Here's a link to a site with info for cleaning both wax cylinders & 78's.

http://home.earthlink.net/~gnordenstam/ ... inders%201

Labtone detergent is supposed to be the best stuff for wax cylinders, and can remove light mold as well.

Blue Amberols, and other celluloid cylinders, I usually just give them a wipe with a damp cloth, followed by a soft dry cloth.
Just try not to wet the plaster or cardboard core of these cylinders to avoid swelling, and having to ream them.

Sorry again everyone! This *%#@ laptop is so touchy.

http://home.earthlink.net/~gnordenstam/ ... inders%201

I use WD-40

Hmmm... I've heard of people using WD40 before.
Personally, I wouldn't recommend it. It may have visual advantages, leaving a record "looking" clean and shiny, but I think that's as far as it goes.
In reality, you're coating the disc with a chemical. Steel needles are designed to wear due to abrasives in the shellac, and this coating is giving the worn steel something to stick to, not to mention dust etc. It may also have long term effects that may not show for many years. On laminated disc's in particular, it could penetrate the surface, and sit or soak into the paper between it & the disc core. This could eventually cause the surface layer to seperate, lift or bubble. It might not too, but I wouldn't risk it- especially on records that are in good condition, or of any value.
It might lubricate the grooves on very worn disc's, and help a needle survive until the end of the song better, but a well worn disc usually isn't worth worrying about anyway.
I think if you're going to clean a disc, you want to remove as much dirt, oil & debree from the surface as possible, and leave the disc as close as possible to how it was when it came off the press, rather than add something that was never intended to be there.

The manufacturers of WD40 admit they have no idea of the short or long term effects of their product on shellac records, but recommend contacting an archivist or museum curator about it's use. To be honest, I don't think you'd find either anywhere in the world that would suggest it as being a safe product to use.

Recently acquired a Parastat MKII record brush. Made in England. Anybody famaliar with these? Are they used wet, or dry?

I have found that a mild soapy water solution and a micro-fiber cloth work great on both vinyl LP's and 78's you must be very gental on the vinyl.
but on the 78's you can give a good scrubing just make sure you follow the grooves and do not wipe across the grooves.
I have used this technique on all of my 78's with exelent results.
They were very dirty and some of them were so noisy you could not hear the music.
Now that I have cleaned them they are like new records
I even used this technique on my prized Dinah Shore records!!

Yikes!! You mean I shouldn't use my Ronco record cleaner any more that I got back in the 70's?

http://www.billstuff.com/images/blog7pixi.jpg

I guess I should be honest and say that I don't have this unit any longer, however, I will share my method with all of you - be it right or be it wrong.

On my 45's: 70% alcohol on a small section of nice clean SOFT dishtowel in one hand, 45 in the other hand. Apply slight pressure to both sides of dishtowel against both sides of 45 using thumb and forefinger hand holding the dishtowel. Spin record with other hand. Repeat process for extremely dirty records.

On my LP's: Still have my DiscWasher handheld device (I actually have 3!) and I tend to place the LP on my turntable platter, squirt a little liquid onto the DiscWasher and rotate it on the platter with very slight pressure. After most of the liquid has dissipated, I take the LP off of the turntable platter and inspect the edges and center grooves - which is where most of the fingerprints accumulate. If need be, I get out my trusty SOFT dishtowel and use 70% alcohol to clean up the rest. In a seated position and with the LP on your lap in a flat position, drape the towel over the edge of the vinyl. Hold the LP firmly with one hand (towel around the edge over the vinyl and between your fingers) and rotate it while using slight pressure between the index finger and thumb of the other hand (the part with the alcohol on it). For the fingerprints in the center groove, simply put an area of the alcohol dishtowel around one of your fingers and clean them off manually in the same circular pattern as the grooves using only slight pressure. I think we can all agree that the outer edge of the vinyl is usually the worst area for dirt and takes the brunt of the wear and tear, so I tend to give that area a little extra TLC.

Be SURE and use ONLY the SOFTEST dishtowel for this, otherwise your vinyl will show swirl patterns in the areas where there are no grooves (kind of like a really bad buffing job on your car would).

Footnote: In my youth I remember buying Turtle Wax Vinyl Roof cleaner and using it on some of my records.

Then I had to replace them.

FRIENDS:
I have a reprint of a 1981 article from "The Audio Amateur" that describes how to create formulae for antistatic and "facial" (significant) cleaning of records, using commonally available chemicals. Email if you want a FREE copy.
BOB

Hello Everyone

Just wanted to add my very small 2cents I was wondering how to clean my dad's old 8mm films now that I got his old movie projector running the film guys use GOOGONE would this work on records to Thanks

The best thing for cleaning old movie film is Filmrenew
Available by the quart from http://www.urbanskifilm.com

Old movie film is acetate, some new movie film is polyester (Mylar).

