Spin Clean review

Would like to get one but at over U$ 150 down here so I think I'll continue to use my home method for now.

 

Price was a big deterrent for me as well. I could not justify the then $80 for a basic kit which is an injection moulded plastic trough, two rollers & felt pads and a bottle of mostly water. FWIW I kept checking CL and classified sections of audio forums when I remembered to. Eventually I found one as yet unsold on AK.

Having thusfar cleaned in excess of 2000 records I now conclude that even full retail is an acceptable investment. $150 must be a "deluxe kit" or a special edition. I would go with the cheapest version, find an online recipe for home brew fluid and buy a bundle of microfibre cloths at a Dollar Store. For a drying rack, those old fashioned folding wooden plate drying racks work just fine and are only a buck or two at thrift stores.

The only "expensive" add on I thought worthwhile was a pair of reacement pads for $25. I got those from a local used record store that uses an SC to clean their new arrivals. Even though they claimed to having cleaned 5000 LP's with a single pair of pads which were still OK, I figured it was better to have than to have not. That plus they had replacements on hand and I was there anyway. I can foresee needing new rollers at some time and will bite the $25 bullet for a pair of those eventually.

Since I have already gotten a fair bit of use from it, the amortized cost is low. Although not ultra-quick, they're a lot faster than cleaning by hand. Considering that all my new aquisitions are used, I'm anticipating continued use for some years to come.

 

It's the MKII. Only one available. Resembles wood.

 

You can get this for $50 this month

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Edit: Sorry, just noticed your location.

 

I think it's needed. I can't imagine all that crud from the factory or the dusty secondhand stuff would be good for the stylus, not to mention the gritty sound. I became a believer pretty quickly, the improvement in sound was more than noticeable. Now everybody gets a clean before they hit the table.

I would not say I'm a religious cleaner, but yes. One clean before the record gets filed, for sure.

 

I recently purchased a Spin Clean and have used it on about 20 records. The records certainly look clean, but I have encountered a lot of gunk on my needle. Multiple records sounded muffled, letting me know my needle to be cleaned. I don't recall ever having that problem with any of the 500 or more records that I washed by hand. I know my sample size is still relatively small, so I will keep using the Spin Clean while I collect more data.

 

Would those of you with Spin Clean and Record Doctor experience recommend one over the other? Obviously the Record Doctor is pricier, but in terms of performance, is it really that much better?

 

Here is what worked for me on the rollers. I greased them slightly with silicone grease (available at hobby stores). Did it once and they spin like champs. At least several hundred records later and I've never touched it up again. Try it.

 

I have both and still use both for my record cleaning process, but if I were to just choose one to use it would be the RD. Nothing beats having the vacuum dry.

 

If you aren't doing a rinse with distilled water, try that. After the first record, the water in the tub is dirty and gets progressively worse.

 

Dennis, did you buy a second SC for the rinse cycle (seems unlikely) or do you have a method for your rinse cycle?

 

SC has the 40th Anniversary Retro edition on sale now for $50. They've been running this sale every couple of months and I've been tossing around the idea of picking it up for use as a rinse cycle as this is probably the cheapest to find a full SC, but I keep finding better things to spend $50 on!

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No, but I was very close to doing just that before I decided to get an RCM. What i was doing was spreading out microfiber cloth on a table, laying the LP flat on the cloth after it came out of the SC. I would wipe it dry with one cloth and then hit it with some water and wipe that with another cloth. By comparison, a second SC would be much better. The amount of wet rags I would have was getting out of hand.

 

A rinse cycle is a must.

 

The SC may not be the ultimate record cleaner, and performance can be improved by using different fluids, adding a rinse cycle, and using a vacuum to dry. But if anyone doubts the effectiveness of the basic SC, do the following: Clean 20 records. Put the SC away without draining it. After a day, look at the water. You will be surprised to see how cloudy the water looks, and how much sediment is the in the water and on the bottom of the SC. Then realize that ALL of the contaminants in the tank came from your records.

That said, I am contemplating improvements. Many say that a deep enzyme clean is a necessary first step, followed by a normal clean, and rinse. Then use a vacuum to fully dry the record. I would use an old DD TT for the deep enzyme cleaning step. Saturate the surface, and scrub scrub scrub. Then blot dry, and proceed with a normal SC clean followed by a distilled water rinse and vacuum dry. My contemplated process seems to be about the point of diminishing returns. To meaningfully improve results, I would have to purchase a ultrasonic cavitation cleaner.

 

I clean about 25 and then the water is looking pretty dirty. Refill with just distilled water and rinse. I think I'm getting better results than no rinse. Haven't tested doing more before the rinse but I suppose you could depending on how dirty the records are to start.

 

I suspect there's no need to add wash fluid to the rinse cycle?

 

The people who do the rinse cycle -- I never have -- say to just use plain distilled water the second time.

 

May as well add my .02 here. My 40th Anniversary "retro" Spin Clean arrived a couple of days ago and I just cleaned my first records with it. I just recently got back into vinyl and had been cleaning records by hand using a home brew recipe I found here, a Mofi brush and distilled H20 rinse. This made a difference but I still had lots of noticeable surface noise along with a plentiful number of crackles and pops on all but the most pristine of my old records. I did my first batch with 15 of my worst surface noise offenders. Every one was improved to some extent, most now play perfectly with little if any detectable surface noise and no more crackles/pops. I'm pleasantly surprised at how much difference it made, it gets two thumbs up.

 

How do you clean a Spin Clean? There's a lot of gunk at the bottom and was wondering if it's dishwasher safe?

 

I use hot water via the high pressure hose thingy at the kitchen sink.

 

Same here, but I assume the reservoir is top rack dishwasher safe.

 

I own one, eventually moved on to a vac system from canada 3d print company, but spin clean is a great , cheap little cleaner, bravo for buying it to save $$ if you are interested in saving more $$ you can mix this solution up by the gallon on the cheap and in my opinion is better than included cleaner that costs a lot more for a lot less, 3 drops- dawn platnum 1 cup hydrogen peroxide 11 oz 91% isopropyl alcahol 1 gallon distilled water, shake well. This recipe was given to me by a dedicated vinyl nut.

 

Been using the Spin Clean for a few years. Doesn't do what a 4k ultrasonic cleaner does, but it is handy and effective. I often hear concerns about a rinse step, but - as long as you use the supplied cleaning solution - I don't feel it's necessary; and the company directions don't mention that it is. I suppose a look and comparison with a microscope might answer some questions.

Those rollers will settle into place once you use them a lot.

I find using cloth baby diapers are the key here: they dry very quickly and are soft and lint free.

Congrats. Other cleaners will bring you higher up the mountain, but the Spin Clean is an indespensible tool for folks playing records.

 

I just cleaned 30 albums. I'm really starting to dislike this thing. I just can't keep those #%&$ rollers in place. Seems the more I use it, the worse it gets. It seems like the slots for the rollers should be curved so that the slots aren't parallel to the edge of the rotating disc.