The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I bought a record on Ebay that was in terrible shape. The seller misrepresented the condition. I did get a full refund, but I hated to toss the record in the trash so I turned to You Tube and found this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDiF-eVOgoI
Naturally I would never try this unless the record was really bad. I had a hard time getting the glue off, but I was surprised at the improvement. The record is still badly worn, but now it plays without all the dirt ground in the groves. I wouldn't do it again unless the record was hopelessly dirty.

I use the wood glue method mainly on 45's and 33's and it works really well! I always do a wet clean before just to make sure they are squeaky clean. I did see a few videos on YouTube where someone did it on a 78 and they said it worked well too. The only problem I could think of is if there is a chip in the shellac, it could cause more of it to chip and split as you pull the glue off. But on a good intact record, this should work great as a follow up to a wet clean or just by itself!

Don't quote me on this for 78's as I'm not sure if there's alcohol or anything harmful in the glue.

I've also been experimenting with GOO-GONE and other petroleum solvent based cleaning products as I've heard shellac records are impervious to petroleum products.

GOO-GONE is actually working very well and I might post a before and after of it!