WD40 Record Cleaning?!!

I always wonder what is it about LPs in particular that inspires people to want to come up with alternate methods. It seems for almost everything else we accept the common solution. "Anybody ever try windex instead of Shampoo?" "could I wash my car with olive oil?" etc. just never gets said.

 

Or CPR.

 

This site has a pile of WD40 uses....

40 Weird and Wonderful Uses for WD-40

#33 is:

"One use for WD-40 is to lubricate vinyl records to prevent skipping. We should point out that when WD-40 evaporates it leaves a small residue behind, so we wouldn’t do this on our prize vinyl. But it’s a neat trick."

Yikes!

 

WD40 contains lubricant and solvent. Using it on LP vinyl is a really bad idea. It will remain in the botton of the groove, accumulate on the stylus and eventually migrate up the cantilever to foul the cartridge motor. The solvent will also degrade and gradually dissolve the adhesive used to attach a stylus to some cantilevers. Left over solvent will gradually destroy parts of the groove, ruining the LP. And, as @ArneW already posted, it stinks. I really hate YouTube sometimes.

 

Yep, yes, si, oui, da, jah . . . etc.

 

No, No, No folks, this shouldn't be a discussion. Any oil on the record will gum up the stylus, plus it diminishes fidelity. WD-40 stinks! It will transfer to inner sleeves. (the slightest film will do that.. smh) Who in the world would want their collection to smell like an auto repair shop? c'mon!

 

I prefer to mist my records with gasoline then use my new (thanks Elon Musk) blowtorch to burn the debris, dust, gunk right off my records. Haven't played any of the records I've cleaned up using this method, but all the gunk is plain gone! Golly!







maga

 

I use a small blowtorch on my vinyls, it smooths out the peaks for a more relaxing presentation.

 

Mopar heat riser valve solvent (I don’t think you can even buy it anymore) will really lift the crud out of record grooves!

 

Number 33?

These guys are clearly comedians.

 

I recently looked through a pile of 78s a guy had advertised which had come from someone's shed. Half of them were drenched in WD40 - I don't know what happened, but think along the lines that a can of WD40 was stored above the records and the tin rusted through so the contents poured over the records. It was like olive oil had been poured over them, but the WD40 smell was unmistakable.

Fortunately there were no records of particular rarity in the lot, so not a great deal of harm done. The guy wasn't all that interested in being educated to separate the ones which didn't have WD40 on them from the ones that did.

 

whew! imagine if they were a pile of Johnny Cash, Elvis, Everly Brothers, Little Richard......

 

Maybe they should develop an audiophile product, WD33...

 

Unfortunately we don't see piles of Johnny Cash, Elvis, Everly Brothers, Little Richard 78's over here, I would love to find them.
I've only seen a couple of Elvis (on the British HMV label, commanding higher prices) and a couple of Little Richard's (on the London label, and very poor condition).

 

Oh!! I know, I'm not far from you haha, the only lucky one I've scored was a Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers 'I'm not a juvenile'
on the London label and original sleeve, in amazing condition!
That's one out of many many thousands I've ploughed through...

 

Why not? The guy in "My big fat Greek wedding" used Windex on his elbows. So what if the record stops playing right when it's so clean and shiny?

 

CRC QD Electronic Cleaner does work well for records, but use rubbing alcohol as well to clean the residue.

 

For me WD40 will always be associated with the army. The smell is enough to induce inspection anxieties and I'm not sure it's something I want to carry into my private life and hobbies.

 

I think that repeated use of CRC QD Electronic Cleaner on any particular vinyl LP will cause the vinyl to become brittle, which will eventually cause audible degradation. The plastics used for housings and insulators and separators for switches and controls in electronics are very different from the plastic used to make LPs. The fact that the maker of CRC QD Electronic Cleaner declares it to be safe for use around plastic is only in reference to plastics used for housings, insulators and separators for switches and controls in electronics - not vinyl LPs. Different plastic altogether. CRC QD Electronic Cleaner also has a rather low flashpoint, which means it's highly flammable and should never be used without making sure there is lots of fresh air circulation and that you're taking fire safety precautions. It's also expensive and it stinks during use and if you breath enough of it in while using it to clean five or six LPs in your kitchen, you're liable to make yourself slightly sick. IMO, never, ever use it anywhere near LPs.

The dirt and detritus that can accumulate on and in an LP groove are typically organic. By contrast, the oxidation that can accumulate on electronic contacts is the result of chemical reaction. A cleaner that is effective and safe for removing organic material from LP vinyl - finger oils, embedded dust, trace amounts of food through improper handling, spills and splashes - is useless for removing oxidation from electronic contacts. The reverse is also true, a chemical compound effective for removing metal oxidation is always going to be eventually damaging to vinyl (if it's actually effective at all in the first place) when used to remove organics.

 

Which is why one should use a part alcohol and part water to remove the residue, etc. from the CRC. I did this once to correct a skipping Roger Miller LP and it ended up correcting the skip.

 

When I was a young teen...you guys are gonna laugh your butts off...I had some 78's along with my 45's and LP's....anyway...we had carbon tet in the house. Can any of you guess which type of record I used carbon tet on to try to clean it?

LOL! In about 4 seconds, the gauze I was using stuck to the instantly destroyed 78. Between being absent minded and sitting on my 78's sitting on my bed, every so often, I depleted my 78's to zero along the years...

 

I had to read the threat title twice as after the first time I was sure I read it wrong lol. It's sad to think some people out there may have so little knowledge around record cleaning they may actually try this.

 

Just a bunch of alkanes. It will leave a residue. What's Inside WD-40? Superlube's Secret Sauce