SPIN-CLEAN MK II record washer
Dunk your discs and reap the benefits...
It’s great to witness the continued revival of vinyl, along with the release of new turntables at every level to entice those returning to or newly discovering the joys of needle-dropping on the black stuff. New vinyl isn’t cheap, mind you — anything from $30 to $50+ for a single album — so one of the additional delights is the hunt for second-hand discs. Once word gets out you’ve gone back to black, chances are someone will soon pass you a box of dusty LPs left in the attic by Uncle Norm, though this becomes less exciting when you find they’re dominated by Mantovani and Nana Mouskouri.
Far better to visit a local record fair and join the ever-younger vinyl fans riffling through the racks. Many LPs will be $10 or $15, but there are always $2 and $5 bargain bins, and the $50+ you might have spent on a shiny 180g Beatles re-release can see you coming home with a couple of carrier bags stuffed with LPs.
But how’s the quality? You can check visually for scratches, but it’s still something of a lottery, and you’re primed for disappointment when you platter up a second-hand disc and hear surface noise that almost equals the music in intensity. But there is still hope — a good many ‘fails’ can be converted to successes through the simple process of record cleaning.
Get into the groove
As you’ll see overleaf, there are many options for doing this. Undoubtedly the best, but also the most expensive, are those which semi-automate the process and use liquids plus a vacuum removal system. At the other end of the scale there’s the humble but essential carbonfibre brush, with which even the cleanest records should be lightly circled before (and after) play to minimise dust casually accumulated during use. This writer grew up using the Nagaoka Rolling Record Cleaner, a roller made of a rubber that was sticky when dry, but not when wet, so you could wash the dirt off under a tap.
But our favourite affordable cleaner is the Spin-Clean Record Washer shown above, sometimes marketed in Australia under the Pro-Ject name, but only because it shares a distributor here. Also a declaration is required here of what reviewers call
‘ownership bias’ — we bought and have been using a Spin-Clean system for several years, and have cleaned perhaps 500 LPs with it during relaxed Sunday afternoon spinning sessions.
It’s a simple but effective system. You fill the big yellow plastic tray with water up to the marked line (perhaps put towels down on the wife’s favourite table first, we would advise through experience). Then dribble several capfuls of cleaning fluid onto the two cushioned pads which slide vertically into the centre of the tray. Nearly all cleaners have a mystery cleaning agent which will require periodic purchase, despite your suspicion that it’s likely a dilution of something available in huge bottles for tuppence at the supermarket.
Two small rollers can be positioned for 12-inch, 10-inch or 7-inch discs... these keep the discs at just the right height that all the black stuff will be submerged while sliding past the cushioned pads, yet the label stays dry and out of the water.
You then drop in a disc, spin it carefully using both hands first three times clockwise, then three times back the other way. Then comes the only tricky part of the operation — drying the wet discs. For this two cloths are provided, both the same, but we find it’s sensible to start the wet discs with one, and finish off with the other. Our method involves first letting the LP drip as much as possible back in the tray, then cradling the disc between outstretched arm and the stomach, and drying it off. Although the fluid bottle reckons you can do 30 LPs with one dose, your limit will more likely be the cloths getting too wet to use (if you add other soft cloths, launder them first and make darned sure they won’t shed small fibres as you clean).
The discs end up dry enough to go straight back in their sleeves — an advantage over some systems where you need to rack records for drying.
The effect? Sometimes dramatic, sometimes minor. But your vinyl will most definitely thank you. Jez Ford