Vinyl Record Cleaning With an Ultrasonic Cleaner

Cleaning vinyl records with an Ultrasonic Cleaner. This ticks all the boxes with regards to non-contact with the surface of the record and they can be cleaned very thoroughly. Microscopic dust particles are removed from the very bottom of the record groove. The less physical contact anything has with the face of the disc, the better and most cleaning methods require some kind of rubbing or brushing. In an ideal World, the only item to touch the surface of a record should be a stylus. Ultrasonic cleaning is non-contact.

If you have a collection of old or new vinyl records, you will understand the importance of keeping them clean and dust free. Even with a budget record deck, the difference in playback quality can easily be greatly improved by cleaning. But no matter how carefully you put a record away, over time dust somehow finds it’s way into the inner sleeve. And each time the record is played, this dust will damage the grooves if not removed. The question is how do you clean vinyl records safely?

Supplies

A 6 ltr sized ultrasonic tank will hold 4-5 albums at a time. The motorised holder will evenly rotate vinyl in the water. Available from Best Ultrasonic Cleaners (UK)

Step 1: Supporting the Vinyl Record in the Cleaner

My support / spindle is still very basic but sufficient for me to leave it at this and I’m not going to try motorising the spindle. The ultrasonic tank size is 6Ltr which is ideal for LP's. The fluid I use is L’Art du Son solution plus some Kodak Photo-flo to wet the vinyl properly.

I usually put five records in at a time, the maximum with these separators – balsa wood circles with rubber ‘O’ rings glued on which protect the record labels from getting wet – soak the vinyl for quarter of an hour or more while the cleaning fluid warms up to 33 degrees centigrade and then turn the spindle one fifth of a revolution every minute for fifteen minutes on the gentler cleaning setting. Then I suck the records dry using my old vacuum record cleaning machine, without any rinsing. This process means it takes half an hour plus the soak to complete the five records.

The improvement over just using a vacuum cleaner is very noticeable and I am completely sold on the value of the ultrasonic tank for the listening experience. The improved sound demonstrates a remarkably thorough cleaning, far better than anything else I have experienced and it’s reassuring to be able to see the muck accumulating at the bottom of the tank. Link to blog entry.

Step 2: After Cleaning With an Ultrasonic Cleaner

The photo shows the deposit in the tank after cleaning 27 records. I’m surprised there’s so much as all the records had been cleaned by a vacuum record cleaner previously.

Step 3: What Is Ultrasonic Cleaning?

Ultrasonic cleaning is achieved by producing millions of microscopic air bubbles in a tank of water, generated by a transducer that transmits the ultrasonic sound through the liquid. These tiny bubbles reach breaking point and implode giving incredible cleaning results by dislodging the build-up of dirt and grime that is normally impossible to remove by hand. For more information on Ultrasonic Cleaners, CLICK HERE

Step 4:

UPDATE: A motorised device for holding up to 5 LP's at a time is now available. This rotates vinyl at 4 rpm and fastens to most ultrasonic cleaners. More details HERE