Mini-review: Audio Technica AT6012 record cleaning kit

Recently I've done two small review/unboxing like posts on both a new cartridge and a headshell I got.
I thought I might as well do it for more products I recently bought and liked.
So now it's time for a cleaning solution, called the AT6012 by Audio Technica:
AT6012 - Record Care Kit | Audio-Technica

I already owned a carbon fiber record brush by AudioQuest, which is good for wiping dust off the surface of records, but it doesn't really enter the grooves properly.
That's why I wanted to try one of those felt pads and chose the AT6012, because it's also suitable for using cleaning liquids and other users on the web seemed to be happy with them.

It comes in a plain box like this:


The contents are also fairly straightforward.
There's the felt pad with some sort of "base" to place it on, an adhesive to mount that base to something, a bottle of cleaning liquid and a manual:



The felt pad has two holes on top to fill it up with the cleaning liquid, that soaks through the pad handle down to the pad itself.
It also has an arrow on the side to indicate in which way you need to brush, against the direction of the "hairs" so it scoops up dirt a bit more effectively.
The base has some sort of blue strip of rubber on one side, which is used to wipe dirt off the pad.
All made out of plastic, but feels fairly solid nevertheless:



The bottle contains some kind of cleaning liquid that has some water, preservative and surfactant in it.
Surfactant breaks up the surface tension of the fluid, so it enters the record grooves more easily.
It's scentless, so it doesn't contain any Isopropyl Alcohol - however, the manual explicitly says it's not suitable for shellac records.
The bottle has a fold-out nozzle so it can be easily applied into the holes of the pad.
The dots on the side of the bottle indicate 4ml of liquid that has to be used each time you apply liquid to the brush (the total content is 60ml):

Separate replacements are available with product number AT634a.

So far my impressions are good.
I tried dry cleaning first and checked buildup of static electricity.
It cleaned a bit more thoroughly than my carbon fiber brush and there's no static buildup.
However, it's summer now, so static buildup is a lot less of an issue anyways because of humid air - that's something we should take into consideration.
One record I tried has an annoying tick on it, which isn't going away with the carbon brush at all, but seems to be a bit less loud after I did the dry cleaning.
I filled the brush up with liquid and tried wet cleaning that record, the liquid takes a minute to fully evaporate off the record, so this won't become my standard record cleaning routine.
But the tick on that record seems to be reduced even more.
I think it's best practice to use your regular carbon fiber brush before doing this, so the dirt on the surface isn't "squeezed" between the record and the felt pad of this brush - just like using a sticky roller.

Conclusion:
So this is a good and quick "medium clean", for those records where your regular cleaning routine doesn't suffice, but you don't want to do a full cleaning on your record cleaning machine (yet).
Definitely recommended for anyone who's looking to quickly fix or reduce a small "dirt issue".

 

Yeah I like these a lot. I use them for everything from a pre-play preening to deep cleaning.

But I don't use the fluid that comes with them, I use uncut alcohol for pre-play preening.

Or alcohol + vinegar + water per Neil Antin (@pacvr) for deeper cleaning.

 

Yeah I also make my own cleaning liquid, but I only use it for the Knosti Disco Antistat (basically a German version of the Spinclean, but with brushes instead).
50/50 of 99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol and distilled water, some drops of Kodak wetting agent as surfactant.
I'm not quite sure how well the felt pad holds up when using cleaning liquids other than the one that's supplied - maybe it leaves residue inside the felt or the alcohol dissolves the glue used for assembly of the felt brush (I didn't see screws, so I assume it's glued together).

 

been recommending this for years as a much better pre play cleaner than any carbon fiber brush or other method.

 

Well, I can see how it's useful as pre-play cleaning when using the felt pad dry, but it takes too long for me when using it for wet cleaning.
It was quite effective already when I used it dry, so that might be something to consider.

 

yes, no substitute for a proper wet cleaner RCM.

 

Exactly, but I'm too lazy to use my RCM most of the time, so this is a great way out in many cases haha
Just one initial clean with the RCM to remove the factory dust/grime off of new records and then just "maintenance" with this thing for a couple of years.

 

The felt pad dry version (AT6012X) is great, which I think is basically the same as the one that comes with this wet kit.

It really picks up the dust. I have been using it for years with virtually no wear. Sometimes you can catch them on Amazon for cheap or eBay. But they are at times listed for much more money. I got mine for $14 on Amazon and a new one I put away for $10, just in case it does wear and can’t find one again.

Mine has seen a lot of use and still looks great.

 

Good point.

I've been using uncut alcohol for the longest time, the adhesive is solid and the foam behind the pad seems fine. And the alcohol evaporates so quickly I don't know whether it ever even hits the foam rubber backer behind the fabric.

BUT the vinegar is a new addition. We will see how the pad stands-up to repeated use with it. I dab the excess from the fabric with a paper towel, but I'm sure some gets to the foam rubber.

 

The fabric is completely different between the 6012 and 6012x. The 6012 is directional and a bit more robust.

