WD40 for LP cleaning

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Best regards.
 
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Are you using Fevicol MR which comes in small tubes for pasting and crafting works. Other products like Fevicol SH, Fevicol Hi-per etc comes in large containers.
DO NOT use any other Fevicol besides SH, as they can damage your records. Yes it comes in a big tub, but it gets over pretty quick if you're cleaning a lot of records.
 
Varun,

You may also want to try a true mono cartridge. It would remove most of the micro scratch sound as mono carts read only the horizontal movement. Scratches are mostly vertical. The old records sound very clean with a mono cartridge with only parallel coils. I use DENON DL-102 mono (MC), which works great on stereo records too when you need to play something in not so good shape. It is a heavy cartridge that needs extra balancing weight on the other side of the arm. So it is also very tolerant to dirt and groove damage.

About 25 years ago, I stayed for a few days with an old vinyl LP record collector. He taught me to always try some simple cleaning steps first, before trying out more exotic methods. I always got shining clean records with just Distilled water & isopropyl alcohol (5:1) + a few drops of liquid dish cleaning soap.

I guess the only thing that would save me from going completely musically bankrupt is, if my choice of music does not match the choice of other FMs.

By the way, I am curious what kind of music you listen to? Are these old Indian recordings?

Regards,
Sharad Medhavi
 
Are you using Fevicol MR which comes in small tubes for pasting and crafting works. Other products like Fevicol SH, Fevicol Hi-per etc comes in large containers.
must use fevicol SH only.It is polyvinyl chloride and hence we can peel it from the vinyl records.It is not to be used on shellac records.It is impossible to lift it from shellac.
 
After applying fevicol in diluted form should I wait for 2 to 3 hours keeping under a fan or blower. Will it peel off like flakes or it is to be dissolved using any other solution.
 
After applying fevicol in diluted form should I wait for 2 to 3 hours keeping under a fan or blower. Will it peel off like flakes or it is to be dissolved using any other solution.
It will peel like a skin. It fact you'd have a negative of the record although God knows how to put them to some use.

Varun Bhai any pointers ? :D
 
After removing the fevicol can I directly play or any other inspection of vinyl is required. I mean is there any risk that stylus may get damaged.
 
Varun,

You may also want to try a true mono cartridge. It would remove most of the micro scratch sound as mono carts read only the horizontal movement. Scratches are mostly vertical. The old records sound very clean with a mono cartridge with only parallel coils. I use DENON DL-102 mono (MC), which works great on stereo records too when you need to play something in not so good shape. It is a heavy cartridge that needs extra balancing weight on the other side of the arm. So it is also very tolerant to dirt and groove damage.

About 25 years ago, I stayed for a few days with an old vinyl LP record collector. He taught me to always try some simple cleaning steps first, before trying out more exotic methods. I always got shining clean records with just Distilled water & isopropyl alcohol (5:1) + a few drops of liquid dish cleaning soap.



By the way, I am curious what kind of music you listen to? Are these old Indian recordings?

Regards,
Sharad Medhavi



I listen to anything and everything Sharad. As a kid, my father would not really encourage us to listen to English music, so my knowledge of that was restricted to Michael Jackson and a few others. But apart from being a very senior political journalist, my father was a very renowned theatre personality. As he had great knowledge of Indian Classical music, he also used to do reviews of the MUSIC TODAY releases. So my collection of cassettes, which now languishes in Delhi, is still humongous. Music was seldom bought. It came in as gift more often than nought. Infact I came back to music after a hiatus of good 20 odd years. So all my old friends, who do not use their LPs anymore, willingly dump their collection at my place. So yes the collection is growing. From symphonies to Indian Classical to psychedelic rock to whatever.
 
It will peel like a skin. It fact you'd have a negative of the record although God knows how to put them to some use.

Varun Bhai any pointers ? :D


I tried that method. But the results, according to me are mostly superficial. I did try the distilled water isopropyl concoction too. But the real dirty ones need some manhandling. BIGDE HUE BACHCHE MAAR KHAYE BINA LINE PE NAHIN AATE.
 
