The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello all,

So, I just received a comment from a viewer on my channel saying: he used Gorilla Glue to clean a 78 record?

Paul

I have heard of this before. This process applies to vinyl lp's too.

I tried it with one of my vinyl lp's and it did not work.

There must be something on youtube I guess.

I have seen people use wood glue and Elmer’s Glue.

Spray furniture cleaner (Pledge or equivalent) seems to work pretty well. I only do this with old worn out 78's and play them once afterwards to remove the wax buildup from the grooves. It seems to make them a little smoother and if nothing else, it makes them shiny again.

Interesting?

I use good old reliable soap and water to clean dirty record

WD-40 works great with no residual problems or waxy leftovers... I wouldn't use Gorilla glue, since it sticks permanently to anything and there are a number of formulas for different purposes...

Well, he never mentioned which type of Gorilla Glue? I should have asked?

Edisonfan wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 2:37 pm Well, he never mentioned which type of Gorilla Glue? I should have asked?

You could possibly try the wood glue version of Gorilla Glue, but it's an awful lot of mess and work, and isn't going to do a better job than plain old soap and water.

Don't use the original Gorilla Glue for - well, anything, really. It's completely permanent and expands when used, so it's not suitable for filling gaps or binding anything where appearance counts. I tried it on a couple of things that were basically lost causes anyway, then threw the whole tube out so that I wouldn't even think of using it again.

oliver wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:55 pm Spray furniture cleaner (Pledge or equivalent) seems to work pretty well. I only do this with old worn out 78's and play them once afterwards to remove the wax buildup from the grooves. It seems to make them a little smoother and if nothing else, it makes them shiny again.

Oliver, I used to do this when young... And yes, even the labels got more vivid colors and shiny appearance, but with some labels it didn't work, as the label colorant diluted with the product. With time I learned which labels could be cleaned and which not. The Spanish Gramófono labels with nipper in color took a look as if I had varnished them. But the shellac surface took a soft wax layer and shiny too, and worn out records were more easily playable.
I've also tried (on the labels only) shellac, and wax. The labels that start to deteriorate get a protective layer, and the colors are more vivid. In some cases, the gold print on labels becomes dark, oxidized or something alike. These I treat preferentially, to try to stop deterioration. It seems that letters can be read better if the label is waxed or varnished with shellac. Of course, I do this only to the labels... I don't like to wax the record surface, except with the Pledge, or Pronto, as is branded herein. That shift liquid wax does no harm, and doesn't get sticky as normal hard wax.
I believe that other British colleague (don't remember if Oliver Mundy or who does) also likes this product.
The trick with white PVA glue, or Elmer's glue, is that after dry, you can peel it off, and it takes out all the adhered dirt. I've not tried that, though... But I use it to seal leaks on soundboxes, and to fix the screws at a loose position, and the good thing is that you can remove it with a toothpick easily.