Cleaning new vinyl?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Positively Vinyl, Feb 20, 2019.

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  1. Positively Vinyl

    Positively Vinyl Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    Does it make a huge difference if I clean new vinyl or is a dry microfiber brush enough?
     
    cliff_forster likes this.
  2. canstoog

    canstoog Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Canada
    A wet clean always helps. If you have spare cash I’d recommend the VPI cleaning machine, good as it gets.
     
  3. ProfessorC1983

    ProfessorC1983 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    I wet clean my brand new records and then hit them with the Vinyl Vac. Afterward there's lots of tiny black vinyl specks in the waste water that got sucked out of the grooves.
     
  4. I always clean new vinyl but with more humble stuff, I use MoFi wet/dry brush and MoFi One Cleaning Solution. I pour a little amount of the cleaning solution on the record, spread it and clean the record with a MoFi brush and then dry it with another MoFi brush, this works great.
     
    johnny q likes this.
  5. canstoog

    canstoog Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Canada
    So you use two of the same brushes, one of dry one for wet?
     
  6. vinylontubes

    vinylontubes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Katy, TX
    Yes it makes a difference. Not sure what a microfiber brush is. They make dusters out of microfiber. But I'm pretty sure a microfiber brush isn't a thing.
     
  7. Yes, I do,and it works great. MoFi brushes are not expensive and spare microfibre pads are inexpensive, I got a two unit set for 9 $ last year.
     
    johnny q likes this.
  8. Guitarded

    Guitarded Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montana
    Every LP goes on the MW-1 before it goes on the turntable.
     
  9. Positively Vinyl

    Positively Vinyl Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    SORRY you guys I MEANT ANTI-STATIC BRUSH, my brain isnt working :D
     
  10. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    Neither of those is enough, wet cleaning is the way to go.
     
  11. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    I only use a carbon fiber brush.
     
  12. Never cleaned a new LP and never had an issue as a result of not cleaning it. If it is full of snaps and pops i send it back and get another one. Simple
     
    jkull, IR66, libertycaps and 5 others like this.
  13. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    If you want to get the best from your (new or used) vinyl records then wet cleaning is a necessity.
     
  14. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Likewise. I have been buying vinyl for 50 years, and can count on one hand how many records were not perfect. Guess I'm just lucky. Wash a new record? Never done that.
     
    jkull, Fruff76, Giacomo Belbo and 2 others like this.
  15. willboy

    willboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wales, UK
    What he said.
     
    Giacomo Belbo and Fishoutofwater like this.
  16. classicrocker

    classicrocker Life is good!

    Location:
    Worcester, MA, USA
    On the other side of the coin I can count on one hand the number of new vinyl that did not have pops and clicks right out of the sleeve.

    After an initial wet cleaning on an RCM they are usually silent with rare exceptions.

    I always clean new vinyl and have found it makes a big difference. Sending them back is a waste of time and money to me, when a simple cleaning does the trick. YMMV of course.
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2019
  17. carbonti

    carbonti Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York County
    Everybody has their own routine, even their own value system, when it comes to vinyl. I always will clean a new LP before it ever sees the light of day on one of my turntables. Which it appears, from the gentlemen I quoted above, that they do not do. And yet, I am in agreement with some of what they said too: most of the new vinyl I have bought has been OK and unless the LP is clearly defective, I accept it the way it is and do not obsess over sending it back in hope of a better copy.

    Some new records are filthy right outta the box new. Sonic Youth Daydream Nation box was a mess with vinyl detritus and inner sleeve cardboard shards all over the records like salted meat. Clean the LPs and lift the veil to get the typical hazy Sonic Youth mix and, well, Sonic Youth sonics. Obviously audiophile is not what Sonic Youth was about.

    New LPs are dirty. I have sessions where the only records being cleaned are brand new records. The RCM is a Loricraft. The dirty cleaning solution in the collection jar from cleaning new LPs is a much finer grain than the dirt vacuumed from used records. It is always satisfying to toss that dirty solution down the drain. The records may not sound better after cleaning because they sound as they were pressed. But they sound cleaner because dirt you can’t see still makes its own sound.
     
    Old Rusty, Matt I, willboy and 3 others like this.
  18. jlykos

    jlykos Forum Resident

    Location:
    Parts Unknown
    Always. You would be shocked if you saw how much gunk comes out of new records when I empty the Okki Nokki out. All of that would have otherwise been ruining my stylus or caked further down into the grooves.
     
  19. ssmith3046

    ssmith3046 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arizona desert
    I clean all new records on my Okki Nokki. After cleaning new albums I always dump the contents of the vacuum collection tank in a clean white bowl and I'm always surprised at the amount of junk in the bowl.
     
    Muriel Heslop, Old Rusty, SHU and 2 others like this.
  20. Tom Littlefield

    Tom Littlefield Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire, USA
    Waste of time..

    I just use a Discwasher with a very thin line of D4 liquid on one edge. Run the Discwasher wet edge a couple of revolutions then rotae to the dry side for a couple.

    I do this every time I play a record and only buy new, never had a problem with noisey records.
     
    CMT and IR66 like this.
  21. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
    Test this, then report back.
     
  22. eflatminor

    eflatminor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nevada
    If you're not going to wash with water, I'd avoid a dry brush. I prefer to blow the dust off a new record, either before I clean it with a RCM or if I'm not going to clean it.

    [​IMG]
     
    sound chaser likes this.
  23. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Depends where the record is pressed. Some new records are filthy, particularly those pressed at lower-tier plants. I clean those on my RCM pretty much the same way I clean any used record.
     
    DrZhivago and Dennis Metz like this.
  24. hbucker

    hbucker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    I've put my new LPs through my Spin Clean just to get any factory dust removed. I honestly don't hear a big difference in pops (which have been rare anyway), but I figure it can't hurt.

    I've only bought about 12 new LPs over the past couple of years though. So my sample isn't very definitive.
     
    Fishoutofwater likes this.
  25. This Heat

    This Heat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    I always clean new records. I am always surprised how dirty many are!
     
    Vinyl Addict likes this.
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