I tried that method. But the results, according to me are mostly superficial. I did try the distilled water isopropyl concoction too. But the real dirty ones need some manhandling. BIGDE HUE BACHCHE MAAR KHAYE BINA LINE PE NAHIN AATE.
Varun, if you are using your Nagoka mp 500 cart with that fine tip stylus for playing these naughty records, I am sure they are giving you a hard time :) The fine cartridge/stylus also needs matching recordings/pressings. It is reading everything on the sidelines (hashia). For dirty, damaged and abused records you need a thicker round tip/conical stylus. They are more forgiving. Bachche aakhir bachche hain, forgive them ;)

regards,
Sharad Medhavi
 
After applying fevicol in diluted form should I wait for 2 to 3 hours keeping under a fan or blower. Will it peel off like flakes or it is to be dissolved using any other solution.
What do you mean by "diluted form"? Which Fevicol are you using? Do NOT use any other Fevicol besides the "SH" variety, and that doesn't need to be diluted, you can apply it directly from the jar. Just make sure to spread an even coat on the record.

Don't mix water with the Fevicol, as that might damage your record. The wood glue has a bonding agent that does not bond with the vinyl material, adding water to this might mess things up. I am just assuming this, as I have not tried mixing with water, but from experiences using SH glue you just apply it directly and it works without any issues.
 
What do you mean by "diluted form"? Which Fevicol are you using? Do NOT use any other Fevicol besides the "SH" variety, and that doesn't need to be diluted, you can apply it directly from the jar. Just make sure to spread an even coat on the record.

Don't mix water with the Fevicol, as that might damage your record. The wood glue has a bonding agent that does not bond with the vinyl material, adding water to this might mess things up. I am just assuming this, as I have not tried mixing with water, but from experiences using SH glue you just apply it directly and it works without any issues.
Diluting favicol SH with water will not harm any vinyl record.
For deep cleaning ,you will need Triton X-100 surfactant,3M enzyme cleaner with distilled water.
You can purchase a vinyl Vac from amazon.Use it with your own wet vacuum cleaner.You will need lazy susan or any old worthless turntable to revolve the vinyl record to be cleaned.
 
I listen to anything and everything Sharad. As a kid, my father would not really encourage us to listen to English music, so my knowledge of that was restricted to Michael Jackson and a few others. But apart from being a very senior political journalist, my father was a very renowned theatre personality. As he had great knowledge of Indian Classical music, he also used to do reviews of the MUSIC TODAY releases. So my collection of cassettes, which now languishes in Delhi, is still humongous. Music was seldom bought. It came in as gift more often than nought. Infact I came back to music after a hiatus of good 20 odd years. So all my old friends, who do not use their LPs anymore, willingly dump their collection at my place. So yes the collection is growing. From symphonies to Indian Classical to psychedelic rock to whatever.

I am aware of the senior theater artist/journalist Badola. I did not know that he was reviewing MUSIC-TODAY stuff. No wonder they have a great catalog with knowledgeable curation. It is good that Sony has decided to release that music on LPs now. I haven't been watching TV for the last 15 years, so pardon me on my ignorance on few other things :)

I do not have great friends like yours dropping off LP records at my place, so I mostly collected record by record starting in the late 80's. Honestly, beyond a certain amount of cleaning it does not help, because the usage related groove damage and micro scratches have a bigger impact than the little remaining dirt that did not dissolve in water or alcohol. That is where a heavier cartridge, conical stylus and mono coils do wonders. Some of my practically un-listenable records started playing so nicely & cleanly after I started using different cart/stylus based on the condition of the record. I have two parallel setups and also end up changing cartridges before every listening session. It is definitely worth the effort. In fact it is a lot less effort for more returns, than some of the extensive cleaning experiments being discussed here.
 
I am aware of the senior theater artist/journalist Badola. I did not know that he was reviewing MUSIC-TODAY stuff. No wonder they have a great catalog with knowledgeable curation. It is good that Sony has decided to release that music on LPs now. I haven't been watching TV for the last 15 years, so pardon me on my ignorance on few other things :)

I do not have great friends like yours dropping off LP records at my place, so I mostly collected record by record starting in the late 80's. Honestly, beyond a certain amount of cleaning it does not help, because the usage related groove damage and micro scratches have a bigger impact than the little remaining dirt that did not dissolve in water or alcohol. That is where a heavier cartridge, conical stylus and mono coils do wonders. Some of my practically un-listenable records started playing so nicely & cleanly after I started using different cart/stylus based on the condition of the record. I have two parallel setups and also end up changing cartridges before every listening session. It is definitely worth the effort. In fact it is a lot less effort for more returns, than some of the extensive cleaning experiments being discussed here.


Firstly, please accept my apologies for addressing you by your first name. If you know of the senior theatre artist/journalist Badola then I should be calling you sir. As you might have figured, he is my father. Your suggestions for the use of conical stylus and the benefits are well received. I guess at my age, getting vinyls as gifts is easier as parents of all my friends are getting old and most of my friends do not care much about the vinyls.
 
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