After record cleaning, does your stylus pull out gunk?

I finally assembly all the "proper" ingredients to make a disc washing solution. I meticulously mixed it together and washed the record with care. I can hear a lot of dust and dirt is gone, but a lot of gunk builds up on my stylus for the first play, to the point of creating distortion. On subsequent plays, the lps sound great and the gunk subsides. Is this a fairly common occurence, or am I missing something in the cleaning process?

 

Happens to me every time. half way thru the record, I have to stop it and clean the stylus its so noisy. Just part of the deal IMHO.

 

It's happened to me plenty of times. On occasion, I've been very surprised by how much gunk got lifted out after playing.

 

I never have this problem...what are you using?

 

Rinse thoroughly with distilled water after cleaning, especially if you don't use vacuum. There should be zero visible build-up, even on first play.

 

If your rinsing properly there should be NO residue anywhere near your stylus.

 

That is why using a vac system is so useful. Once the gunk is loosened it is sucked out of the grooves and following up with a water rinse helps insure you are getting most everything off your record. I am a big proponent of using a vac.

 

I'm using a fairly simple formula:

1mL Kodak Photo Flo (20-25 drops)
2mL SoftSoap Antibacterial (1/2 tsp)
1 to 5 tsp 99% alcohol [I used 4 tsp- YMMV]
1000mL distilled water (1 liter- a little more than a quart)

Rinse well, then I dry with a microfiber cloth (sometimes after a fairly risky "pizza toss" spin in the air. However, I have had my accidents, so I cut this part out). Then I let dry and then dry brush with a vintage discwasher and then a carbon fiber brush.

I guess a vac would really help. I once built a DIY version based on some instructions on the web, but the process was so unwieldy using a modified shop vac, I gave up using it.

 

There is NO subtitute for a good vacuum after cleaning and rinsing MHO. I never have a dirty stylus after I clean my records. Regular habit is to clean the stylus after every play anyway.

 

On really dirty records I have seen this happen even when using a Vacumn system. A second cleaning and rinse will usually take care of it. I usually know which records will need two cleanings just from their looks.

 

I never have this problem but use a RCM. And its the least expensive Nitty Gritty sold thru audio Advisor. Cost me like $200.00 about 10 yrs ago.

 

I never get anything coming out of the grooves. I'm dubious about the SoftSoap; I suspect it may be leaving residue. Also, I don't know why you use the Discwasher brush and the carbon fiber brush.

You don't necessarily need a vacuum system if you have a sink and a faucet. This works great and you can still dry with microfiber:

http://www.gmanalog.com/gm.aspx

John K.

 

That ist he reason why i play each washed record once with an old TT - of course without sound - just to clean the records....

 

It's typical, but I don't have that problem nearly so much anymore. I've become much more patient about my washing and vacuuming regimen...don't notice much fuzz anymore.

Dale

 

You should not need to do this if the record has been properly cleaned. The stylus is not the cleaner, the record cleaner is!

John K.

 

Never encountered that. I vacuum clean all my records. A RCM is pricey, but IMO if you are dedicated to listening to vinyl, you just need to bite the bullet.

 

Yeah, why are they so expensive?

 

i never encountered this and all my records have been hand cleaned by myself.

sometimes after a while of playing thrift store records even i cleaned multiple times i would see dust build up on the stylus, but never enough to hurt the sound. i just clean it off. seeing that made me decide to invest in a RCM. i know i got some records that would really be improved with a thorough cleaning.

 

I imagine because they are a low volume sales item. Specialized equipment is always expensive. For the most part once you buy one you never have to buy one again (as long as you treat it right).

 

I see this problem on occasion and I have to stop playing the record, clean the stylus and play the record again. This happens even when I am using a RCM with a pure water rinse and use a micro carbon brush before every play.

 

No but the stylus can & does remove contaminants left behind that survived the cleaning process - or whose properties were changed by the cleaning. Sometimes they're too small to readily see but they're there. No cleaning process gets the grooves perfectly clean. None. I've verified this with microscopes before many times.

 

The stylus does not hurt and since it is a cheap yet sharp cart and I play them an old TT there is nothing suffering from it.
Often the records play fine initially; but if not this is the place where the dirt stays...

 

Try it without the Soft Soap.

 

Hmmm...ok. I guess that makes sense.

 

No gunk or anything on the stylus after cleaning an LP.