 

Ah I didn't know about that version.
Looks like that one is hard to get, as if they're discontinued.
Almost the same as the one I reviewed, but nicely black instead.

 

Do you own both of them?

 

You can find them on eBay, but a big markup. I think they are still sold in Japan, so they must still be manufactured.

I made a saved search on eBay till one was finally listed cheap at $10, but it was a long wait. Other sellers try and sell for $25-35.

 

I didn’t know that either. I may have to pick up the wet kit to see for myself. The X version is very well made and picks up the smallest of dust particles. Even after an initial dry pass. Is the wet version have stiffer felt ? Mine is super soft.

 

I do. I may have the world's largest collection of cleaning pads/brushes.

 

Yeah certain products... become sort of legendary in a way.
Reminds me of when I wanted to buy another silver Technics headshell, went from 40 bucks to 140 bucks lol crazy...
I mean, come on, it's just a nice looking aluminium headshell.

 

The 6012 is actually very soft as well.

And yes, the 6012x works great, I think it is great for dry use.

 

Could you post a close up pic of the brush parts of the 6012 and 6012x?

 

Sure. Although, my photo skills aren't awesome and these are darker materials which may not show up well.

But on the left-hand side, there is an Ortofon carbon fiber brush.

Under that is the original 6012 with the directional fabric. I brushed a little bit on the left hand side backwards, so you could see that the fibers are quite long but lay flat normally. Think of an animal's coat.

Under that is the 6012x, which has fibers that stick straight up, sort of like a velvet that is intentionally thinned. This is a nice dry brush. In super dry weather I'd consider misting it with alcohol or distilled water.

In the upper right-hand corner, you'll see an older Audio Technica pad with directional fibers that looks just like the 6012, except for the bulky handle of (I think) metalized plastic.

Under that is a generic carbon fiber brush that does little to help with static. Terrible. The Ortofon is 10x better.

Under that is the nylon cleaning brush that came with the older Audio Technica pad at the top. I use this for cleaning/dressing all the pads, the width of it makes cleaning go very quickly.

Then there is a soft stylus brush that came with an Audio Technica cartridge. These work great for 99.9% of stylus cleaning.

Under that is the nylon stylus cleaning brush. Looks like carbon fiber, but it is indeed nylon. Short bristles, with a drop or two of alcohol on them, will remove anything difficult on a stylus in one two brush strokes.

Under that is my makeup brush. No, wait, that is A makeup brush, very dense with tapered bristles. I use it with the alcohol + vinegar cleaning fluid. I brush that into the groove going over the entire record 3-4 times, adding fluid as necessary. I then leave the fluid puddled and use the two Audio Technica pads (the 6012) to dry the record. Then I use a paper towel to blot-dry the first 6012 I used, which will be a little damp because of the amount of fluid.

So basically, brush the fluid alcohol/vinegar fluid on, use a lot of it. Then use the 6012 pad. First the front edge for one spin, which gets most of the moisture. Then I use the middle section of the 6012 for another spin, which gets even more moisture. Then the trailing edge for another spin. Now the record is pretty dry, but I use the blocky Audio Technica pad for one final spin. Now the record is clean, dry, shiny, no static, ready for play.

They're all sitting on the lazy Susan that I made the spindle and mat for, I do this all on the lazy Susan to spare my turntable.



...I have a lot more different sorts of devices, one day I'll devote a web page to them.

 

I learned of this AT product from Phil going on two years ago. While it's designed to use their fluid in the reservoir to dampen the pad, I do the same as I did with my now vintage Parastat pad/brushes. That is, I spray a mostly 91-99% iso alcohol/distilled water mix on the leading edge of the pad and do a few rotations. Once a record is clean, I often use this pad dry or a carbon fiber brush. I returned a Spin Clean that I tried and have never owned an RCM with a vacuum attachment but almost all of my records are in pretty good condition even though most have been owned for decades. I've bought very few used records over the years but, inevitably, there the ones that need the most work. The 6012 has fixed a few of them but not all.

 

This works great.
2 questions:

1 can a large bottle of the juice be bought?
Or only the little ones.

2 can I clean the brush by spaying 50:50 DW/IPA on it, run it over the squeegee and let it air dry? Can't see it harming it.

 

crazy loves company, thanks

 

Idk, I've only found those small bottles.

I've read of others who use IPA without any issues, so I think it's worth trying.

 

I sprayed it last night 50:50, squeegeed and shook the excess off. It's dry now, no lint or shedding.

Ordering 2 bottles of the magic elixir from Amazon. I've use 1/4 bottle on maybe 20 lp's.
Learning how to apply, may have used too much initially. Those holes suck, I run a few drops/bead on the vertical held pad and let it run down.

The kit imo 100% effective. Seems to quiet the lp's, less noise.

 

Now that I've been misting a carbon fiber brush with distilled water, I've been using the 6012 pad less and less. Basically for an initial washing of a new-to-me record.

But the real deep cleaning is happening with that misted carbon fiber brush.

Crazy how well that combo works.