Since records are made or neither, I would not use film cleaner on them.

Ken D.

Thanks for the update wont use it
Thanks

Has anyone tried one of those "Sham-Wow" towels to remove moisture? I have had really nice results with those.

Just use your normal "wash-day" routine, water/alcohol/some soap etc. and rinse thoroughly as per usual, but dry with one of these super-thirsty chamois that you see on TV all the time. They really grab the water out of the grooves.

I haven't made up a proper routine or wash recipe yet, but I believe I am on the right track.

Anyone else?

eric

As mentioned before, I too wash my records just like doing the dishes, except with just luke warm water. I go round and round with the soap with paper towels and then pad them dry on a towel. I really believe that this takes out all the dirt out. How much could there possibly be in those grooves? Another thing I do, while washing, is slowly rub on any paper stickers on the label that you want to remove. First it begins to roughen up, then layer by layer it simply washes off. Take your time though - just feather touch pressure as not to to ruin the actual label, which usually has a somewhat coated surface.

When I was a teenager, I "inherited" some old family 78s, and really enjoyed playing them. Some of them had been my Dad's when he was young.

At one point I wondered about cleaning them, and my dad said he thought a little dishsoap and water would be fine for them. I washed them carefully in the bathroom sink using a soft toothbrush, and dried them on a towel laying flat on the bathroom counter. I did not submerge the records, but did run them under the faucet (gently warm water). Everythng turned out OK, but on many of them the labels turned out a bit crinkly (wrinkled), and today, 30+ years later, they are still that way.

Some of you say you've used water and had no problems with your labels. Did I get mine too wet? I've been reluctant to do that again, but have more records today that probably ought to be cleaned.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Jerry K

Why has no one mentiond how to clean EDISON DIAMOND DISKS?
I have a ton of them with dirty stains and sound terrible.
I've heard their composition does not like water at all.

No, you must NEVER use water on Diamond discs.
DD's are made with a layer of condensite on a mainly "woodflour" base. Water makes this woodflour swell which warps & cracks the laminated surface of condensite.
Alcohol is the only liquid that should ever be used on DD's.
You can use either Ethanol alcohol or Isopropyl alcohol, but I personally prefer Ethanol alcohol for DD's because it has less water content by volume.

I too use the paint pad mentioned previously. I feel that the years of finger oil dust and other possible contaminates that have by now hardened to the consistency of concrete a stronger cleaner with dwell time is needed. My object is to restore the sound and to eliminate fouling my needle with a wad of debris and not preserving the appearance of the label. I use Grease lightning or a similar product. I lay the record on the mouth of a large cup careful not to abrade the groove on the other side. Spray liberally the degreaser and let sit for 30 seconds, Using the two by two inch paint pad lightly on the groove in a circular motion, rinse with warm tap water. Repeat for other side The record should shine the groove should be iridescent. I have found that this greatly reduces the surface noise produced by chunks of stuff plastered in the groove

Thought I'd chime in...

At one time, I had a record collection numbering over 40k. Many of these records came from places like Goodwill, Salvation Army and old radio station basements. A lot were just plain "gunked" and cleaned up well.

I once asked an "oldies" record store owner what he recommended. He had a record cleaner that looked like a small lathe that clamped down on the label with four little rubber feet. It spun the record inside a small washtub (filled with his concoction) while some soft, short-bristled brushes scrubbed out the grooves.

I never had one of those machines, but I did use his concoction to wash records by hand, like dishes, using an old Memorex record cleaning brush.

His concoction was:
1 small squirt of Dawn dish soap (1/2 teaspoon or so)
2 capfuls of Murphy's Oil Soap
Mix into one gallon warm water, not HOT!

I tried it on a few of my "gunked" records (ones that ALWAYS seemed to gum up my stylus) and it cleaned them perfectly, restored the lost "sheen" to both the vinyl and the label and the records never gummed up again.

He said on really badly soiled records, such as rare records with stuff spilled on them and dried, he'd add a squirt of Cascade dishwasher detergent or liquid laundry soap to the mix and let them soak.

He used just the Murphy's for cleaning 78's and a paint brush with hot water for cleaning old aluminum transcription disks (not that those came in often... he had maybe a few dozen). I don't know if he had any "really" old disks or cylinders. I never asked, but wouldn't be surprised if he did.