Vinyl Record Cleaning and Maintenance Guide
How often do you clean your vinyl records?
Whether you’re buying brand new vinyl or hunting for old and rare finds in flea markets, it pays to know how to clean records before you play them. Every record will benefit from a little bit of gentle care.
If you’re a longtime record player owner and enthusiast, you should already know how important it is to maintain your record collection. If you’re new to the hobby, read on to find out why vinyl maintenance is a must.
There are several ways to go about cleaning your vinyl—from occasional spot cleaning to ultrasonic processing. In this article, we’re focusing on a simple and beginner-friendly technique: hand washing.
Why Should You Make It a Habit to Clean Your Vinyl Records?
If you care about sound quality, you should care about the condition of your vinyl.
A typical vinyl record LP surface has a groove that’s about 1,500 feet or 460 meters. Note that most records use both sides. The capacity of records like this is more or less 20 minutes of audio per side, adding up about an hour overall.
The groove is especially prone to attracting debris and unwanted material. Combined with unintentional fingerprints and scratches along the record’s surface, these create the familiar-sounding cracks and pops associated with the audio format.
While the effect can add a nostalgic element to the listening experience, these cracks and pops can quickly lose their charm. You don’t want the sound quality to be affected so much that the audio eventually becomes unrecognizable.
Clean your records to keep the sound lush and warm, with as little deterioration as possible. Your ears will thank you, and so will your record player’s stylus.
Step 1: Learn How to Handle Your Vinyl Records
Let’s get the basics out of the way before we delve into vinyl maintenance specifics.
When holding your vinyl records, remember to touch them only at their edges and labeled centers. Never touch the grooves! Even clean hands may carry body oil and make a record more prone to attracting dirt. Your fingernails are also strong enough to scratch the surface.
Think about where you keep your record collection. Clean vinyl won’t count for much if your turntable isn’t similarly well-maintained. Keep the lid closed when a record is playing, and set up your listening area somewhere clean and dust-free.
Step 2: Remove Dust, Debris, and Static
You can use a variety of items to accomplish this initial step: brushes, compressed air, microfiber cloths, record cleaning arms, static guns, sticky rollers, and more.
Starting with what you have around the house is fine if you have no other options, but special tools will be more effective. For example: Using normal brushes may actually impart more static charge and end up turning your records into dust magnets.
Place the record you’re handling on a cleaning mat. Take a brush and sweep across the record surface in long and careful strokes. Microfiber cloths will also work in a pinch.
Do this before any further cleaning that may require getting the record wet. Even compressed air will sometimes come out of the can with condensation, so do this after a cursory dust-off. Not removing embedded debris before wet cleaning can actually cause further scratching.
Step 3: Use Cleaning Solution on Problem Spots
You may inspect the record for visible trouble areas to focus on if you’re just spot-cleaning. Look for discolorations, fingerprints, and discolorations. Should you have enough time, consider comprehensive and intensive cleaning—particularly for old and newly-rescued records that may have mold growth.
There are many different cleaning solutions on the market and about as many experts arguing about the right one to use. Options range from simple dish soap with water to professional vinyl cleaning solutions with proprietary formulas. The Library of Congress uses a mixture of 0.5 percent Tergitol 15-S-7 and deionized water.
Once you’ve decided on a cleaning liquid to match your needs, you may spray or drizzle it on the record’s problem spots. You may also moisten a microfiber cloth and use it to apply the solution to the record surface and wipe away the blemishes. Avoid getting the liquid on the center label to preserve its condition.
Get a fresh cloth to pat the entire record dry once the cleaning process is done. Make sure you’re not leaving new fingerprints. Leave the record on a cleaning mat to air dry for a few minutes, even after it’s fully wiped down. Never store a damp record as this will result in further damage.
Step 4: Store Vinyl Records Properly and Perform Regular Maintenance
After cleaning, store your vinyl vertically in archival sleeves that are non-scratching and anti-static. Keep them out of direct sunlight and in relatively low humidity—about 45 to 50 percent. Lying them flat and exposing them to undue heat can cause warping and bending over time.
Clean a vinyl record before and after each time you play it. You don’t need to do a deep cleaning treatment unless you notice that the record requires it, either through visual inspection or noticing changes in sound quality during playback.
Now sit back in your favorite recliner, and enjoy that sweet, sweet vinyl sound.
Resources— Discogs, NME, Rolling Stone, wikiHow
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