Cleaning vinyl records is a necessary part of the vinyl hobby. For some, it puts them off record collecting entirely, while for others, it’s all part of the tactile nature of the format and a large part of its appeal. In essence, restoring an old record can be very rewarding. But how often should you clean vinyl records? Is there … Read More
How to Clean Vinyl Records with Soap & Water? (Don’t do it!)
I’ll cut right to the chase; don’t do it. You’ll find countless articles on how to clean vinyl records with soap and water online, and I’m here to explain why that might not be such a wise idea. Sure, we all want clean vinyl records, free of pesky pops and clicks – that much is a given. But what if … Read More
Best Record Cleaning Kits – Bring Your Vinyl Back to Life
Keeping your vinyl records clean is essential if you want to enjoy the best possible sound from your collection. Even the most careful collectors will occasionally find they need to give their records a quick pass through a record cleaner to eliminate annoying pops and clicks. The best record cleaning kits get the job done quickly and safely without causing … Read More
The Only Record Cleaning Pads You’ll Ever Need?
GrooveWasher now has not just one but three different record cleaning pads. The two additional cleaning pads are said to have distinct advantages and serve very specific purposes. The topic of how to clean vinyl records is fairly contentious. After all, each record collector has their preferred method and products for maintaining clean records that sound great. As the saying … Read More
Best Way to Clean Vinyl Records? Five Methods – Pros & Cons
Ask ten people how to clean vinyl records, and you’ll undoubtedly get ten different answers. As the saying goes, “there’s more than one way to shine a penny”. Some methods of cleaning vinyl records are more widely excepted than others, of course, but if we take the pragmatic route, I think we can safely conclude that each approach has pros … Read More
Why You Should Clean New Vinyl Records
It’s common knowledge that vinyl records need the occasional clean from time-to-time. Used record purchases, in particular, should always be cleaned before they go anywhere near your turntable and stylus. Dirty records not only sound bad, but they also exacerbate stylus wear and contaminate your turntable – spreading the muck across your precious vinyl collection. What most people don’t realise, … Read More
How to Clean Old Vinyl Records – Top Tips: Bring Your Collection Back to Life
So you’ve hit the record store and come back with a hoard of classic old vinyl records. ….Or, perhaps you’ve inherited or recently received a box of records and you’re excited to dive in. You flick through the collection, select a record, and gently place it on your turntable. As the stylus lowers and makes contact with the groove, you’re … Read More
Pro-Ject VC-E Review – Is it as good as the bigger VC-S2 ALU
Does the VC-E compact record cleaning machine from Pro-Ject match up to its bigger brother, the VC-S2 ALU? Sound Matters put the device through its paces. When Pro-Ject upgraded its popular vacuum record cleaning machines with shiny new aluminum chassis, we quickly investigated the new VC-S2 ALU. As a direct replacement for Pro-Ject’s flagship VC-S, the new VC-S2 ALU brought … Read More
Is it safe to clean vinyl records with alcohol?
There is much debate among the vinyl community around the use of alcohol to clean vinyl records. Isopropyl alcohol, in particular, is popular with many collectors as a key ingredient in homemade record cleaning solutions. But is it safe? Some collectors swear by it, others warn of potential hazards. To help shed some light on the topic, we’ve done a … Read More
Record Cleaning Machines vs Cleaning Records by Hand
There is undoubtedly more than one way to clean a vinyl record. Collectors will debate until the end of time about the best methods and tools, but in the main, there are two core approaches: either manual cleaning by hand or using a record cleaning machine. But which method is best? Should you invest in a record cleaning machine? Given … Read More
