Vinyl record cleaning: Ways to clean them without any damages arising?
Vinyl records are vintage products that must put at the best care as they are supposed to receive. To sustain their longevity and also to ensure they perform well in the future without trouble we must put better care while cleaning them. As not everyone can withhold them and not easy-to-get tracks but also sometimes they are passed from elders in our family as a memory.
We know that cleaning them needs more consciousness but can we clean vinyl records with alcohol that is a big breakthrough question running on the internet. But for enthusiasts who know better about vinyl is fine but for new ones, they need to know them better.
The alcohol cleaning
We cannot clean the vinyl records with pure alcohol that is never advised by people who have been handling vinyl for decades. But still, some solutions are specifically made to clean vinyl but some of them have a small amount of isopropyl alcohol.
Not undiluted alcohols are allowed to clean them as their chemical effects are said to eventually damage the protective coating on the vinyl discs. Though there is alcohol vinyl record cleaner proportionally the quantity is less and their effects are less diluted with the mixture of other ingredients. But surely it is a cautious process which we must keep in mind as using alcohol, not a good idea.
How to clean them?
We can clean them using simple ways like a few use waters with dishwashing soap it must be avoided better-specified cleaning products for vinyl cleaning. If you are using alcohol-based products use them randomly and not too often. In a better way, a combination of deionized water with tergitol was used in libraries to clean records which will help clean vinyl without trouble.
The reason advised to avoid alcohol to clean a dirty vinyl record is because in many cases some alcohol can dissolve the shellac discs. If you are not willing to sacrifice your vinyl to chemicals then we can clean in hand with some brush and microfiber cloth with the best care. If you wish you can go for a cleaning solution but keep an eye on ingredients.
We can often use record brushes that are good to clean the vinyl in a circular motion before cleaning them with solutions or water. It will be better to brush the records often so that we can avoid the number of washes.