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#1
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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Steam Clean LPs?
Can anybody here report on any of their experiences with using the new
generation of small, household steam cleaners on LPs? |
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#2
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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Steam Clean LPs?
On Feb 23, 10:34*am, "Arny Krueger" wrote:
Can anybody here report on any of their experiences with using the new generation of small, household steam cleaners on LPs? Before or after the label falls off? The very best cleaning method I ever found for LPs was to adapt an industrial ultrasonic cleaner using a solution of distilled water, isopropynol and a surfactant (Dreft used to be the item of choice here, leaving no residue behind). It would recover records that sounded like sandpaper and make them almost pristine, IF you followed a VERY prolonged sequence of wash and rinse (the rinses are among the most critical step). The process was wonderful to watch: you'd immerse the record in the solution and turn on the transducer and immediately the surface of the record would turn gray from bazillions of tiny cavitation bubbles that would form. After a couple of seconds, you turn it off and pull the record out and start a rinse cycle with alchohol and distilled water (several times). Meanwhile, the water in the ultrsonic cleaner would have a scum of all sorts of crap floating on it. It would take about 15-20 minutes per record to finish the job, but it was worth it: records that were unlistenably dirty became quite clean and usable, better than any of the dedicated LP cleaning machines. I had thought at the time (1970's) of actually introducing a version as a product for recovering LPs, but it would have ended up being way expensive (a couple of kbucks and at the time, the audio business was beginning to get intolerably weird and nutso with the ascendancy of the likes of Absolute Sound and other such nonsense rags. Concentrating more on real engineering of loudspeakers and other did manage to not only pay a bunch better but isolated me from the silly high-end pathologies. |
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#3
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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Steam Clean LPs?
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#4
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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Steam Clean LPs?
wrote in message
... On Feb 23, 10:34 am, "Arny Krueger" wrote: Can anybody here report on any of their experiences with using the new generation of small, household steam cleaners on LPs? Before or after the label falls off? The very best cleaning method I ever found for LPs was to adapt an industrial ultrasonic cleaner using a solution of distilled water, isopropynol and a surfactant (Dreft used to be the item of choice here, leaving no residue behind). It would recover records that sounded like sandpaper and make them almost pristine, IF you followed a VERY prolonged sequence of wash and rinse (the rinses are among the most critical step). The process was wonderful to watch: you'd immerse the record in the solution and turn on the transducer and immediately the surface of the record would turn gray from bazillions of tiny cavitation bubbles that would form. After a couple of seconds, you turn it off and pull the record out and start a rinse cycle with alchohol and distilled water (several times). Meanwhile, the water in the ultrsonic cleaner would have a scum of all sorts of crap floating on it. It would take about 15-20 minutes per record to finish the job, but it was worth it: records that were unlistenably dirty became quite clean and usable, better than any of the dedicated LP cleaning machines. I had thought at the time (1970's) of actually introducing a version as a product for recovering LPs, but it would have ended up being way expensive (a couple of kbucks and at the time, the audio business was beginning to get intolerably weird and nutso with the ascendancy of the likes of Absolute Sound and other such nonsense rags. Concentrating more on real engineering of loudspeakers and other did manage to not only pay a bunch better but isolated me from the silly high-end pathologies. Sounds like a good approach for dirty records. I understand you wanting to avoid the kook fringe, but as people are spending lots of dollars for record cleaning machines anyway, you might've had a real good business. Not for dirty records, but if you want to keep decent records in good shape, a cleaning with Last Record Cleaner followed by an application of Last Record Preservative really does the trick. I've been doing new records this way since the early '70's when last first came out, and it really does work. Records don't wear nearly as much, and sound is improved via reduced grit and distortion, as you note from the above washing. |
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#5
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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Steam Clean LPs?
