The Wood Glue vinyl cleaning method

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by alan909, Feb 10, 2008.

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  1. Barry Wom

    Barry Wom New Member

    Location:
    Pepperland
    I would advise people to ignore this article, the same goes for masking tape and lighter fluid.
     
  2. izgoblin

    izgoblin Forum Resident

    I would never put lighter fluid anywhere near my treasured records. And by all means *certainly* not on my copy of Hendrix's ARE YOU EXPERIENCED or on the Crazy World of Arthur Brown album.

    Ya know, 'cause they both contain "Fire".

    :)
     
    John Brookbank likes this.
  3. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    :laugh::laugh::laugh:
     
  4. Joe Nino-Hernes

    Joe Nino-Hernes Active Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Nope, the peel would be a negative. The groves would be peaks, not valleys.
     
  5. axnyslie

    axnyslie Forum Resident

    I tried the lint brush roller technique on a cheap dirty record once. Didn't do any good.
     

  6. the pictures on that last link look pretty convincing!! While this seems a bit time consuming to do with every LP, it could at least be utilized for those few, extra grimy ones.
     
  7. roberts67

    roberts67 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    Hello!

    Hello! My buddy tried the wood glue cleaning technique. It took a lot of time and the glue did not pull off in 1 piece and required a little prying to remove. It was fun looking at all the dirt the glue pulled up. It would not be my first choice for cleaning records. Peace. Robert
     
  8. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    The key to not having to pull it up in small flecks is to put it on thick.
     
  9. Guardian

    Guardian Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    sorry im not even going to try to do this.
     
  10. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    OMG! Just when you had thought that you had seen it all... That's really silly. I'm sure it'll get some junk off but what about a cheer for the most inefficient and perhaps risky (oops missed a bit, thar goes my $500 stylus...) method yet concieved. I do use the glue/tape method often for cleaning sticky spots on items that were contaminated with same, but I really can't see putting that crap on an Lp when most self respecting collectors are concerned about the ppm of impurities in water for use on them. I now envision reading in my next least favorite audiophile catalog about a new Elmer's product that uses "laboratory grade" horse and cattle hooves for producing is "6 nines" glue...

    Hey, I think that I have an old Roliing Stones record that might need a "peel"... Sticky Fingers!
    -Bill
     
  11. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    I haven't tried to do this and am not willing to even try as I don't have that amount of patience for this, but on VG- to M- LPs, one cleaning method that actually does work to enhance the sound is to use a orange citrus cleaner such as Goo Gone and similar products with your normal cleaning brush as a first step and 2nd to use a dish soap and water mix and I have tried this to enhance the sound of a couple LPs and it did work. The reason for the soap and water removal of the citrus cleaner product is to remove the oily residue which if left intact will deteriorate the sound and could cause skipping. This is actually a very quick cleaning.
     
    arisinwind likes this.
  12. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    It's a better remedy for 45s that have been sleeveless for ages and have a lot of impacted dirt in the groove as a result.
     
  13. Mike from NYC

    Mike from NYC Senior Member

    Location:
    Surprise, AZ
    An idea thought up by someone with entirely tooooo much time on their hands. It would cost a fortune to use wood glue to clean up albums - a 16 oz bottle cost me almost $12 - although it is waterproof :)
     
  14. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Hey Brad,
    what kind of enhancement did you get? More bass, clearer highs?
     
  15. lofreek

    lofreek New Member

    Location:
    St. Louis, MO
    Vinyl records have surface contaminants that require solvents. This includes new and old records. Glue removes particulate matter, and not all that well, and does nothing for microorganisms or tar like residues. Not worth the trouble in my opinion.
     
  16. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    A lot of clarity
     
  17. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Thanks, it sounds tempting.
    I might try it.
     
  18. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    Goo Gone does deep clean well.
     
  19. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I see lots of unfinished bottles at yard sales.
     
