Unless you buy They are brand new and often even then-your vinyl plates are probably dirty. New records are staticky and attract fabric; Old records sat in boxes in other people’s cellars. Take it from someone who has bought, sold, founded and restored some dusty, oily gemstones: Your records probably need a good bath.
Below you will find everything you need to know about the acquisition (and hold) of your was fresh. Are you interested in other sound tips? Take a look at our list of the best turntables and our guide on how to upgrade your home sound for free or cheap.
Updated March 2025: We added information about ultrasonic cleaning, updated the formatting and checked links and prices.
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Why wiping wipes will not work
If you do a quick Amazon search, you will find a pile of products that pretend to clean vinyl records. Typically, they use sprays and some form of livestock devices, such as a cloth or pillow, to clean the surface. However, vinyl grooves are so small that the fibers of any cloth can impossible. While you may be cleaning fluid in the grooves, it is quite difficult to get it out again. This means that the traditional wiping or spin-and-clean style devices usually only spread the dirt in the grooves.
This is where vacuuming or ultrasonic cleaners come in. Fancy record-cleaning machines like This one of pro-year-old ($ 450) Use a dish and a vacuum system to physically suck the nasty cleaning solution from the grooves, with a car turning the record in two directions. Ultrasonic cleaners use a high frequency sound to essentially shake dirt from the grooves. Both work very well to ensure that the dirt, dust and dirt actually come out of the small grooves on your record.
Tools of the trade
If you follow the suction route, you can buy an all-in-one record cleaner like the one made above, or if you feel sparingly, you can simply buy one of These incredible attachments ($ 30) For a small shop vacuum.
Then all you need Cleaning Solution ($ 35)a cheap paintbrush ($ 7), a Vacuum ($ 50)and an old cinema or pivot to rotate the record while vacuuming the solution from the grooves. Look for old ones at spare stores, because all you need is a table that physically turns, and doesn’t play music. I had incredible results to clean my records using this system, with a crusty old records after shiny, clean masterpieces within minutes.
If you want to clean records ultrasonic (the best for people who have great collections because you can clean several chips at the same time), I recommend A generic model in the middle level like this ($ 425). (A premium model will use you about twice as much, but it does exactly the same thing.) The ultrasonic cleaner vibrates the cleaning solution around the records on a superhone frequency, which helps to drop the gravel and the mucus in the cleaning bowl when turning on the enclosed car. Once clean, just place it on the included drying rack.