Best thing is to be very careful with them so you don't ever have to clean them! Here is what I do:
I find light dust or finger marks you can get off with a silicone impregnated cloth (you can get these from some good vinyl stores and many bad ones too). If you have heavy dust rinse or soak in cold water first (to remove particles that may scratch the surface), stand upright to leave to dry then use your silicone cloth again to wipe. Remember to avoid getting water on the label! If there is more than just dust and light fingermarks you can either use isopropyl alcohol (you can buy this from chemists or buy it from record stores at higher prices in bottles marked "record cleaner") but I personally use the cheaper method of water plus washing up liquid - spray on, leave for a minute then use a soft cloth to clean, then rinse or soak in cold water until there are no more suds then stand upright and allow to dry. If it is very very dirty (food stains, ingrained dust etc) first spray on a heavy soap solution to allow ingrained dust to be dissolved or to float out of the grooves, rinse and then clean again. I've seen the staff in Reckless Records in London using lighter fuel to clean records but I'm not 100% sure whether or not this is good for your records - I personally would not put it near my records! However it is very very useful for taking off those annoying price stickers which tend to destroy your sleeves when you try to remove them - simply spray the label until it is soaked and leave it until the fuel has just evaporated, then the sticker will come off easily (if it doesn't give it another coat and it should come off easier next time) (note - if you are removing many labels in a non-ventilated room it may do some good to have some ambient music available)... Top tip 2 - you can also use the lighter fuel to regenerate your marker pens - simply spray into the pen tip, put lid back on and leave overnight and it doubles the life of the marker pen, thus saving you the cost of the tin of fuel :) David ------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: cleaning records Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> probably been asked a million times but whats the best stuff for cleaning records...also does putting weights on the end of the tone arms make the record wear out faster??? -------------------------------------------------------------
