How to remove hardly embedded dirt from record groove?

[XYLOPHONE]

Hello,
I am a record collector, and I have a few 45s (7" records)
that have some embedded dirty spots in the groove that have
survived all attempts I made for cleaning the vinyl.

I tried Fantastic cleaner, then demineralized water/alcohol
solution. I let the record dry. Then I tried scraping the dirt
with my finger nail, then with a sewing needle under strong
magnification.

Nothing takes these dust bumps off the record, no matter
how hard I try to scrape them off. I fear to scratch the record
because it's in excellent condition otherwise, thus worth
trying to clean better.

These dirt bumps make "pops" when I play the record.

Is there something else I could try to remove these dirt
bumps from the grooves? It appears to be hardened glue or
somthing like that.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Louis-Luc

[glenbadd]

On Jun 18, 4:09=A0am, XYLOPHONE > wrote:
> Hello,
> I am a record collector, and I have a few 45s (7" records)
> that have some embedded dirty spots in the groove that have
> survived all attempts I made for cleaning the vinyl.
>
> I tried Fantastic cleaner, then demineralized water/alcohol
> solution. I let the record dry. Then I tried scraping the dirt
> with my finger nail, then with a sewing needle under strong
> magnification.
>
> Nothing takes these dust bumps off the record, no matter
> how hard I try to scrape them off. I fear to scratch the record
> because it's in excellent condition otherwise, thus worth
> trying to clean better.
>
> These dirt bumps make "pops" when I play the record.
>
> Is there something else I could try to remove these dirt
> bumps from the grooves? It appears to be hardened glue or
> somthing like that.
>
> Thanks in advance for any advice.
>
> Louis-Luc

Are you sure the bumps aren't imperfections in the vinyl pressing?

[XYLOPHONE]

On Jun 17, 10:24=A0pm, glenbadd > wrote:
> On Jun 18, 4:09=3DA0am, XYLOPHONE > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hello,
> > I am a record collector, and I have a few 45s (7" records)
> > that have some embedded dirty spots in the groove that have
> > survived all attempts I made for cleaning the vinyl.
>
> > I tried Fantastic cleaner, then demineralized water/alcohol
> > solution. I let the record dry. Then I tried scraping the dirt
> > with my finger nail, then with a sewing needle under strong
> > magnification.
>
> > Nothing takes these dust bumps off the record, no matter
> > how hard I try to scrape them off. I fear to scratch the record
> > because it's in excellent condition otherwise, thus worth
> > trying to clean better.
>
> > These dirt bumps make "pops" when I play the record.
>
> > Is there something else I could try to remove these dirt
> > bumps from the grooves? It appears to be hardened glue or
> > somthing like that.
>
> > Thanks in advance for any advice.
>
> > Louis-Luc
>
> Are you sure the bumps aren't imperfections in the vinyl pressing?- Hide =
quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

No. These bumps really come from embedded dirt. I see it clearly, and
even more when I magnify the groove. It's under the form of a line
that goes
throughout the whole song, but apparently someone tried to clean it
earlier
because it has gone partly, leaving a white line where there used to
be
more of this stuff.

On another record, the dirt spot has the shape of a small circular
stain, that
pops for about 10 revolutions. I have not been able to clean this one
as well.

I don't dare poking more with the sewing needle, becaus I don't want
to
damage the groove walls further.

Any way to dissolve these spots?

[Audio Empire]

On Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:20:02 -0700, XYLOPHONE wrote
(in article >):

> On Jun 17, 10:24=A0pm, glenbadd > wrote:
>> On Jun 18, 4:09=3DA0am, XYLOPHONE > wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> Hello,
>>> I am a record collector, and I have a few 45s (7" records)
>>> that have some embedded dirty spots in the groove that have
>>> survived all attempts I made for cleaning the vinyl.
>>
>>> I tried Fantastic cleaner, then demineralized water/alcohol
>>> solution. I let the record dry. Then I tried scraping the dirt
>>> with my finger nail, then with a sewing needle under strong
>>> magnification.
>>
>>> Nothing takes these dust bumps off the record, no matter
>>> how hard I try to scrape them off. I fear to scratch the record
>>> because it's in excellent condition otherwise, thus worth
>>> trying to clean better.
>>
>>> These dirt bumps make "pops" when I play the record.
>>
>>> Is there something else I could try to remove these dirt
>>> bumps from the grooves? It appears to be hardened glue or
>>> somthing like that.
>>
>>> Thanks in advance for any advice.
>>
>>> Louis-Luc
>>
>> Are you sure the bumps aren't imperfections in the vinyl pressing?- Hide =
> quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> No. These bumps really come from embedded dirt. I see it clearly, and
> even more when I magnify the groove. It's under the form of a line
> that goes
> throughout the whole song, but apparently someone tried to clean it
> earlier
> because it has gone partly, leaving a white line where there used to
> be
> more of this stuff.
>
> On another record, the dirt spot has the shape of a small circular
> stain, that
> pops for about 10 revolutions. I have not been able to clean this one
> as well.
>
> I don't dare poking more with the sewing needle, becaus I don't want
> to
> damage the groove walls further.
>
> Any way to dissolve these spots?
>

I have found that the 'Old Colony Sound' "Reg Williamson" method of using a
viscous goop spread on the record, allowed to dry, and then pulled off the
record in one contiguous sheet with a piece of Scotch tape to leave all
records essentially pristine. The goop flows around pieces of detritus such
as the ones you describe above and when it dries, it traps them in the
suspension. When the dried film is removed from the record surface, it pulls
all the trapped foreign matter with it.

This system was once sold by the makers of Empire turntables who sold it in a
large squeeze bottle with a foam applicator on the top. It worked
magnificently and perfectly. Records so treated actually LOOKED cleaner after
the film was peeled off. The Old Colony kit requires that you mix the goop
yourself and figure out your own method of applying it . I use a piece of
soft foam plastic sourced from a local plastic supply house.

http://www.audioxpress.com/bksprods/products/km-9.htm

[glenbadd]

On Jun 23, 12:20=A0am, XYLOPHONE > wrote:
> Any way to dissolve these spots?

If you could work out what they are, you might be able to find a
solvent, that won't also damage the vinyl.

There is a recording cleaning technique which uses PVA glue. Search
the net for details...

HTH, Glenn.

[Doug McDonald[_6_]]

On 6/22/2010 10:20 PM, glenbadd wrote:
> On Jun 23, 12:20 am, > wrote:
>> Any way to dissolve these spots?
>
> If you could work out what they are, you might be able to find a
> solvent, that won't also damage the vinyl.
>
>

The main solvent for ordinary tape-glue is ethyl acetate. It
works marvelously well.

However, I suspect that it is not good for vinyl. In the usual
suspect lists its compatibility is listed as "good" or "fair" which
in this context might mean "bad". Caveat emptor, but it
is worth a try on a worthless record.

Doug McDonald