LAST record preservation is garbage

My 2015 Bellman remasted Van Halen S/T which played looked and played spotless from the very first day over 5 years ago has been played to death. It was treated with LAST Record Preservative and it still plays this way. Maybe it's because my utmost care or maybe it's because LAST Record Preservative but I'll continue using it.
I got Rush's Moving Pictures 2015 LP a month ago, another spotless pressing, a rarity coming from Universal Europe, I gave it a first listen and it didn't have a single carck or pop, I gently dry cleaned it with the MoFi record brush and then aplied LAST Record Preservative, I know a month is no time for an LP record, but same story like my Van Halen S/T LP, it remains like the very first day.

 

Just an FYI - it's also possible to have an LP that looks and plays spotless for five years without applying LAST. Heck, I have LP's from the mid 50's that don't have LAST that look and play spotless.

So I'd conclude that no, it wasn't the LAST, it was your utmost care of the LP that was the reason.

 

I have used Last products since the 80's. Applied the preservative to thousands of records. Some I have played a lot. They still sound great and no wear I can detect. Same with Stylast. I have tried many many products throughout the years. Most didn't live up to the hype but Last is something I still use to this day.

 

I've never used Last products since the mid 70's. Never applied the preservative to thousands of records. Some I played a lot. They still sound great and no wear I can detect. Same with Sylast - never used it. I have not tried many many products throughout the years because they weren't need. All don't live up to the hype and Last is something I still don't use to this day, as it's pure marketing and not needed.

 

Yup. That's what I get for sharing my experience.

 

good god, is Dawn dish soap and distilled water ok???

 

Might it be that the OP got some counterfeit LAST ?

 

I just bought a bottle of LAST on Amazon, and applied it to two older records as an initial test. I cleaned both before the application, per instructions. After playing both, I checked the stylus and saw the same type of debris. I'm meticulous about stylus and record cleaning. And I'm quite disappointed, but not totally surprised.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KDvhBsUL9rtCVG239

 

I have used both the Last preservative and Stylast since the 80s. Not only does it make my records sound like the first time I played them, they make them sound better. My stylus of different cartridges also have insignificant wear after all these years. It will be a sad day when they are no longer available to this vinyl fan.

 

I played Elvis Costello's Spike last week. Probably used LAST on it when I bought it, shortly after it was released. Sounded great. Hardly any noise at all.

 

FWIW I've used Last off and on over the years and never found any residue of it on a cart after play. I'm too lazy to regularly apply Last so sometimes I've done it, sometimes I haven't, but I've never experience any negative impact. I have had gunny build up on styli with some (not all) record lubes and also with some record cleaning fluids I've found to be very difficult to rinse off thoroughly.

 

I must've bought a bad batch. Unfortunately, I used it on a third, new record (before playing the first two) which is destroyed. I contacted LAST for help or advice. I certainly would not advise its use, based on my experience. But I respect that others have had better luck.

 

Ugh…sounds like inventing a problem that isn’t there to begin with. How can you sell a “treated” record afterward?

 

I have a number of discs from the 80's bought new and last treated and they work fine on my system no 'wirey' pick up or degraded sound.

I only stopped used it because available problems this side of the Atlantic.

Regimes for cleaning 'or otherwise 'preserving' do tend to bring about strong opinions such as the use of alcohol based cleaners and yet if we buy used albums how do any of us know exactly what was used. Can we gauge how accurately the use of any one system effects resale value?

 

I have two used records that have Last stickers and have surface noise. However, they are English pressings from the 80s and I have no idea how or if they were cleaned before being treated with Last. I do have a copy of the MoFi Abbey Road, bought new at release, that I cleaned with a Discwasher brush and fluid before applying GrooveGlide. It is dead nuts quiet. Is it quiet because of the treatment or because I take care of my records. I would say that it is the latter as my non-treated albums of the same vintage are also quiet. So, what does this mean? I don't use any treatments anymore. I just use an USRCM, a ZeroStat , MoFi sleeves and due care.

 

Gruv Glide is different from LAST. Last is mean to be a permanent application of a chemical that bonds with the record surface and stays there, protecting grooves from damage. I'm not a chemistist so I don't know if that's happening or not but that's what's describe. It's also not claimed to reduce stylus groove friction. GruvGlide is a lubricant (a lab tallow type molecule IIRC) and anti static agent in a carrier. It won't last for years and years on a record surface like Last is supposed to, and it's specifically indicated for the purpose of reducing stylus groove friction (a really valuable and I think overlooked think in vinyl playback). I really love GruvGlide (when properly applied; I suspect a lot of the time problems people have with these treatments is misapplication). I think reducing stylus-groove friction really lowers the intrusion of playback noise on the whole vinyl playback experience and makes it much, much more pleasant to my ears. I've tried a bunch of different lubes to reduce stylus groove friction and most of them are hard to control and leave a terrible residue, but I've had really good success with GruvGlide.

 

I used to use LAST on my records, right after a thorough cleaning on a record vacuum. I have never seen anything like what’s in the pictures of the OP’s first post. And I check regularly with a jeweler’s loupe. That being said, I don’t use LAST anymore. Cleaning with an ultrasonic cleaner and/or a record vacuum before the first play and using an Onzow type stylus cleaner after every side (and the occasional wet clean) is more than sufficient to keep my records in pristine condition practically forever.

 

I've never heard of LAST, not even here until now. I'm not sure what the point of it is. I've never worn a record out through just playing it and the idea of putting something permanent on them that wasn't there when manufactured seems weird. People with better set ups than me are saying good things though.

 

So, fwiw, although LAST doesn't specifically talk about stylus groove friction, the patent -- United States Patent: 5389281 -- does specify reducing friction and identifies the active ingredient for doing that as a PFPE lubricant like the Fomblin Y brand lubes, which are named in the patent. In my experience, reducing stylus groove friction without any kind of shedding to gunk up the stylus -- which I haven't experienced with Last -- is a very good thing, improving high frequency tracking and lowering rumble and vinyl whoosh.

 

I would agree.

The stuff that people show accumulating on their stylus looks more like shredded vinyl, than any of the ingredients I've read about being used in vinyl lubricants.

That stuff may have been in the groove for a while, maybe the LAST shifted it and allowed the stylus to rake it out?

 

Isn't it really just like Rain-X for records?

 

I dunno. I've tried a bunch of different record lubes. Some of them I've never been able to apply thinly enough and/or they didn't really cure or whatever it is these substances do and the result was gunk on the stylus -- less thread-like than what I see in those pictures, but gunk nevertheless. Haven't had that experience myself with LAST or GruvGlide.

 

I have a number of lps with LIFESAVER stickers . It was a spraybou spread on to protect and lubricate. Can't say it did or not. The company could not tell me if my Spin clean would remove it.
I know it's sacrilige, but I recently tried using a ceramic car coating on a record to reduce noise(oldy but goody). I won't say which one, one with no wax. Had fun reading SDSs. I followed directions and it played fine without buildup on the cartridge. I swear the lp was less noisy, but will prove it.
These are nano coatings that are very very thin, maybe only one molecular thickness. Makes surface harder. Hydrophobic. Lowers static. Will update later.

 

Hydrophobic or hygroscopic?

Because absorbing some water from the atmosphere would reduce static, I guess that would be hygroscopic.

Not sure what other vehicles there are for reducing static, I'm sure there are some.

 

I used to use GruvGlide but stopped thinking it would cause stylus issues.
How do you apply it and how long do you wait before playing?