All things vinyl — vinyl surface noise

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...

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...