What's the best record brush?

[Graeme]

Sure does!
Im not the first to do it though.

Anyone tried ultransonics?

[pjdowns]

Bit of a thread bump, but thought i'd share my record cleaning ritual.

I use an old platter/bearing mounted in a bit of wood (from a lenco, the weight helps) I spin it by hand.

I lightly dry brush first, just to remove anything large that might get ground in.
Then flood the surface with record cleaner (home made iso/DI water/drop of soap) and scrub, moderate pressure, (along the grooves obviously)
I then spin quickly to throw off most of the liquid.
Then flood with DI water, light brush then spin again.

Now things get controversial

Spin the record FAST (as fast as i can make it spin) and with a hand held steamer (DI water again) i jet the surface, from the center out, with steam. Taking maybe 10 seconds on a side. Get the jet close to the surface to force it into the grooves, aim the jet outwards too. This forces any remaining residue and dirt to the outside of the record and off the side.

I then put it in a dish rack to dry before new inner sleeve.

Some thin records will lift at the outside (like a shallow bowl), quite drematicaly sometimes, but by the time you reach the outer grooves they lay perfectly flat again.
Some SLIGHTLY warped records have even flattened doing this.

Practice on cheap stuff first, but all my records get this treatment now no matter how valuable as i have full confidence in the procedure.

Ive not found any better method yet.

Although ive not damaged any yet, im sure if you dont spin fast enough you would probably localise the heat too much and ruin it.

It also gets the surrounding area quite wet so i set it up on a bench in the garage.

Wow Graeme, that's some serious cleaning procedure you use there. How often do you carry it out? I'm assuming not ever time?

[Graeme]

LOL, no, just once even if brand new.
Nothing gets played fully, or regularly untill it gets this treatment.

After that they just get a quick once round with a bog standard brush before playing.

[pjdowns]

Great - I was thinking that you'd be forever cleaning your Vinyl otherwise

[navigator]

Radical to say the least Graeme, but if it works.....

Graeme that's similar to my routine for charity shop records. I use Fairy platinum detergent now and let it soak on for 5-10 mins [with some brushing]before the rinse-vg.
I have a mister plastic bottle pump thingy for a fine light misting whilst playing 'bad 'crackly ones .The mist is 100mls water and a few drops of IPA to aid penetration into groove by reducing surface tension.
I try to avoid brushing overly as it adds static which attracts dust deep in groove and is heard on the next time its played.
[Permostat is best over long time-- expensive so only on favourites for me]
If anyone suffers static bad-- try touching an earthed point [metal amp case say] before touching anything else-esp when brushing so as not to add static from yourself onto vinyl. Carpet near deck -is it making static into your feet? Are your clothes holding static -change to cotton!!
I know Iknow! Someones going to reply with a picky of naturist playing vinyl on a grass lawn!!

[Graeme]

Its the steam that makes the difference .

As for playing wet, is it true that once played wet you always need to play it wet otherwise its noisy?

No way i'd playing records wet with my apheta though!

[The Grand Wazoo]

Interesting...so thinking laterally (or maybe, in this case tangentially) for a moment about the run-off, if I were to adopt your procedure and choose my location carefully, then I'd be able to clean my records, wash the car AND water the garden, all at the same time? Perhaps boil an egg for supper too?

[doodoos]

Why piddle around? Just buy a Keith Monks and be done with it! Use it before each play and your stylus will love you for a long time. You know it makes sense!

[Graeme]

The grand wazoo, yes, with a little planning that could probably be arranged.

doodoos, i prefer this method to vacuum cleaning.

[cuddles]

+1 on the steam. Brought many records from hissy and crackly to inky blackness between tracks and greater inner detail ;