On Feb 23, 12:43*pm, Steven Sullivan wrote:
wrote: On Feb 23, 10:34?am, "Arny Krueger" wrote: Can anybody here report on any of their experiences with using the new generation of small, household steam cleaners on LPs? Before or after the label falls off? The very best cleaning method I ever found for LPs was to adapt an industrial ultrasonic cleaner using a solution of distilled water, isopropynol and a surfactant (Dreft used to be the item of choice here, leaving no residue behind). It would recover records that sounded like sandpaper and make them almost pristine, IF you followed a VERY prolonged sequence of wash and rinse (the rinses are among the most critical step). The process was wonderful to watch: you'd immerse the record in the solution and turn on the transducer and immediately the surface of the record would turn gray from bazillions of tiny cavitation bubbles that would form. After a couple of seconds, you turn it off and pull the record out and start a rinse cycle with alchohol and distilled water (several times). Meanwhile, the water in the ultrsonic cleaner would have a scum of all sorts of crap floating on it. This was full immersion, or did you keep the label dry? As it turns out, the particular cleaner I was using would allow to only immerse about 4 1/2" of the record in the solution. This allowed me to suspend the LP on a pivot through its center, and then rotate the LP through the solution while the transducer was running. A couple of passes through was almost always sufficient to bust most everything loose. The inspiration for building this contraption was that one day I was cleaning off the dustcover and noiced a slightly yellow-brown residue in the paper towels I was using. I had a roommate at the time who was a smoker, and I found myself cleaning cigarette smoke and tar off damned near anything. And it seems like LPs have a voracious appetite for the crap. Normally, I took very good care of my LPs, but this stuff was nasty once it got on the surface: it was like, well, sticky tar. Needless to say, for that and other reasons (like my optical equipment and my lungs), that was the last time I ever lived in a place where there was an active smoker. |
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#6
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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Steam Clean LPs?
On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:34:08 -0800, Arny Krueger wrote
(in article ): Can anybody here report on any of their experiences with using the new generation of small, household steam cleaners on LPs? No, but I certainly wouldn't use steam on thermoplastics. The heat will almost surely warp the record. OTOH, ultrasonic cleaners work well on LPs |
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#8
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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Steam Clean LPs?
On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:43:52 -0800, Steven Sullivan wrote
(in article ): wrote: On Feb 23, 10:34?am, "Arny Krueger" wrote: Can anybody here report on any of their experiences with using the new generation of small, household steam cleaners on LPs? Before or after the label falls off? The very best cleaning method I ever found for LPs was to adapt an industrial ultrasonic cleaner using a solution of distilled water, isopropynol and a surfactant (Dreft used to be the item of choice here, leaving no residue behind). It would recover records that sounded like sandpaper and make them almost pristine, IF you followed a VERY prolonged sequence of wash and rinse (the rinses are among the most critical step). The process was wonderful to watch: you'd immerse the record in the solution and turn on the transducer and immediately the surface of the record would turn gray from bazillions of tiny cavitation bubbles that would form. After a couple of seconds, you turn it off and pull the record out and start a rinse cycle with alchohol and distilled water (several times). Meanwhile, the water in the ultrsonic cleaner would have a scum of all sorts of crap floating on it. This was full immersion, or did you keep the label dry? __ -- -S We have it in our power to begin the world over again - Thomas Paine It's best to keep the label dry. Some aren't harmed by the process but others swell-up when wet and get "wooly" as they dry. The labels are never the same after that. |
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#9
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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Steam Clean LPs?
"Sonnova" wrote in message
On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:34:08 -0800, Arny Krueger wrote (in article ): Can anybody here report on any of their experiences with using the new generation of small, household steam cleaners on LPs? No, but I certainly wouldn't use steam on thermoplastics. Interesting anecdotal comment: http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vin...72/723285.html "For a couple of years, I have seen reports here about steam cleaning your vinyl. I had to try. So, I took a record I had already cleaned on a record cleaning machine and steam cleaned it. I used a Perfection model that I bought at Walgreen. I wiped the record dry with a microfiber cloth, in the direction of the grooves. Then, I vacuumed the record off. I had very positive results. I had records that sounded like playing fine grained sand paper, even after multiple cleanings on a machine. I had given up. I had nothing to lose, so I steamed them. All of them came out sounding brilliant. I also have records that I thought were just worn out. There were places that just did not seem trackable any longer. The steam cleaning took these places away. The steaming allowed me to hear so much more detail than ever before. In any case, I am a convert and just thought I would share. " The heat will almost surely warp the record. Other posts say that this doesn't happen if you hold the nozzle an inch or more from the LP. OTOH, ultrasonic cleaners work well on LPs Yes, we've got a local comment attesting to that. |
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#10
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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Steam Clean LPs?
