How to clean LPs and other vinyl etc.

I bought a second hand record from the 1950s the other day. It was riddled with snap, crackle and pop. So much so that I guessed that it was really dirty. I made up a solution of about 90 ml of de-ionised water, you could use distilled water, and about 10 ml of surgical spirit which in Britain is usually a mixture or ethyl and methyl alcohol. I mixed the water and spirit together thoroughly.

I used a sponge to thoroughly soak and wipe both sides of the LP. I dried the LP off with a tea towel and allowed it to dry. It worked amazingly well and most of the snap crackle and pop was removed. I could have used isopropyl alcohol in the mixture instead but I didn't have any. The alcohol helps to reduce the boiling point of the water so it evaporates more easily. No, I did not use boiling water but water at room temperature.

The record was still scratched and was damaged not just by the dirt but from excessive playing so some distortion remained. However, the record did not have too many pops from the scratches and played well all the way through and sounded pretty good.

I digitized the record using my PC and Audacity and got rid of more snap crackle and pop and clicks with the removal tools. Audacity could not fix the slight distortion caused by over-playing. However, the digital version still sounded very good.

It is a pity that it is not easy to generate a new LP from the digitized version so that you can repeat the LP listening "experience" without the pops.

The  amount of cleaning fluid that I prepared was probably good to clean four or five records but if you want to clean lots more you can use special baths to speed up the process; these can be bought from Amazon.


Sometimes a CD might get a finger print on it or collect a little dirt and not play properly. To clean it I wipe the CD on my shirt sleeve and that does the trick. I have never allowed a CD to get so dirty that I needed to wash it but probably a little de-ionised water with a little bit of washing up liquid will clean a really dirty one. Then rinse it afterwards in de-ionised water. Probably, ordinary tap water will work provided you wipe the CD really clean. Buying specialised cleaners is probably a complete waste of money.

I have bought brand new and second hand CDs that had scratches and which were initially unplayable. I have ripped them using a PC and created a new CD which was then rendered playable. Digital technology has got wonderful error correcting technology: by doing this I have never ended up with an unplayable CD.

My second hand CD only cost a quid and for the brand new CDs I saved the cost of the time and effort to get a replacement. I also saved the record company some money.  Everyone was a winner.

I once bought a CD lens cleaner. It was a waste of money and did not improve the performance of any of my laser reading equipment.

I use a special cassette tape to clean the heads of my car player and it works a treat. For other types of player, where you can get to the recording and playback heads, a little alcohol on a ball of cotton wool works a treat too.