Cleaning the turntable felt

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De Soto Frank
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Re: Cleaning the turntable felt

Post by De Soto Frank »

I guess the bath doesn't affect the glue ?
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alang
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Re: Cleaning the turntable felt

Post by alang »

De Soto Frank wrote:I guess the bath doesn't affect the glue ?
It has not for me so far. Not sure what type of glue they used back then?

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Curt A
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Re: Cleaning the turntable felt

Post by Curt A »

alang wrote:
New Yorker wrote:^ Wait... do you do the above with the old felt still affixed to the platter? Wouldn't the water damage the platter? Thanks.
You have to wash it while affixed to the platter, otherwise the felt will shrink and/or get out of form. You'll never get it back on the way it was. Been there, done that. The platter is steel and as long as you don't let it sit in the water for weeks it won't do any damage. I mean, you wash your car as well without hurting it.

Andreas
I think that leaving it attached is the key to this... I had a loose 10" felt and decided to wash it in a similar fashion (without being attached to the platter), when it dried it was an 8" felt... :roll:
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Lucius1958
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Re: Cleaning the turntable felt

Post by Lucius1958 »

alang wrote:
De Soto Frank wrote:I guess the bath doesn't affect the glue ?
It has not for me so far. Not sure what type of glue they used back then?

Andreas
I have read of burnt shellac being used as an adhesive.

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Re: Cleaning the turntable felt

Post by Marco Gilardetti »

alang wrote:You have to wash it while affixed to the platter, otherwise the felt will shrink and/or get out of form.
I also learned it "the hard way". I ended up with a small oval snippet of felt, good perhaps as a pot holder. :( Fortunately replacement felts are readily available.

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Re: Cleaning the turntable felt

Post by oldphonographsteve »

This may sound a bit tedious, but if the felt is clean overall but has some specks of lint or the like I have used tweezers to individually pluck the lint from the surface. It takes patience and a steady hand but the results make it worth doing after the removal of a couple dozen specks of lint.

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Re: Cleaning the turntable felt

Post by JerryVan »

HisMastersVoice wrote:Another method I have used to clean heavy staining (especially grease/oil) is Naptha. This is commonly available as Ronsonol or Zippo lighter fluid. Simply wet a rag with it (outside) and blot the stain. You can also soak the area of felt and carefully use a stiff brush to lift harder stains. Naptha evaporates completely with no residue, even on paper. A long time ago there used to be a laundry product called "Energine" which was used for spot removal on clothing. Surprise...it was 100% Naptha. See also: Fels-Naptha laundry soap (which sadly no longer contains Naptha because solvents are evil and therefore we can't have nice things.)
I always assumed "Energine" was benzene, a carcinogen, which I used anyway.
HisMastersVoice wrote:which sadly no longer contains Naptha because solvents are evil and therefore we can't have nice things.
That's funny!

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rvwenger
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Re: Cleaning the turntable felt

Post by rvwenger »

Thanks for the tips Sean. I followed your directions and they cleaned up great. It's nice to keep the original if at all possible. It's only original once.
I do have a IV that i'll leave alone trying to preserve the patina.
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Platter010.JPG
Platter020.jpg

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rvwenger
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Re: Cleaning the turntable felt

Post by rvwenger »

It also cleaned the gold trim :D
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Curt A
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Re: Cleaning the turntable felt

Post by Curt A »

alang wrote:
New Yorker wrote:^ Wait... do you do the above with the old felt still affixed to the platter? Wouldn't the water damage the platter? Thanks.
You have to wash it while affixed to the platter, otherwise the felt will shrink and/or get out of form. You'll never get it back on the way it was. Been there, done that. The platter is steel and as long as you don't let it sit in the water for weeks it won't do any damage. I mean, you wash your car as well without hurting it.

Andreas
I learned that lesson when I washed a 10" felt and it turned into an 8" one... :( :lol:
"The phonograph† is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.

"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
My Wife

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