If you never clean new records, look at this.

I've read on some threads where some people never clean new records. I honestly don't understand why. I received One Breath by Anna Calvi today, and this is what the record looks like right out of the sleeve.

 

Paper inner sleeve?

 

Yes, as a rule I clean all new records, many seem as dirty as 'used' records. It helps to have a VPI vacuum machine to make the process easy.

 

Sort of. Glossy cover but the inside isn't. After I clean it, it's going into a poly sleeve.

 

That's what I mean... it looks like fibers from the inner sleeve.

 

Even new vinyl that looks pristine has a lot of junk in the grooves. I used to have a Loricraft that collects the fluid in a glass jar, and you could see the murky water and other crap that would end up in that jar.

 

There have been threads here that mention white powder deep in the grooves of brand new,unplayed records.I have actually used wood glue to clean out junk on the two GZ records I have bought,including such powder.GZ is especially sloppy about quality control.Do they press Domino releases?

 

I always wet clean the first time and then use a carbon fiber brush for additional plays.

 

I bought a used record with white stuff sprinkled inside, Pepsi's rival.

 

I'm not sure where they're pressed but I think I might have to upgrade from this for wet cleaning if I get many more new records like this and View attachment 349542 especially as I've started to buy used records.

 

Nope, too much static.

 

Okki Nokki ?

 

In the golden days of hi-end audiophine vinyl it was de rigeur to thoroughly clean new records to remove stamper lubricant and crap from the post-pressing processes. I can't think of too many times I've pulled a flawlessly new clean record out of a sleeve.

 

If the record plays quietly, I don't bother. More often than not that's the case for me.

 

In my experience most new vinyl is very staticy and crap leaps on it the second they leave the sleeve. I'm sure I spend more time cleaning and zerostating new stuff than I do records I bought decades ago.

 

back in the "old" days, almost no one cleaned their records beyond an occasional swipe with a slightly damp, lint-free cloth, if at all. Many of those records still sound good today.

 

There is no separate mold release used for pressing records. The mold release is an intrinsic part of the vinyl formula. There is no residue from mold release.

 

They're the worst in my experience. Always come out incredibly static charged and covered in paper shreds/dust. Run through the Nitty Gritty and a new poly sleeve and it's ready to go.

 

Case by case basis. Of all the LPs that I obtained sealed, opened, visually inspected and determined that wet cleaning wasn't necessary only a scant few in fact needed cleaning. This would encompass approximately 80% of all previously sealed LPs. The other 20% needed wet cleaning based on visual inspection. Of all these LPs 98% are vintage. I rarely buy modern vinyl.

 

I have a VPI 16.5 and I never clean my new records. Bite me!

 

I clean every new record with my Spin Clean and it's shocking how much crap comes off these records. You should see what collects on the bottom.

 

Especially from the late 1970s and early 1980s.

 

I don't know why, but many of my brand new Speakers Corner LPs have been giving me a lot of grief with surface noise the past year. No rhyme or reason, they just take two or three cleans in the Okki and then a few plays and then they're fine, but what a PITA.

 

What is all the paranoia about this mold release, anyway? I never even heard about it until this forum.