can't remember the fourth. Anyway, their first years were markedly different, as you can well imagine. I still remember the Japanese kids playing with these colorful plastic toys while the African kids amused themselves by pounding soft rocks on top of harder rocks while sitting in the dirt.
There were also the scenes of the African kids drinking out of mud puddles. I gotta think, bad idea anywhere, but in Africa, that is a recipe for parasitic invasion. Which brings me to the point of my post -- mother nature would have failed us if we could not thrive on the water available in our environment. It is the man made (and their aftereffects) that mother nature has not prepared us for.
What happened for those brightly colorful plastic toys to appear on the toy market shelves? How does water react to moving through pipes of varying manufacture before it reaches our (invariably) shiny chrome faucets?
of course put out by a company that sells distillation units!
Water conducts electricity not because it’s “filthy”( guy needs a punch in the head) it’s because it has dissolved minerals ions like calcium and magnesium and other micronutrients. Distilled water is not great to drink and will pull electrolytes out of your system.
I hate companies like that, that drum up bullshit, fear mongering hype to make a buck.
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