All things vinyl

Why It’s Confusing — and What Actually Works

If you spend any time looking into vinyl record cleaning, it doesn’t take long before things become confusing. There are countless products. Each one claims to be:

• deeper cleaning
• safer
• more advanced
• more “audiophile”

Some recommend alcohol. Others warn against it. Some rely on brushes. Some suggest cloths. Others insist on machines.

Most of the claims are made confidently. Very few are explained clearly. So the question...

A Simple Routine for Quiet Records

One of the first questions new vinyl collectors ask is surprisingly simple.

How often should records be cleaned?

The short answer is: not as often as you might think — but more often than many people do.

Vinyl records don’t require constant maintenance, but they do benefit from a simple routine that prevents dust from building up in the groove.

Understanding when to clean records helps preserve both sound quality and the life of your stylus.

Choosing the Best Cloth for Cleaning Vinyl Records

Anyone who has collected vinyl for a while eventually notices something.

There are endless gadgets designed to clean records.

Velvet brushes.
Carbon fibre brushes.
Gel pads.
Ultrasonic machines.

Yet in many professional studios and archival environments the actual cleaning process is surprisingly simple.

Fluid.
Cloth.
Care.

Which raises a sensible question.

Can you clean vinyl records with a microfiber cloth?

The short answer is yes.

And What You Can Do to Fix It

Anyone who collects vinyl has heard it.

You lower the stylus into the groove, the music begins… and somewhere behind the instruments there’s a faint background of pops and crackles.

Sometimes it’s barely noticeable.
Sometimes it sounds like a bowl of breakfast cereal.

The instinct is often to blame the record itself. Perhaps it’s worn. Perhaps it was pressed poorly.

But in many cases, the real culprit is far more ordinary.

Dust.

And more...

What Vinyl Collectors Should Know

If you spend enough time around vinyl collectors, one topic will eventually surface.

Not cartridges.

Not turntables.

Cleaning fluids.

More specifically, whether alcohol should be used to clean vinyl records.

Some collectors swear by it. Others treat it like acid rain.

As with many things in audio, the truth sits somewhere in the middle.

Why Alcohol Appears in Record Cleaning Fluids

Alcohol is a very effective solvent.

It dissolves...