Vinyl Record and LP Cleaning, Care, and Storage! Great ways to enjoy clean records.

This one's a little off topic from instrument recording gear, but I feel it's an important topic.

Vinyl record cleaning and care!

A few general suggestions:

1.  Store records upright.
2.  Try to only handle the record by it's edges- (I know, easier said than done).
3.  As much as possible, avoid lifting or dropping the needle between songs- its better to play the entire side of a record.  Otherwise, you'll eventually end up with audible pops and scratches between songs.
4.  Remove static from your record (we'll come back to that).
4.  Clean your record and needle as needed....  which is what this post is about!

This technique is a variation on an old technique from the golden age of hi-fi, when records were the only real medium for popular music.  This advice comes straight off the jacket of an old Jazz record.

The original advice is as follows:

   Using a dampened, lint-free towel wipe the record in a circular motion, following the grooves of the record.  Use light pressure, and lift the dust away in a sweeping motion.

My advice is just a variation of this old technique:

Do the same as above, but use a microfibre cloth(or pad), dampened with distilled water.  It is very important to use light pressure, and "lift" away the dust.

That's really it!  Work slowly and you'll be amazed at how great your records sound.

Notes:

Sometimes static creates a lot of pops on a vinyl record.  You have a couple of options to deal with this:

1: Use the method describe above, using distilled water and a Microfibre cleaning cloth.  This will actually go a long way in reducing static pops, as the moisture of the water helps remove static from the record.

2.  Use a distilled water "record steamer" (a device that has a nozzle that shoots steam at your record.  This is a similar method to the one above, but I feel a bit riskier, because the labels are constantly being exposed to warm steam.

3.  Buy a static discharge device.  These are expensive, but they work well at discharging static.  Perhaps a necessity if you're an avid listener.  Try the distilled water / microfibre cloth first, it might be all you need!