Spin Clean Record washing system MKII - First Impressions

Good day everyone, I finally did it.  I finally broke down and purchased a record cleaning machine.  I have wanted for years to be able to clean my vinyl properly.  I used various pretty effective methods for keeping my records clean, but I wanted to know how much better it could be after a proper cleaning is done.

I broke down and bought the Spin-Clean record washing system - MK II.  It was at first smaller than I expected.  I took a look at the construction and it is pretty nice.  I was able to determine what all the notches were for and so forth without having to look at the manual, so the design is pretty straightforward.

I purchased the bonus pack with the system because I have a lot of records to clean.  The bonus pack came with extra pads, and extra lint free towels to dry the records with.  I was glad that I purchased the extra towels when I got into cleaning the records. Also included is a 32 oz bottle of the cleaner along with the 4oz bottle that comes with the standard kit.  I will be glad I bought the bonus pack in no time.

When I took a look through the manual I read that it would be best if the towels were prewashed before using them for the first time.  So, I got them in the wash following the directions and got them dried before I started cleaning records.  I took some time to go through the manual while I was waiting for the laundry to complete.

 I realized a short time later that I had forgotten to pick up some distilled water for the cleaner.  The directions say that you can use tap water if you do not have distilled water to use.  With all the junk in tap water, I decided to go the pure route and drove to the store and purchased a couple gallons of distilled water. 

So, I filled it up with distilled water to the designated level and poured the cleaning solution where the instructions told me to do so and I got out some record boxes and decided to clean what I wanted to listen to for the next couple days.

Now it was time to do some cleaning as I pulled the cleaned and dried towels from the dryer.  I had read a couple blogs about getting the labels wet when using the spin-clean.  Before I started I read through the manual so I did not run into any issues.  However, I kept in mind what I read and never stopped moving the record once the cleaning had started, that way run-off would not drip onto the label.  I was successful in keeping water off the labels, but I had to develop a system that would not use up all my towels on the first couple records.  Use a junk record to test your process before you start cleaning the good ones. I cleaned two from the junk pile just in case I had issues.

The instructions say you can clean 20 - 50 records with one bath.  I was able to clean 30 albums and I could have cleaned more, you should keep an eye on how dirty the water gets.  I stopped at 30 records as that is all I wanted to do at one time. The water was not terribly dirty, but I had enough records for the listening tests I planned.

I air dried the records for about 20 minutes after wiping them down until mostly dry before playing or putting them in sleeves.  I started with a piano record that was on the disposal pile to see how it sounded.  I was overall pretty impressed as surface noise was very low.  There was still some, but my assumption is that the record was worn, as I have very few records that I purchased new, and it is possible that it was well-loved in the past and played over and over again.

I then played something I am pretty familiar with to see if I noticed any differences.  I put on ELO Discovery LP.  I used a crappy VG version of the LP that I had on my disposal pile.  I put it on the table and it played very respectively.  I will not say that it eliminated noise or anything like that, but I was pretty impressed with the overall sound quality coming from that somewhat scratched up record.  The noise was significantly low, and the pops and clicks were there from the scratches, but it still sounded pretty darn good!

My records were pretty clean overall, but the water got pretty dirty so the device is quite effective at getting dirt out of the grooves.  One piece of advice that I used was to clean the record with a brush before getting it into the bath.  Loose stuff that you can remove before it goes in the machine will aid you in keeping the water cleaner for more records.

My strongest recommendation if you purchase this product is to read the instruction manual and follow the instructions.  If you ruin your brushes you may do damage to your records, so please follow the instructions.

If you have LPs, and you are on a budget, this machine is for you!  Grab some extra towels to put the records on while you dry them and go for it!  I have seen machines for $600 that make allot of noise and cost allot of money, but don't do any finer job of cleaning a record than the Spin-Clean.  This little machine at less than $150 is a bargain in my opinion.  I tend to take care of stuff so I expect this to last for many years.  I would recommend the bonus kit which has the extra pads, the larger bottle of cleaner solution and the extra towels.  I am still going to pick up an additional set of the rollers and more towels before very long.  I got mine at Jerry Raskin's Needle Doctor - www.needledoctor.com


Seriously Sweet and Effective record cleaning!

Peace Out!

Jeff

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