I love these articles, really enjoying all this info. I do have some great advice to add to the above. First of all, please don’t shoot me down in flames because, when I’ve spoken to some people in the past about this in person, they’ve nearly fallen over backwards with shock and horror!

This advice concentrates more on Vinyl RESTORATION rather than care. If your vinyl is in great shape to start with and you’re the kind of person who like me, really takes care when handling and playing vinyl then obviously your discs should only ever need an occasional dusting. But I’m an avid collector and sometimes I have to take what I can get, not everything I own was bought new.

This may be a long story, but whatever, you can always stop if you get bored!

A couple of years ago, I put my mind to finishing one of my collections by acquiring some rarer and expensive releases that are scarce and hard to find. I was having trouble obtaining some items for a reasonable price. So in the first resort, I decided to get what I could as collection fillers and upgrade in the future. Some of the discs included shaped picture discs from the 1980’s. A lot of them had a tendency to tarnish over time, to the point where they where brown instead of the original transparent vinyl. The first disc I picked up was a real bargain and cost me 5, when in ex condition it’s worth 70. The downside was that it had turned very brown, great condition, played OK but very ugly!

I decided to experiment. I soaked the disc in a basin of water with a small amount of bleach for about 6 hours. No result either way. When I dried the disc off it wasn’t harmed in any way, neither was it improved. So, being more determined, I doused the entire disc in neat thick bleach and left it another 6 hours, still no result, no harm - no improvement. The next thing I tried was peroxide and bleach (the mixture for bleaching hair, the stuff that actually burns skin and turns it white on contact.) Still no result! So, I rinsed off the disc and dried it. Then I played it - AND to my amazement it sounded 10 times better than before I’d put it through that entire trauma.

This experiment got me thinking and I’ve now perfected a technique for restoring badly cared for vinyl.

Over the last year or so, I’ve received some shoddy goods. Sleeves all great but occasionally the vinyl has been badly handled, dirty, covered in finger prints, gritty and dusty. When discs are like this, just very dirty but don’t appear to be scratched I’ve come to the conclusion that any kind of rubbing, wiping or contact with anything at all in an attempt to clean it would result in damage, crackles at least, deep scratches at worst.

So my solution is this:

I have a round plastic basin that is just the right size for a 12″ disc. I also have an adjustable nozzle on my tap. I coat the entire disc on both sides with thick neat bleach and let it sit for 2 minutes. I then float it on the surface of the water in the basin which is 3 quarters full, turn on the water and angle the flow onto the disc so that it spins the disc. I leave it spinning in the flow of water for a few minutes and then turn the disc over and leave it to spin again for a few minutes. Take the disc out by the edges and give it a bit of a shake and wobble to get rid of excess water. In extreme cases I’ve been absolutely stunned at the amount of grit and dirt left in the bottom of the basin, even when it wasn’t visible before cleaning.

The next step. I lay the disc on a flat towel over a sturdy table. I take a micro fibre cloth and fold it twice, wrap it over my vacuum cleaner’s upholstery attachment (the flat kind with the velvet strips) switch on the vacuum cleaner whilst keeping a firm grip on the wadded cloth. I then suck out all the water in a circular motion on both sides. The water and any remaining particles are sucked into the cloth and the record is then dry and beautifully polished.

I swear by this method. I must have done it over a dozen times. In most cases the vinyl regains it’s ‘Like New’ look with the shine and luster that a new record has. I would say on average that the sound quality is improved hugely. It’s my theory that a lot of noise and crackles you hear on vinyl comes from embedded dirt, grit and dust - much of which is organic in origin. So, bleach is the ideal candidate for breaking up and dissolving it. I’ve NEVER ended up with a soggy, torn, faded or damaged label either.

You might think I’m mad, some of my most prized vinyl has had this treatment and it looks and plays great. In some cases I’ve probably doubled the market value. If this method scares you then DON’T try it. Or, maybe give it a go, try testing it on something grotty and worthless first to test the results. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Sleeve Restoration: (Glossy & Silky Only - NOT Matt sleeves)
Generally the dirt and stains on record sleeves are either water based or oil based. Solvent based inks are generally impossible to remove - don’t try or you’ll just end up taking the surface off the sleeve. In the first instance use a micro fibre cloth dampened with luke warm water or some mild detergent (I actually have a preference for anti-bacterial cleaner. Gently ‘whisk’ at the surface of the sleeve graduating to a gentle and then firmer wiping. Be careful of sleeves that are cracked or creased as the sleeve gloss will have cracked and will absorb water. This should remove a lot of general dirt. For any more stubborn stains that are left, use Zippo type lighter fluid (petrol.) Don’t worry if it leaves a ‘creeping’ wet stain, the petrol will evaporate after a few minutes. Sleeves that have unsightly stickers or tape that are not part of the packaging can be removed by dousing them in petrol and allowing them to soak for five minutes, you’ll then need to use a scalpel to gently ease it off with the aid of more fluid. Any glue residue can be removed by gently wiping with fluid. Ragged edges can be a problem too. This can be solved completely if the problem is not too bad - even if it is very bad it can still be solved to some degree. Recommended for the open edge of the sleeve only. Take a new scalpel and a steel ruler and simply slice off 1-2 mm of the ragged edge to produce a nice clean edge. This will improve the look greatly and will be unnoticeable to the naked eye. Don’t cut off any more than 1-3 mm though as this could result in a sleeve that looks wrong and no longer fits the record.
Seam splits are another problem. If it’s a partial central spit, try to ease it back together with the aid of a blunt knife edge or ruler and cover with invisible tape. If it’s a full seam split beyond repair, another option is to slice away ragged edges as little as you can get away with and repair with invisible tape.

Cracked or wrinkled sleeves: This is when the sleeve has a crack in the gloss or unsightly white veins around the seams. This can sometimes be remedied, especially if the ‘veins’ are over one predominant colour such as black or red. This method only works on glossy or semi glossy sleeves and you’ll need to work quickly. For example: I have a glossy picture sleeve with the subject centred and a predominantly black background. The sleeve has crack veins in various places where the absorbent card or paper is exposed due the creasing or cracks. I take a water-based felt pen or marker and go over the cracks. The cracks will absorb the ink but the in-tact gloss parts of the sleeve will not absorb the ink. I then have to quickly wipe off the ink residue with a clean cloth. This also works well for scuffed edges

I could also write an article on my experiments to find out how picture discs are made and why they sound so bad, but I’ll leave that for now, my findings were really quite insightful, rest assured the experiment was carried out on some worthless trash that I picked up at a fair for a few pennies!

Ged

Take Care & Stay Healthy;max b

I’ve been reading these Collecting 101 articles from the beginning, and there’s some good info. Good info here about dry and wet cleaning.. distilled water, etc.

Thanks for sharing!
-dan