Cleaning new vinyl?

It depends on how much dust the record has on it. I get better playback and keep my stylus cleaner using clean records. Sure, my records sound fine when dusty, but I prefer using a nice clean record.

 

Open some windows maybe. I get very little dust on my records.

 

Opening windows would be worse.

 

How so? Does your window open to a Sawdust factory?

 

Do you live in some land of make believe? I live near a couple of streets. Cars create dirt. The neighbor mowing the lawn creates dirt. Wind blowing over property with areas of sandy dirt creates dust and dirt coming through the windows.
I keep my listening room clean. I keep the door closed. I do notice in the summer when I open the windows the dust levels are higher.

 

If further from the city and away from a street is make believe land to you then yes.

 

Do you wear a clean room bunny suit when listening, and does your listening room have an air shower entry portal?

 

I posted this picture on another thread, but it may be helpful here.



It varies, but people can see something about as small as 50um in size. On the vinyl record close-up picture above, the scale bar is 50um so the record grooves can be easily seen, but all of the other debris would be invisible to the naked eye so the record would look perfectly clean to the eye. A key item to note is that the debris is much larger in size than the sidewall grooves that carry the sound information as shown below and the debris can be removed with a wet vacuum or ultrasonic clean.

 

No, that would be Leonthepro's room...

 

Its amazing what the clean outdoors and a properly humidified room can do.

 

Do we know that the above picture is from a new record?

 

So, no wind in your land or road leading up to your house. Trees and leaves create dust and pollen. None of it's there in make believe land.

 

Lots of dust and pollen here in Sweden at this time of year, so no exceptions here.

I clean all new purchased (both new and/or used) records with my beloved Okki Nokki- one of the most if not THE most important component in my vinyl rig. I then dust clean the records with a carbon optic record brush before each play. Finally I keep my stylus clean with the Zerodust and after each listening session I clean the stylus with Lyra SPT cleaning fluid. I’ve kept this discipline for many years and I’ve never encountered any problems.

 

No road directly outside the window. And Im pollen allergic, when there is some in the room I will notice visually and reactionary. Theres simply far less debris in the outside air most of the time.

 

All of my brand new records are dead silent if they are pressed well. Not sure where this obsession with cleaning new records came from. Even our host is on record saying he doesn't. To each their own...

 

It comes both from unfounded myths but also facts of pressing plants being dirty as all hell and dirt, fingerprints and other debris actually being visible when you pull out the vinyl. Its simple enough to clean 10 new records and see the liquid reservoir being filled with a very dirty fluid.

 

If the reason to clean is to feel fulfilled seeing some dirty water afterwards then by all means, people should go nuts.

 

That is, after all, why we all mop the floor.

 

Why?I have records that I bought over 35 years ago that are clean and play superbly and have only seen a microfiber brush.

 

Wet cleaning for any vinyl I run on my TT.

 

Well said Leon, for some of us it comes from the experience of new vinyl having pops and clicks right out of the sleeve and visible dirt on the LP. I also use a Spin Clean as first step cleaner and there is almost always stuff floating in the water after cleaning new vinyl.

Maybe not every new vinyl needs cleaning but I find that the exception to the rule.

In any case why not clean new vinyl as all it takes is short time to accomplish?

 

Why not? The question is; are your records really clean deep in the grooves?

 

The ones that both look and play near perfect I might not clean, at least until I feel it is necessary for some reason. But I agree that its a rather rare case.

 

I get a new record and first I use a zero stat gun on it,then I brush off the dust with a carbon fiber brush.
I then play it.If it plays fine with no noise and ticks I leave it alone.
If I get one after using a zero stat gun that has a speck of dust here and there that's causing a tick, I stop the turntable and spot clean the dust particle off with a barely damp microfiber cloth and a drop of distilled water,a flourescent flashlight is great for spotting dust particles stuck to the vinyl that cause an obvious tick.
This works for me, I don't buy many used records,but when used records are really dirty and full of fingerprints with lots of dust particles stuck to the vinyl to numerous to spot clean, then they need a deep wet clean and a vacuum,but that's not very often.

 

I have done some side-by-side listening comparisons where I clean(Okki Nokki)one side of a brand new record only and then listen to the entire album.Each and every time there was a clear,audible benefit to the side that was cleaned.

I do think one needs to have a higher end system to be able to hear this difference.Also,IMO,if you have some decent money invested in your cartridge,it makes perfect sense to take the steps necessary to prolong it's life as much as possible.

So yes,I clean every record before it hits the platter.