The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

In addition to being a collector, I am also involved with high-end audio. The audio journals have recently been touting the Spin Clean system as an inexpensive, safe and effective means of thoroughly cleaning all types and sizes of records. The demo video on their website is very convincing.

http://www.spincleanrecordwasher.com/

I have used the Disc Doctor system in the past, but the Spin Clean looks even better and much easier to use.

http://www.discdoc.com/

Although claimed to be safe for shellac and other old recordings, I am curious to know if anyone on this board has any experience with the Spin Clean system. Thanks.

Hi

The Spin-clean system works well with schellac records . I use destilated water with a drop of dish liquid.

But I prefer neverless first to clean the disc with a soft toothbrush and than rub the record down with a microfibre cloth.

Does anyone know whether it would work with Diamond Discs? It looks like it probably would not but perhaps there are some ways to adjust it for different thinknesses and diameters of records?

Bruce,

You do not want any moisture what so ever to contact the core material of a DD. It will blow itself apart like popcorn.

for shellac and vinyl it looks effective. I would be concerned about some of cheaper 78 pressings that have paper cores and have cracks in them. Submerging these records in water might be problematic.

Brad wrote:Bruce,

You do not want any moisture what so ever to contact the core material of a DD. It will blow itself apart like popcorn.

for shellac and vinyl it looks effective. I would be concerned about some of cheaper 78 pressings that have paper cores and have cracks in them. Submerging these records in water might be problematic.

Oh yes I agree on the water. I didn't look closely enough. I agree one would not actually want to put a DD record into water for even a short time.

I've never tried the Spin Clean system, nor have I heard about it until now, honestly. The water issue would be a major concern. I've been using disc doctor cleaner for years and I swear by the stuff. You have a lot of control over the whole process. I've cleaned every DD I own with it and all my Hit of the Weeks. I clean laminated Columbias and other discs all the time with it as well. Never had a problem. I use a Nitty Gritty vacuum assisted machine to clean the distilled water off after the rinse (which you do with a brush, as Greg must know). Again, very effective, and you can use it on anything, vinyl, acetates, Diamond Discs, etc. You just need to use separate brushes for each type of disc or they wear out extra quickly. I've never been able to figure out why that is, but once you've got the different brushes and all, which is a rather heavy investment to start, replacement pads are cheap enough and again, I'm very satisfied with it. Soap and water doesn't remove nearly enough dirt, fingerprints and grime. It may look like it does, but play a "cleaned" record a few times that you did with soap and water and hold the disc under a bright light. You'll see all kinds of crap still in the grooves. Disc doctor stuff and a vacuum assisted rinse cycle removes a lot more and the difference is quite obvious once you've done the comparison.

Sean

Before allowing this thread to fade into cyberspace...

"Guest" posted on August 17 that he used distilled water and a drop of dish liquid in the Spin Clean device to clean his records. I need clarification from "Guest." Part of the new technology of the Spin Clean system is the cleaning solution which is said to be very effective, safe for all materials, and does not require rinsing. Why would you use water and dish detergent in a Spin Clean?

I agree with everything that OrthoSean posted. Other than the inconvenience, I really like the Disc Doctor system. I have a Nitty Gritty vacuum that I use for my LP vinyl. I never thought of using the Disc Doctor system with the Nitty Gritty for drying of the discs. Thanks. It does matter how you clean your records. The video on the Spin Clean website easily demonstrates the before-and-after sound quality.

OrthoSean: what model Nitty Gritty do you use? I checked out the website, and there is almost no mention of 78 rpm records or what machine would be best. I'm not interested in automatic this and that, or in two-sided operation - but the vacuum sounds like a very good thing.

Nat

Nat, mine's just the basic manual machine, you can clean anything with it. I think it was around $300 to purchase a number of years ago. Nothing automatic except the on / off switch for the vacuum .

And as Greg says, it does matter how you clean records. Soap and water just doesn't cut it if you want the best sound possible. Rinsing with distilled water will remove any cleaner residue from the grooves. I just use the vacuum assist for that part only because you may have specks of lint left in the grooves if you rinse and dry with a cotton cloth. I know I'm a bit more OCD about my records than a lot of people are.

To go slightly off topic here, both Disc Doctor and Nitty Gritty do make non-rinse formula record cleaners for vinyl. When I bought my Nitty Gritty several years ago, I orderd a big jug of the non-rinse cleaner for vinyl and I've found that most of the time for general cleaning, it's fine on things like mildly fingerprinted up LPs and 45s. If I'm cleaning a Charlie Parker 10" LP on Dial, I'm going all the way and using the Disc Doctor's materials and rinsing with distilled water, though.

Sean

Sean -

Thanks for the tips. I've been using the Disc Doctor system, and drying with paper towels that suck the moisture up out of the groove, leaving very little lint. But the vacuum sounds great, and they now have a new enzyme cleaner, as well as one specially for shellac (no alcohol). Think I'll get the hand-operated system, and try their fluids, though I'm quite happy with Disc Doctor (He who dies with the most phono toys wins... )

nat