How to clean your vinyl records
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Many people don’t know it, but you take the records you buy at The Rabbit Hole, any newly acquired used vinyl, and the records already in your collection, and make them sound better with a good, deep, 
cleaning. This is especially true if the vinyl looks scratch-free but still suffers mysteriously from crackles and pops. Invisible dust in the grooves is usually the culprit. Here’s how to get it out, and you don’t need any special tools!
Run some room-temperature water in a sink. Hold your vinyl disk by the edges and rotate it, at an angle under the tap and turn it, avoiding the paper label, until the grooves are completely filled with water. Use a scrunched-up paper facial tissue (toilet paper doesn’t work as well because it falls apart) and gently rub the the entire surface on each side of the disk.
When done, lay the disk on a soft towel. Use a soft, absorbent, cotton cloth (a rolled-up, old, white sock is great — laundered, of course), and rub with moderate pressure in the direction of the grooves. You can press to really rub the disk, absorbing the water and cleaning out the grooves, and it will not hurt the surface. Repeat on the other side of the disk.
The disk will still be slightly wet, even if it doesn’t appear so. Never put away or play a wet disk. Hold it by the sides and wave it up and down to air dry the disk. It doesn’t take long to do this. In a minute or two, your vinyl record will be read to play and sound as good as it can.
Sticklers for the cleanest-possible vinyl might want to use distilled water, instead, poured into a cup, and dip the facial tissue in to saturate it.
Maintenance cleaning can be done with a mixture of 50% water and 50% isopropyl alcohol from a spray bottle. Spray your cleaning sock with the solution and wipe down the record to remove dust.
Take care of your vinyl and it will serve you for years!
