.mus
15-05-2014, 17:22
I'm always a little irked by the line of very fine dust that remains on the record's surface after using a record brush with the record on the platter - the brush itself is not well suited to removing it, I suppose because the dust is so fine and, as such, deeper in the grooves than the larger bits, and the brush's bristles are just too thick and clunky to clear it completely.
For Christmas last year, I'd bought my partner a range of moderately fancy makeup brushes. Of course, she hasn't used them yet :/ So I thought I'd see how one of the larger ones fared at removing the line of dust, and it does the job perfectly! Now I'm able to ensure that the grooves are completely dust free before playing, and this makes for a very notable absence of unwelcome noise on playback.
Still, I was surprised at the improvement, and thought something else might also be at work. So I did a test: I used my old Stanton felt brush on a record spinning on the platter. The Stanton had hitherto been problematic, since although it's very nice qua brush, it also does a good job of generating a static field on the record. So, I used the Stanton to 'charge up' a record, then got a sense of the extent of the resulting static field, then gave the record a few swipes with the makeup brush, and checked again - static field very much reduced/gone.
So, not only does the makeup brush remove the finest bits of dust, it also removes static. I then read up a little on antistatic brushes (mostly here (http://www.gordonbrush.com/anti-static-brushes.html)), and my guess is that the bristles of the makeup brush are made from one of the relevant natural materials - horse hair, perhaps.
Anyway, here's the blighter:
http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/whats-hot/beauty-gems/blusher-brush.aspx?tmcampid=38&tmad=c&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=sem&utm_campaign=PLA&utm_content=PLA1&gclid=COnEhba1rr4CFdMftAodqR8AyA
Not bad for £12! Though I'll have to buy a new one for my partner now...
For Christmas last year, I'd bought my partner a range of moderately fancy makeup brushes. Of course, she hasn't used them yet :/ So I thought I'd see how one of the larger ones fared at removing the line of dust, and it does the job perfectly! Now I'm able to ensure that the grooves are completely dust free before playing, and this makes for a very notable absence of unwelcome noise on playback.
Still, I was surprised at the improvement, and thought something else might also be at work. So I did a test: I used my old Stanton felt brush on a record spinning on the platter. The Stanton had hitherto been problematic, since although it's very nice qua brush, it also does a good job of generating a static field on the record. So, I used the Stanton to 'charge up' a record, then got a sense of the extent of the resulting static field, then gave the record a few swipes with the makeup brush, and checked again - static field very much reduced/gone.
So, not only does the makeup brush remove the finest bits of dust, it also removes static. I then read up a little on antistatic brushes (mostly here (http://www.gordonbrush.com/anti-static-brushes.html)), and my guess is that the bristles of the makeup brush are made from one of the relevant natural materials - horse hair, perhaps.
Anyway, here's the blighter:
http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/whats-hot/beauty-gems/blusher-brush.aspx?tmcampid=38&tmad=c&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=sem&utm_campaign=PLA&utm_content=PLA1&gclid=COnEhba1rr4CFdMftAodqR8AyA
Not bad for £12! Though I'll have to buy a new one for my partner now...