  20. Miter53

    Miter53 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Emeryville, CA
    tried it and it works

    As I manage a cabinet shop and have an almost unlimited supply of Titebond, I thought I would give this a try. I pulled out an old copy of "Diz and Bird - In the Beginning" and listened to the first cut. There was a significant amount of pop and crackle noise, most noticeable on the lead-in. I then put small tabs of tape at the edge, and applied a generous amount of glue with a foam brush while it was on the turntable, being careful to avoid thin areas, the label, and keeping the glue on the record, not the TT. It's actually pretty easy to control. I let it dry over night, and the next day it was easy to pull off it one piece, using the tape tabs to get the peel started. Upon playing, the reduction in noise was dramatic, most obviously on the lead-in. I brought someone else over to listen to first the unglued side and then the glued side (which were pretty much the same noisewise), and he confirmed the improvement.

    I certainly wouldn't do this to all or even most of my vinyl, but for some of those thrift store finds it could be extremely useful.
     
  21. Pug

    Pug The Prodigal Snob Returns!

    Location:
    Near Music Direct
    I have tried this before on records that I thought were hopeless, even after a VPI cleaning and I have to say it works. I had a rough copy of Wings' Give Ireland Back To The Irish that was pretty lousy sounding. I coated it with plain old Elmer's glue, let it sit overnight and then I peeled it off. There was a definite reduction in surface noise. The record wasn't perfect by any means, don't expect a miracle but at least it became listenable.
     
  22. darkmatter

    darkmatter Gort Astronomer Staff

    As a last resort I think it is certainly worth trying and concur with these findings
     
  23. Perisphere

    Perisphere Forum Resident

    Elmer's Glue-All is a decent glue to use for this cleaning method. CAUTION: This method generally works well with conventional vinyl, styrene or shellac records, but is not to be used with other types of record such as those made with a cardboard backing, or speciality items such as lacquer or acetate instantaneous recording discs.

    Record cleaning by this process takes 18 to 20 hours(!) per record side to accomplish. A 4 fluid ounce bottle of Elmer's Glue-All will yield enough glue to do both sides of one LP.

    Here's how I did an LP side recently:

    First, I applied a small piece of sticky tape to the edge of the record, stopping just short of the recorded grooves, as a means of beginning the peeling process after the glue has dried.

    With the record on a level turntable, and the table running at 33 rpm, I applied the glue to the record (in a LONG, slow squirt of glue with the nozzle about 1/2" from the record's surface) starting about 1/2" outside the edge of the record label. I moved the bottle slowly away from the label area as I did this. I ended up with a coating roughly 3/32" thick (slightly thicker than the bead of glue coming normally from the nozzle) extending outward to about 3/4" from the edge of the record. I carefully spread to glue to the record's edge and to just outside the label with a finger.

    Here's how it looked just after I got all the glue (about 2 fluid ounces' worth) on it:

    [​IMG]

    Ideally, an old turntable with 16 rpm speed would be ideal for this method of cleaning records, as the slow speed would serve to help keep the coating even whilst drying. 33 is the lowest speed on this turntable, so I ran it only periodically, 30 minutes on, two hours off or thereabouts, for the first few hours.

    Here's how this record looked after 6 hours:

    [​IMG]

    Eighteen hours after the glue was initially applied:

    [​IMG]

    Climatic factors such as humidity and temperature may cause the drying process to take as long as 20 hours or slightly more. When there are no distinct, vividly white areas visible, the record is ready for peeling.

    The tape helped start the process, but I also had to do some work with a thumbnail to get it peeled to just the end of the lead-in grooves. From that point forward I was able to do the rest of the peeling by hand, without making contact with the record surface.

    Here's how the record looked, with the glue almost completely peeled away:

    [​IMG]

    This audio sample demonstrates the difference this cleaning method made on this record. The last 45 seconds of the first song are heard, first, in the condition the record was in before the glue was applied, then again just after peeling.

    http://www.box.net/shared/ia3polz6i2
     
    vinyl13 likes this.
  24. Lazy0ne

    Lazy0ne Forum Resident

    Location:
    Audio Heaven
  25. argus2005

    argus2005 New Member

    Hello. I remember that Grundig had a similar system, in the late 70's. You had to spray the product on the disc, and let it dry for several hours, and then peel. Obviosly it wasn't based on wood glue, but it was exactly the same principle.

    Cheers.

    Isaias
     
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