Unidentified flying record cleaner

Last month I purchased a record cleaning gadget from a well known auction website.

The gadget is called the 'UFO' (for reasons which will become apparent later). They are home-made by a ebay seller in New Jersey, USA.

The UFO consists of two plastic cups which fit over the record label either side of the record. A threaded rod connects the two cups and is inserted through the spindle hole in the record. A wing nut enables you to clamp the two halves together tightly and large rubber washers create a watertight seal around the record.

Basically what this does is it keeps the record label dry allowing you to wash the record with no fear of damaging the label.



To say that the UFO is a bit 'Heath Robinson' would be being kind, it was obviously made in a shed and it shows.

Once installed in the UFO you can simply put the whole thing in your kitchen sink to wash the record.



Initially I tried lukewarm water with a squirt of washing up liquid. This worked reasonably but it was very hard to rinse absolutely all traces of washing up liquid off the record surface and so I was often left with a bit of residue once the record had dried. I have soft water at home but if your tap water is hard you'd probably find this method very poor.

After a bit of experimentation I found that the best cleaning solution was a mix of distilled water and isopropyl alcohol, quite a dilute mixture with something like 10 parts water to 1 part I.P.A. (that's IsoPropyl Alcohol not India Pale Ale).

I found an excellent cleaning 'brush' was this window demister pad which I purchased from my local supermarket for £1. It has a very soft microfibre surface on one side which is the side I use.



It might be a bit crude but you can achieve superb results with the UFO. I know it's a terrible cliche but I really have been hearing extra details on my favourite vinyl records which I have never noticed before. The background noise on most of my records is considerably lower after cleaning and the stylus stays cleaner for longer. I'm pretty confident that I can achieve results every bit as good as an expensive record cleaning machine with it.

A quick word of warning: When my package arrived from the U.S. my local post office charged me an extra £13 in tax before handing over the parcel. You might be able to get around this if you can persuade the seller mark it as a 'gift item' on the goods declaration.

NB: The UFO worked perfectly out of the box but as an added 'belt and braces' precaution against leaks I sealed the metal washer with a smear of Hylomar Blue gasket cement and replaced the nylon washer with a rubber tap washer.

 

Nothing wrong with a bit of Heath Robinson - sometimes the simple solution is just fine.

Another option for cleaning is the paint pad which you can buy in B&Q etc complete with handle. I use one with my RCM so it should work just as well here.

International PO charges can be silly. I'm collecting 5 tiny bulbs in a jiffy bag form the depot tonight and they want £11 of which £8 is 'handling fee' ....... robbery.

 

Absolutely, and I like supporting people who have the initiative to produce something like this.

There is story that supposedly NASA spent a million dollars developing a gas pressurized ball-point pen which could be used in space.............The Russians used a pencil.

 

What is a paint pad, Rob?

I'd be wary of scratching the record in my sink to be honest, but I guess it can't actually touch much other than the lead-in groove because the UFO keeps it lifted up?

Have you seen the glue method of cleaning?

I heard that NASSA didn't want to use a pencil in case the led broke off and floated around causing problems in machines or going in someone's eye. I wonder how true that is, or if it's just an excuse.

 

If you put enough water in the sink the UFO will float with the record horizontal so only the outer edge of the record could possibly touch the sides of the sink. Usually I'm holding the thing in my hands anyway keeping everything out of harms way but for the photo I had to put it down.

Paint pads have lots of short bristles. Sometimes they come as sheets and sometimes they come with clip-on handles. You can find them in most hardware stores.

I hope the pencil story is true, it makes me chuckle every time I think about it.

What on earth is the glue method?

 

I wonder if you can play-back the glue layer provided it isn't broken?

 

That's cool! Reminds me of pealing PVA glue of my hands in school as a child.

 

I was hoping this was more of a success! Anyone got a recommended Heath Robinson (ie cheap) solution for record cleaning?

My records have been in storage for 30 years and will need a clean. Funds won't allow a proper cleaning machine though.

 

Well I'd recommend the UFO discussed in this thread.

My records are all now sparkling clean and sound much better for it!

 

Sorry I read your earlier post too quickly.