Cleaning 78s

Records with dust, such as the one in the left hand diagram, or mildew or mould, and those which have grooves clogged with debris from non-steel needles, should be cleaned before being played with a diamond stylus.
There are specially formulated record cleaning fluids offered for sale over the Internet but they often contain isopropyl alcohol which can harm 78's.Other organic solvents such as acetone (propanone) and methylated spirits, which is used in the optical trade as a solvent for the shellac holding lenses in their bezels, must also never be applied to a shellac record surface.
The magnified image of groove damage on the right is of a shellac record after 10 playings with a steel needle. Particles of steel from the needle have become embedded in the lower groove walll and the needle has ploughed a furrow across the grooves. No amount of cleaning will be able to improve these types of damage.


The following cleaning procedure comes from The Gramophone Handbook by Percy Wilson (1957).

• Make a mixture of 2 parts white vinegar and 1 part light machine oil such as 3-in-1.
• Shake mixture to an emulsion.
• Pour about 10 ml in a ring around the playing surface and work it into the grooves until no liquid remains on the surface. Use a piece of lint free cloth for this.
• Leave for one hour at least.
• Using washing up liquid, make a firm lather and wash the disc thoroughly with it.
• Rinse thoroughly with clean tepid water. Try not to soak the label.
• If necessary, wash and rinse again until all traces of residue are removed.
• Blot dry with clean cloth or kitchen towel.
• Put into record rack or prop vertically for at least 24 hours before playing. It takes this time for the shellac to harden again after being wet.
• Record may need playing with an old stylus, brushing off the muck collected from the grooves, before completely clean.

This method may be prevent the formation of oily deposits in the grooves.

• Half fill a sink with tepid water
• Have ready a new 1" paint brush
• Hold the 78 in one hand, thumb on top
• Take your kitchen dishwashing liquid detergent (Fairy, Dawn whatever)
• Squirt a circle around the record grooves (avoid the label)
• Dip the paint brush in the water, then 'paint' round and around in the direction of the grooves with the detergent, work up a lather. This should clean up the grooves.
• Run cool water from the tap over the grooves and use the paint brush to rinse the lather off. Try to avoid the label unless it is dirty. Don't use hot water.
• Repeat on the other side
• Dab with a soft tissue to get drops of water off
• The 78 should be leaned up against a wall or in a rack to dry before putting back in a sleeve (check the sleeve is clean inside).

The next procedure will remove lots of dirt quickly but must be carried out with caution in case any of the record surface comes away too.

• Make up a 3% solution of Decon-90 in distilled water.Decon-90 is designed to remove surface contamination from laboratory glassware and equipment, and may be obtained from scientific equipment suppliers.
• Rub a few cubic centimetres gently into the grooves using a paper towel for a couple of minutes, and then rinse thoroughly under the cold tap.
• Blot with another paper towel and allow it to dry for 24 hours.

If expense is no object, there are some excellent cleaning machines to be found on the Internet. For most of them, the principle of operation is to apply a mild detergent solution in distilled water to the surface and work it into the grooves with a brush. When the dirt and grime has been lifted from the record surface and entered suspension, the liquid is removed by means of a powerful vacuum pump. Trials with one such system, the Moth-MkII, have produced some remarkable results. Running a software click removal plug-in before and after cleaning, revealed that there were anything between 1½ and 3 times more clicks on the dirty record than on the same one after it had been cleaned.