Do I need to clean my LP's?

[Pariah Zero]

I have records that haven't been cleaned since purchase say a decade ago, they had no significant noise then and have no more now. I said it before, but if you live in a relatively well controlled environment (humidity in particular), then I don't know how records would necessarily get noisier over time, which means they wouldn't need cleaning.

Yes, dust accumulates and it will need brushing from the surface or removing from the stylus, but it only sits on the surface and doesn't 'embed' itself in records over time. The embedded noise is, imo, a product of high humidity and/or swings in temp/humidity (being left in an loft/attic) and stuff growing in the grooves, touching the playing surface doesn't help in this regard.

I live in a dry, dry desert, with very low humidity in the summer, and less in the winter (currently ~17% or so). In spite of thoroughly grounding everything I can, so much static electricity builds up during a play, both a record and the platter have so much static on it that every hair on my arms stand on end as I move to pick up (or flip) the record. The static charge is so strong I can smell it.

The human body sheds skin dead skin cells constantly. Texas A&M Health puts it at roughly 1.8 grams per person, per day - between 69 and 88 percent of the dust in a home. We can't move without shedding dust. It just floats in the air here, more or less indefinitely, with no humidity to weigh it down - unless something filters it.

It's a nightmare to put a screen protector on a phone.

The moment I move close to the record (or even open the dust cover), everything nearby that's airborne is sucked to the still grounded record and platter like white on rice. The dust certainly isn't embedded in the record, but it is tightly adhered to the record through a combination of electrostatic and Van der Waals forces. It doesn't simply brush off or aside - electrostatic forces adhere the dust to the record as tenaciously as a coating of oil.

Almost like a car guy's grease covered hands. The dirt isn't embedded in his hands either, but it is adhered to his hands.

Moving the dust around requires force - while the force of a diamond stylus against a groove is indeed high, and the stylus can often 'clear the path' the sensitivity of the cantilever and pickup is also high: Just because the diamond can push dust aside doesn't mean it does so noiselessly.

Sometimes that little piece of dust gets wedged into a spot and can't move until the forces increase sufficiently to dislodge it. And then there's a sudden, audible 'tick' as the dust is dislodged (and re-adhered someplace else on the record).

I can also track (via needle drop and ADC & signal processing techniques) the number of pops on a record (as well as placement) over time - might be an interesting experiment, starting with a brand new one... though I've got some basement finishing I have to do first.

 

[Pariah Zero]

You could always use one of these:

Anti Static Brush with Ionizing Cartridge - 3"

Clean negatives, transparencies, plates and optical lenses. Effective for vinyl records and viewing screens. One quick easy operation removes particulate.

amstat.com

Just don't dip it in your tea.

I know this is a year after the fact, but... yes. Definitely keep that one out of your tea. It would only be good for a year or two? (given the half-life of the isotope).

I've a few uses for such a brush (including precision scales), but really, there's only one proper way to think about polonium-210 in your home, especially if you have young kids:

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

It may have been mentioned over the the previous pages. When I bought a Sondek, I was told. "The stylus cleans the record, use this specialised green sandpaper to carefully clean the stylus"!

 

[Digby]

I live in a dry, dry desert, with very low humidity in the summer, and less in the winter (currently ~17% or so). In spite of thoroughly grounding everything I can, so much static electricity builds up during a play, both a record and the platter have so much static on it that every hair on my arms stand on end as I move to pick up (or flip) the record. The static charge is so strong I can smell it.

The human body sheds skin dead skin cells constantly. Texas A&M Health puts it at roughly 1.8 grams per person, per day - between 69 and 88 percent of the dust in a home. We can't move without shedding dust. It just floats in the air here, more or less indefinitely, with no humidity to weigh it down - unless something filters it.

It's a nightmare to put a screen protector on a phone.

I've never lived in such an inhospitable environment, so happy to defer to you knowledge about such things. Does the low humidity cause nosebleeds and the like?

 

[Balle Clorin]

Since I moved into an apartment from 1899 I have never had any static problems. Brick, wood and natural materials etc,, but I guess it must be the pointed corners that does the trick… . They keep my records dust free

 

[pseudoid]

I've never lived in such an inhospitable environment, so happy to defer to you knowledge about such things. Does the low humidity cause nosebleeds and the like?

Blood as lubricant on records? Really!!

...human body sheds skin dead skin cells constantly....

10 pages in; some - without reading - are beginning to repeat previous posts.
Which, could only mean it is appropriate time for some humor or infighting...

My recommendation

 

[Angsty]

I live in a dry, dry desert, with very low humidity in the summer, and less in the winter (currently ~17% or so). In spite of thoroughly grounding everything I can, so much static electricity builds up during a play, both a record and the platter have so much static on it that every hair on my arms stand on end as I move to pick up (or flip) the record. The static charge is so strong I can smell it.

Get a HumminGuru and use it whenever. You'll be happier about cleaning records.

 

[cgallery]

It may have been mentioned over the the previous pages. When I bought a Sondek, I was told. "The stylus cleans the record, use this specialised green sandpaper to carefully clean the stylus"!

Yep, the trouble starts once people start using ill-conceived methods and materials/chemicals to clean their vinyl.

Grooves packed with detergent residues, "space-age lubricants," etc.

When I clean records I'm not so much as washing them, but stripping all the weird crap the previous owner(s) packed into the groove.

