Record Cleaner

record cleaner

Welcome back to A-DJ-Hack-Every-Other-Day. Maintaining clean vinyl will improve the sound quality and lifetime of your records and cartridges. It’s also a great first step when ripping the audio. This record cleaning system is built from the platter of an old turntable and a canister vacuum. The record clamp is constructed from MDF and is used to rotate the record and protect the label. The vacuum hose has a modified crevice attachment used for removing the excess cleaning fluid. The site includes a recipe for making your own cleaning fluid. Of course any money you save on this project will probably be spent on more vinyl.

19 thoughts on “Record Cleaner

  1. Most heavy duty record cleaners comparable to this go for anywhere from 200-500 bucks a pop or even more + the cleaner. Some record cleaners have more warnings then most household chemicals. I wonder if there’s a cheap way to make a brush comparable to a VPI brush. Awesome hack though.

  2. For a gentler (and much cheaper) brush, I highly recommend natural hair (e.g. camel) brushes from your local artists supply store. I suggest stipple or edging brushes; they tend to be stiff enough for the job. This is the way I’ve been cleaning vinyl (and the older shelac records) for a long time. You will notice some absorbance of cleaning fluid, but for the most delicate of records, this is by far the most effective brush. For regular cleaning of vinyl, experiment with the substitution of stiffer brushes.

  3. how about you just start putting up hackaday lazy afternoon links again and then have both dj hacks and some other hacks?

    I like these DJ hacks but I’m not a dj nor will i do them for a while

  4. djs are posers, who were never good enough to play a real instrament. at least band members get chicks. how many groupies have you ever seen swarming to a dj? at most parties and clubs you go to, when the dj starts showin off and doin his little tricks the crowd will usually get bored and tell him to ‘play the song’, especially if its a hot new song. Theyd rather hear the song.

  5. #10: first off, i was never aware of the fact that ones skill at playing an instrument was measured by how many chicks one got. in fact, i was under the impression that most people who played an instrument for the sole purpose of getting chicks were posers.

    second, there is a huge difference between some random guy djing a party, and people with actual skill. go listen to anything from future primitive soundsession and tell me its not crap. in fact, go to http://www.futureprimitivesound.com, hit the down button on their little player thing, and listen to one of the three songs off of the urban revolutions comp. then tell me djs have no skill and are posers.

  6. Why does this have to be seen as a DJ hack? Many people have use for a record cleaner, so maybe we can stop constantly bitching. Has there been a single post on this site that hasn’t been complained about by some jerk in the comments?

  7. I say keep the DJ hacks coming- a hack is a hack is hack is a hack. And by the way #10 (roadie4life) – the (straight, male) DJs get ALL the ladies… you’re just jealous cuz when you’re luggin’ around our speakers and equipment, we’re tappin’ the azz and you are NOT!

  8. Sorry, but self employed djs paid by the show/gig have to load in/out their own equipment as well as soundcheck it themselves. you either blow money on your own helper or break your back with all that equipment. its a tough choice. thats why you dont see a whole lot of fat outa shape self employed djs. unless you are a feature dj in some club, in which case the money wont even be close to what a contract dj will make who does the sound for the show/party too.(about 8 to 10 times more money)

    Sadly, vinyl LPs are really starting to be a thing of the past, except for the turntablists, who all the ones I know either live off parents, or have other full time jobs to pay their bills. its become more of a hobby/novelty than the moneymaking job it used to be. mainly because of the cd-j cd scratch turntable being introduced. i finally caved in and closeted the wax for shows. shit those records are heavy as hell! especially when u use like 1 break or song off the whole record! they get scratched easier than cds too which *really* sucks when you use them in your set night after night. Ive got to where i can scratch, blend, and mix just as good if not better than w/wax with the cd-j’s. Yeah I still have all the old wax and can still rip it up, but it kinda feels old fashioned now, especially when your killin yourself tryin to quickly grab,switch,cue-up, and sometimes even time sync 30 or 40 big ass, delicate records in a row, marker stickers fallin off and shit. the dj stage is usually elevated most places anyway so the crowd cant really see what your doing anyway. and 99.9% of the time they didnt come to see the dj anyway. but they do notice mistakes, alot. especially all the other djs in the crowd. the cd mixer stops alot of your mistakes way before they happen, giving you alot more chance/time to read the crowd, piss, make a call or whatever.

    I know the dj is alot of the times ‘invisible’ to people and not a whole lot of chicks are into djs, but you dont have to bag on them/us like that for no reason. so what if dumbass intoxicated chicks frequently show up just to do the band,singer,rappers or whatever. ever heard of a std? in my opinion someone with game can pull fine chicks nomatter what his job is. plus i know many good looking djs who mack 100 times harder then say an ugly or dull personalitied entertainer.

    so there.

  9. i think of turntables as instruments..but yea i have alot of records,i recently broke my turntable. so i guess ill just use it to clean all my vinyls. Most djs cant really live just doing that. I cant..I cant even afford a new turntable. I have a part time job. The money i get for doing shows or clubs just goes to my car payment. But If you look at Main stream hip hop Djs like. Dj Whoo kid or Dj green lantern, Dj envy, Dj Storm, Dj Quik. There living the live of luxury.. Vinyl Audio IS way way better then cds. Imho.

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