Needle Drops and Stylus Dust/Dirt....

I find that using an anti-static gun with air cans indispensable in keeping my records clean. After I clean and dry my records , I use the gun and air can as the last step before putting them into sleeves to remove dust.

What is most critical is cleaning them off with a static gun and air can after I play them because you lose the game if you put LPs back in sleeves with dust on them.

 

I dunno about you but my records have no visible dust on them after RCM cleaning.

Would love a zero stat though.

 

A cleaning should leave no dust and especially no fibers. Perhaps you are putting fibers back on the vinyl by wiping them with less than brand-new microfiber towels.

Wood glue cleaning. Peel on the turntable, cover with dust cover until the static from peeling dissipates, then immediately play.

 

It's not the rcm or the Record. It's the air. Dust is in the air everywhere in some folks homes like mine. Sounds like you don't have that problem in your house if you don't relate.

 

After vacuuming off the standing water, i dry mine off with a micro cloth and put on a drying rack so that gets dust on them. Then they get dust on them again from my felt TT mat every time I play one

 

Yes, dust is everywhere. I look at mine under a bright light before and after I play them. It could be less dusty in your house but I really doubt that you are not getting some dust on your records each time you play. If you do that several times, you wind up with a dusty record and inner sleeve

 

I mean my place is pretty tidy and clean. Sure there might be the one off spec or strand of dust that I might wipe off but thats it after cleaning at least.
Before I had an RCM I still used Mofi sleeves and those do capture some dust in them. So after periodically cleaning old records I went and cleaned the mofi inners as well. After that theres been no visible dust in the mofi sleeves either though.

 

I'm pretty conflicted... on the one hand I don't see how i'm not rcm cleaning effectively and the static isn't helping. But it seems everyone has their own opinion on this (just like the dust on stylus for first play after rcm cleaning). I honestly can't recall this being a problem before the RCM, which I got in october... Maybe it is just static, but I really don't know. I feel I may drive myself mad with this, and should probably just leave it... maybe try a zerostat if i can return it. But honestly, it can't be 100% dust free... every time you expose it to air dust is settling on it. Short of getting a clean room, there ain't much you can do.

 

May I ask what cleaning fluid you use and how you spread it out on the record before vacuuming?

 

i use the mo-fi enzyme cleaner. Instructions say 3-5 minutes to sit. I spread the liquid around using a velvet brush that came with my RCM. It is kinda like that large pad-brush that Mo Fi makes. I'm planning on getting that eventually. Anyways, I spread a good amount around and let it sit (sometimes for 6 minutes if i'm unsure of how dirty it is. I let it sit and do 1-2 rotations till the streaks start to go away.... Then i spread distilled water onto the lp and rinse TWICE. Then I give it a minute and put it in a new sleeve... done.

Really. Don't see what I am doing wrong. The MoFi enzyme cleaner is already quite the expensive product here, and regardless I doubt that is a problem... Maybe next time around I'll get a different cleaner, but I gotta at least finish what I have (about 3/4 left).

 

Colby, remember this hobby is about having fun. If it's causing stress it's time to step back a bit, take a break, loosen the reigns.

 

Yeah, I think that's for the best. When you are already feeling under the weather this is the last thing you need.. maybe give it a few days. I could try doing things differently next batch of rcm cleanings. I think that if I do what I can and it still happens then no sense letting it spoil the hobby...

 

The biggest point I want to know is how you apply the fluid from the bottle onto the record. How do you do that?

 

Ah I see. I have one of those candy maker squirt bottles (like the plastic ketchup squeeze bottles). I maybe use a few tablespoons worth of cleaning fluid spread out. The fluid does not entirely cover up the surface in a smooth sheen, but I understand that is fine. Maybe I need to use more fluid, work it in more, or what? I will be doing my rcm routine in the coming days so I will change my tactics to see if it helps/makes it worse.