 

[pseudoid]

ASR Thread "Phonograph Stylus Wear Experiment" may interest others:
I am only at page1, looks very good... gtg back!

 

[Pariah Zero]

I've never lived in such an inhospitable environment, so happy to defer to you knowledge about such things. Does the low humidity cause nosebleeds and the like?

You do get nosebleeds, but the real problem is irritation from mucus in its varying stages of dehydration. Quite often you gotta do a little rehydration before blowing your nose can be effective. (They sell sterile saline sprays in stores, and it's well known you can't use tap water safely, as the nose is one of the places the brain extends externally. You can also boil water & mix it with salt packets.)

The moisturizer isle in a supermarket is a sight to behold... I can't tell you the number of times I've had to open doors for people who are physically unable because they've 'moisturized' too recently. (I've also extorted my wife a few times... just how much is it worth to open the bathroom door for you?!? Oh no! Not the couch. NOT THE COUCH!)

The backs of knuckles, fingernail cuticles, lips, are also prone to just cracking and bleeding. This summer I've chased my (autistic, nonverbal) son a few times as he's run off to get a band-aid and I've had to look to see how he hurt himself. It turns out he didn't; his skin just split open from being dry .

 

[Pariah Zero]

Blood as lubricant on records? Really!!


10 pages in; some - without reading - are beginning to repeat previous posts.
Which, could only mean it is appropriate time for some humor or infighting...
View attachment 299075
My recommendation

Might actually be interesting to do with some of these bad girls: (Amazon: Lot of 12" Vinyl Records for Crafts & Decoration) - $15 for a bunch of old records that probably don't play anymore. I wonder how long it'd take to buff to a mirror shine? Vinyl isn't that hard, and the microgrooves aren't that deep. AlOx compound would no doubt make very quick work of it.

 

[dasdoing]

my dad used to play his LPs wet, something like this

dust and dirt have no chance.
the problem is, you play them wet once, you have to play them wet always....else they "crackle". not sure why

 

[dasdoing]

my dad used to play his LPs wet, something like this

dust and dirt have no chance.
the problem is, you play them wet once, you have to play them wet always....else they "crackle". not sure why

check this out

Wet playing revisited - Page 21- Vinyl Engine

www.vinylengine.com

 

[Digby]

the problem is, you play them wet once, you have to play them wet always....else they "crackle". not sure why

if the water was from a tap, then it probably had minerals/contaminants in it that accumulated on the vinyl over many wet plays? just a thought...

 

[dasdoing]

if the water was from a tap, then it probably had minerals/contaminants in it that accumulated on the vinyl over many wet plays? just a thought...

nahh, not water.
I think he used this:

the bottle looks familiar, and it seams that this has been widly used in Europe in the 80ies and 90ies.

 

[pseudoid]

Might actually be interesting to do with some of these bad girls: (Amazon: Lot of 12" Vinyl Records for Crafts & Decoration) - $15 for a bunch of old records that probably don't play anymore. I wonder how long it'd take to buff to a mirror shine? Vinyl isn't that hard, and the microgrooves aren't that deep. AlOx compound would no doubt make very quick work of it.

I'll wait for your thorough test report... now that you have sourced the needed 'specimens' for the experiment. What blood type are you?
--------------

...the problem is, you play them wet once, you have to play them wet always....else they "crackle". not sure why

Are we back to talking about adding 'pop' crackle to music?

Could the 'type' of water used by your dad (on LPs) be the root-cause of the crackle?

Before [deciding] if distilled water or de-ionized water (de-mineralized?) is the best choice, understand[ing] the differences between the two [is required].

• Deionized (DI) water is water that has been treated to remove all ions – typically, that means all of the dissolved mineral salts
• Distilled water has been boiled so that it evaporates and then re-condensed, leaving most impurities behind
  ....

If I can only remember this stuff, I wouldn't be taking notes all over again!

 

[dasdoing]

Could the 'type' of water used by your dad (on LPs) be the root-cause of the crackle?

check out post #195
afaik it was based on Isopropanol. don't forget this stuff was invented 50 years ago

 

[cgallery]

check out post #195
afaik it was based on Isopropanol. don't forget this stuff was invented 50 years ago

Yeah when people ran out of the costly fluid they refilled at the tap, just as many people with Dishwasher and other cleaners did.

 

[LTig]

Yeah when people ran out of the costly fluid they refilled at the tap, just as many people with Dishwasher and other cleaners did.

...which was not a good idea. You need double distilled water to get rid of small particles. I learned it the hard way when, still in school, my chemistry teacher made me a fluid using single distilled water and alcohol. When this fluid evaporated it left those particles on the flanks of the groove, and one record I played very often finally distorted so much it could no longer be played. The residue finally was visible as a slightly grey shimmer, and a professiinal cleaning couldn't remove it. I had to rebuy this record.

 

[cgallery]

...which was not a good idea. You need double distilled water to get rid of small particles. I learned it the hard way when, still in school, my chemistry teacher made me a fluid using single distilled water and alcohol. When this fluid evaporated it left those particles on the flanks of the groove, and one record I played very often finally distorted so much it could no longer be played. The residue finally was visible as a slightly grey shimmer, and a professiinal cleaning couldn't remove it. I had to rebuy this record.

The vast majority seem to have no issue w/ single-distilled or de-ionized or even Aquafina (nothing added after filtering, whereas Dasani has minerals added).