On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:09:08 -0800, Arny Krueger wrote
(in article ): "Sonnova" wrote in message On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:34:08 -0800, Arny Krueger wrote (in article ): Can anybody here report on any of their experiences with using the new generation of small, household steam cleaners on LPs? No, but I certainly wouldn't use steam on thermoplastics. Interesting anecdotal comment: http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vin...72/723285.html "For a couple of years, I have seen reports here about steam cleaning your vinyl. I had to try. So, I took a record I had already cleaned on a record cleaning machine and steam cleaned it. I used a Perfection model that I bought at Walgreen. I wiped the record dry with a microfiber cloth, in the direction of the grooves. Then, I vacuumed the record off. I had very positive results. I had records that sounded like playing fine grained sand paper, even after multiple cleanings on a machine. I had given up. I had nothing to lose, so I steamed them. All of them came out sounding brilliant. I also have records that I thought were just worn out. There were places that just did not seem trackable any longer. The steam cleaning took these places away. The steaming allowed me to hear so much more detail than ever before. In any case, I am a convert and just thought I would share. " The heat will almost surely warp the record. Other posts say that this doesn't happen if you hold the nozzle an inch or more from the LP. OTOH, ultrasonic cleaners work well on LPs Yes, we've got a local comment attesting to that. Well, I'm somewhat flummoxed by that. I would have thought that the danger of warping the records was high given the temperature of the steam coupled with the localized heating from the steam cloud. That's the reason why I've never tried it. |
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#11
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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Steam Clean LPs?
"Sonnova" wrote in message
On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:09:08 -0800, Arny Krueger wrote (in article ): "Sonnova" wrote in message On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:34:08 -0800, Arny Krueger wrote (in article ): Can anybody here report on any of their experiences with using the new generation of small, household steam cleaners on LPs? No, but I certainly wouldn't use steam on thermoplastics. Interesting anecdotal comment: http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vin...72/723285.html "For a couple of years, I have seen reports here about steam cleaning your vinyl. I had to try. So, I took a record I had already cleaned on a record cleaning machine and steam cleaned it. I used a Perfection model that I bought at Walgreen. I wiped the record dry with a microfiber cloth, in the direction of the grooves. Then, I vacuumed the record off. I had very positive results. I had records that sounded like playing fine grained sand paper, even after multiple cleanings on a machine. I had given up. I had nothing to lose, so I steamed them. All of them came out sounding brilliant. I also have records that I thought were just worn out. There were places that just did not seem trackable any longer. The steam cleaning took these places away. The steaming allowed me to hear so much more detail than ever before. In any case, I am a convert and just thought I would share. " The heat will almost surely warp the record. Other posts say that this doesn't happen if you hold the nozzle an inch or more from the LP. OTOH, ultrasonic cleaners work well on LPs Yes, we've got a local comment attesting to that. Well, I'm somewhat flummoxed by that. I would have thought that the danger of warping the records was high given the temperature of the steam coupled with the localized heating from the steam cloud. That's the reason why I've never tried it. It seems like a good thing to try on some old trashy disc from the thrift store that you bought by accident and already have a better copy of. ;-) |
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#12
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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Steam Clean LPs?
On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:06:58 -0800, Arny Krueger wrote
(in article ): "Sonnova" wrote in message On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:09:08 -0800, Arny Krueger wrote (in article ): "Sonnova" wrote in message On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:34:08 -0800, Arny Krueger wrote (in article ): Can anybody here report on any of their experiences with using the new generation of small, household steam cleaners on LPs? No, but I certainly wouldn't use steam on thermoplastics. Interesting anecdotal comment: http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vin...72/723285.html "For a couple of years, I have seen reports here about steam cleaning your vinyl. I had to try. So, I took a record I had already cleaned on a record cleaning machine and steam cleaned it. I used a Perfection model that I bought at Walgreen. I wiped the record dry with a microfiber cloth, in the direction of the grooves. Then, I vacuumed the record off. I had very positive results. I had records that sounded like playing fine grained sand paper, even after multiple cleanings on a machine. I had given up. I had nothing to lose, so I steamed them. All of them came out sounding brilliant. I also have records that I thought were just worn out. There were places that just did not seem trackable any longer. The steam cleaning took these places away. The steaming allowed me to hear so much more detail than ever before. In any case, I am a convert and just thought I would share. " The heat will almost surely warp the record. Other posts say that this doesn't happen if you hold the nozzle an inch or more from the LP. OTOH, ultrasonic cleaners work well on LPs Yes, we've got a local comment attesting to that. Well, I'm somewhat flummoxed by that. I would have thought that the danger of warping the records was high given the temperature of the steam coupled with the localized heating from the steam cloud. That's the reason why I've never tried it. It seems like a good thing to try on some old trashy disc from the thrift store that you bought by accident and already have a better copy of. ;-) Yes, I suppose, in light of what you've posted, it is probably worth a try. |
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