 

So the deal with my first unsuccessful cleaning rounds were due to a lot of reasons I cant exactly pin point but one of them might have been my stingy way of applying the liquid. I use Lart Du Son, enzyme based just as yours.
I used to just squirt one thick line across the middle section of the record. Then I used my Okki Nokki velvet brush to spread it. This I believe caused some ineffective cleaning but I cant be sure since I changed a few things since then.
The way I currently do it is by being very generous with the liquid and squirt it in a flower/star pattern. I basically try to draw as many flower pedals or star corners on the surface as possible. At least 10 Id say.
It does sound pretentious but it might just help a little to try.
How have you done that procedure before?

 

basically i put a line or 2 of liquid from lead in to lead out. Maybe 3 if i'm feeling ocd. Then double rinse with distilled water. How many rotations do you do for each step? I figure you must do a distilled rinse too. Also, does your liquid cover the surface entirely or is it just like mine? I think the lack of surfactants cause that... but don't want to start playing the scientist here haha.

 

Well if you do 2 lines thats better than what I did, I just did mine straight in the middle of the record as well which might not have spread it enough.
And give the bottle a shake as well in case it settles on the bottom over time. I hope you keep it in a dark and preferably cooler but at least not hotter than room temp area.
My fluid states that you dont need any rinsing done but I do it anyway because I bought a bottle of Tetenal 2000. I mix that with distilled water as it acts as a wetting agent and an anti stat solution. It does remove a little more static in my testing but its still there so I need a few plays before thats gone as well.
Otherwise I hear no sound difference in the little testing I did but in case some Lart Du Son stays in the grooves it should be cleaned out by then I hope.
I do 1 to 1.5 rotations myself on the first step, then I switch the vacuum off but let it is suck a little longer as the platter is spinning and vacuum slowly dying. That step is mostly just to help avoid a line of luquid that always forms at the end of the suction arm, even then its still there at little. Then I add the rinsing and do 1 more rotation the same way.
I pretty much cover mine as well as I can these days. It does help with cleaning a dirty deadwax if there is a lot of fingerprints there and I mostly judge my cleaning every record by playing the run in grooves before and after. Sometimes the dirt there is just too stubborn, but it still helps the groove areas somewhat. But you know that if you got the run ins cleaned that the rest should have been just as good. Another detail about my RCM is that the arm reaches a little too far out. There is actually a portion that is just sucking thim air so I put my thumb over that area to improve the suction. Im not sure it makes a huge difference as you dont hear the vacuum struggle any more the, like when you cover up your vacuum cleaning hose, but I figure why not.
So Id say on the boarder of being drenched.

 

Just an update... Let everything sit a few days and then tried revising my cleaning method. This certainly is now happening much less than before (out of the 10 i cleaned, only one side of one lp had a bit of a hair on the stylus). So I think it's safe to say my issue wasn't just static, but my cleaning method..

Lesson learned. Now have to go back and clean everything again. Oh well, not like I have thousands of LP's

 

Great! What did you change?

 

more water, 3 turns to suck the liquid off. Static isn't worse than before either and it only adds about 20 seconds to the cleaning time per side. Gonna find a recording level that works for all lp's and then just transfer on my first play... then who cares if it get's scraped up after the fact.

 

Low humidity has been mentioned before. I live in a very dry area, especially during winter with not enough rain. The humidity gets down to 33%.. that is not good nor healthy either. Ideal is around 45% even a little higher. Not so high you get condensation on windows. If you have pets in the house, even with hardwood flooring and just some throw rugs, dust and pet hair accumulates visibly on a daily basis.
In the bedrooms we use small humidifiers like 'Vicks'..etc. They are cheap but do the job in small to moderate size rooms. But in open areas like many home theaters, I am considering using one close to the turntable/record area.

 

Yes humidity is very good at preventing static build up, it wont eliminate static from a record though, that needs to be cleaned off somehow.

I myself am getting a humidifier as well since it gets very dry here up in Sweden too.