[78-L] wet playing records

[DAVID BURNHAM]

I've been surprised by some of the discussion on this matter.  Not that I'm saying the information is wrong, just that I hadn't heard it before.

As has been mentioned, I've found that records, once played wet, do sound noisier when they're played again if they aren't played "wet".  I've always assumed this is because the water mixes with the dirt in the grooves and forms a mud which hardens and adheres to the groove walls and becomes a source of more noise.  Obviously, since this mud is water soluable, if the record is played wet again the mud breaks down and yields a quieter playing.  But Michael Biel said, (and this is what surprised me), that the water actually dissolves the shellac and causes more pits in the groove walls and hence more noise, (if I understood him correctly).  I've always found the safest way to clean old 78s is to wash them like dishes in soap and warm tap water, and I've never seen any evidence that the water damages the surface;  records come away from this looking shiny and clean and even years later, they remain clean looking and not unusually noisy when played.

db