With the ultrasonic cleaning machine, you don’t need to vacuum out the grime for each record you clean, because the machine shakes all the gunk off for you. It collects at the bottom of the basin, so you just need to make sure it all gets dumped out when you empty the liquid from the machine between uses. Once your records have taken their bath in the diluted cleaning solution mixture, place them on the drying rack.
If a record (or, more realistically, stack of records) is especially dirty, I clean them two times with either method in progressively cleaner fluid. In my ultrasonic machine, I do all my records once, then change the fluid and do them again. Be sure to have a clean microfiber towel ($5) handy so that the record is fully dry before returning it to its packaging.
Some people prefer to also rinse the clean records in distilled water at the end of the cleaning cycle to remove any remaining solution. If you do that, just dry them the same way before putting them away.
Scratches or Warps?
These cleaning methods can’t repair scratches or effectively fix warped records. The only way to prevent those things from inflicting your collection is store your records properly: in an upright, clean environment. Records stacked on top of one another or stored sitting diagonally can warp from their own weight. Don’t store your records somewhere especially hot or cold, or anywhere where temperature varies a lot, as it can affect the vinyl’s longevity.
When buying used records at a store, it’s important to know the difference between a dirty disc and a scratched or warped one. I recommend using a bright handheld flashlight or the light on your smartphone to inspect any used records you’re interested in buying for scratches. Also look at them from different angles to make sure they’re nice and flat. If a used record is sealed inside a polyvinyl bag with tape, a store clerk will almost always cut the tape so you can inspect the disc.
How Often Should I Clean?
Whenever your records are dirty! For most people, a single thorough cleaning of all their records followed by cleaning every 20 or 30 plays is a good start. I clean mine once a year. I make a pile of LPs that have been played a lot, plus newer records that I’ve never cleaned. (New records can have oils used to separate them from the press still on the surface, and thus get gunky faster than previously cleaned records.) From there, it’s Netflix and clean.
I’m not such a clean freak that I wear white gloves when I handle my vinyl, but you should always touch the record’s playing surface as little as possible. Grip the disc from the edges or from the edge and the label rather than touching the grooves.
Before playing a record, clean the needle (I like gel cleaners like this $16 option), and make sure you’ve brushed your record so the needle isn’t grinding dust into the surface (the source of many pops when listening). Properly maintained, your records should last many decades.
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