[78-L] Washing records

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

Steven Barr says: uffice it to say that shellac records can be SEVERLY 
affected...in fact,
destroyed... by long-ish-term exposure to water...?! So, cleaning 78's 
with/involving water is NOT a realistic choice!

I’ve cleaned my records for decades with Dawn. After putting the disc 
to be cleaned on a paper towel on a large bread board on my kitchen 
counter, I apply a few drops of Dawn to an old dish sponge and lightly 
wet it. Once the record surface is evenly soaped, I then use a soft 
toothbrush to clean the grooves. Starting at the outer edge, I work my 
way in and repeat this going counter clockwise, turning the record as I 
go so I clean the entire playing surface. In doing so, I apply very 
little pressure and control the amount of soap used so there is no 
slick or film. I then dry my hands so as not to get any wet on the 
label and rinse the record with luke-warm sink water. I then dry it 
with two soft towels: one to get off the water; the second to make sure 
the surfaces are absolutely dry. It’s simple and it works: By cleaning 
each and every record I intend to collect, I improve the appearance and 
upgrade the playability by at least a half-step (for example, from E to 
E+).

Years ago, I used to use a product called something like Antique Toy 
Cleaner. It was formulated for use on pre-War model trains and other 
toys. I met the guy who formulated it at a trade show. I asked if the 
solution worked on old 78s. He said he had never tried it. He gave me a 
few bottles to use as tests. I did, and found it worked beautifully. 
The ingredients were entirely organic: no alcohol, no oils, no nothing 
harmful. Another big plus: A full bottle seemed to last forever, making 
it quite economical for record cleaning. I told him in detail what I 
had done and how it worked. He then began to market the same product as 
a record cleaner. I would still be using it to this day if he hadn’t 
gone out of business. I clean every record before playing it for the 
first time, and make sure my hands are washed to minimize any oils 
being transferred from my hands to the record surfaces. When I have 
told some collectors I clean every record, they look at me 
incredulously and ask “Why do you do that?” When I provided Jack Towers 
with vintage 78s for dubbing, he usually commented that mine were 
always the cleanest records he worked with, and the results were in the 
playback.