Anyone out there with tips on how to get rid of that awful hissing from vinyl - sometimes referred to as vinyl burn? Ive got several reords that have now started to hiss and have gone down the lines of purchasing vinyl cleaner from Record Collector etc. Still there!! I know a lot of it can be cancelled out on the decks but it is annoying all the same. Have even tried writing to Jimmy Saville - nothing!!

Grant

There ain't no cure for that!

Try investing in new needles every couple of months and don't cue records when you DJ. That should help stop the rott!

Note found on internet auction site ... " A way to help records sound better when there's dirt & other gunk on it is to saturate it with window cleaner or glass cleaner. You must keep the entire part of the grooves wet while playing - it usually helps eliminate surface noise 20 to 70%"

This does actually work - honest. My copy of Stretch's "Why did you do it" (Anchor ANC 1021) came up gorgeous - but I'd suggest using a spare stylus for this military operation !!!

If you don't wanna risk the above, try https://www.htfr.com/products/category/?id=vinylcare

Window cleaner ?? the pink liquid stuff or clear spray type - dont want to knacker any discs!! glass cleaner also tends to be a clear spray doesnt it? what variety did u use Kolla ?

Ajax and a Brillo pad, wire wool is pretty good too...lol only joking, nothing really helps, some suggest WD40???? pretty much a problem for all of us, best way is not to hammer your records at home too much, also check heads at all gigs if you DJ and insist on new ones if you feel they have had it.

All The Best Mark Bicknell.

STOP. you will ruin your records never put any cleaning chemicals on a record if you must clean them use a damp spunge If the record is that bad and wont play try playing it wet but only as a last resort as the water cools the grove in the vinyl so it dose not expand as the needle runs along. It will clean it and it can save a record if that dont work maybe think about replacing it if posable

THIS METHOD SHOULD BE USED ONLY AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

Get a sheet of p1000 wet and dry, warm/cool water and soap. very carfully with a flat block rub down in direct of grooves.

Repeat again with P1200.

Now us a soft cloth and T-Cut, combined witha medium bristle toothbrush.

Rinse with clean soapy water (fairy liquid is fine) and a clean toothbrush along the grooves.

Rinse with clean water.

Dry with soft cloth.

You may want to use a non silicone wax such as simoniz car wax to bring the record right up and glossy (use sparingly, don't let dry and take of immediately!!), helps to reduce the needle friction too.

I tried this with great success, for stubborn scrathes, best to use Mag Glass and needle to remove the burr. Most things are fixable.

Remember try on a cheapie first to perfect the method.

Seriously ..... I am in the (long) process of re-cleaning all of my 45 collection having purchased a MkII Moth vacuum RCM (£250+ kit , £400 built).

I have developed my own cleaning solution based on that used by the US Library of Congress (should be good then!), comprises 50% denatured alcohol, 50% triple de-ionised distilled water, plus a few drops of pure detergent and photographic wetting agent.

This has helped no end rescuing some of the more grubby items BUT .... it won't cure so called "cue burn".

As previous correspondents have pointed out, the key word is "burn", the massive amount of heat generated at the point where stylus meets vinyl (or styrene) means that anything less than an almost perfect contact will result in PERMANENT damage. The worse case of this would be the "cue burn" scenario, the regular placing of a stylus at or near the beginning of a disc (for cue-ing purposes).

I've heard all sorts of tales about how this can be "cured", they all miss the basic point, once "burned" IT'S PERMANENT!

Face it guys, replacement is the only real cure.

Maybe i imagined it, but i seem to remember reading about a stylus that uses a laser beam (or something technical like that) to 'read' the grooves of a vinyl disc so eliminating any imperfections, scratches, etc. Is it just me or has anyone else heard of this?

HEY EVERYONE !!!

Needle burn or needle hiss means that the vinyl has been worn out in that particular area of the record and once the vinyl has been worn out there is NOTHING you can do about it ! Simple as that ! The moral is NEVER cue your records back and forth !!! Even if you're a DJ , sacrifice a bit of professionalism , and just play the record once through without cue-ing. Were dealing with pieces of musical history here!

Also its ALWAYS safer NEVER to use any chemicals or anything else for that matter to clean your records other than SOAP AND WATER if you must !!! I wouldn't even trust those professional vinyl cleaning machines!

But its also unsafe to play a dirty/dusty record it is not?. When playing a dusty 45 the pressure of the stylus forces the dirt deeper into the grooves. Some say the pressure at the point of contact between stylus-tip and vinyl is so great that heat is momentarily generated that can cause dirt to acutally fuse into the vinyl itself. The 45 from then on will be virtually impossibe to clean whatever method is used.

absolutely, "guest"! Hence my purchase of said machine mentioned above (notice I didn't give a plug to the manufacturers - you could find them if you wanted to) and the chemical formulae that I described. This, at least, will remove some of the "living" matter that will accumulate at the bottom of the groove.

The key difference between the old "soap 'n' water" method and the vacuum one, is, at least the vacuum will draw away any gunk left "in suspension" on the surface after cleaning, and anyway, what's in the water and soap you're using to clean them?

No, we could go too far with this, dust-free atmospheres, ambient temperatures, etc. but we should be at least protecting our "investments" (is that a dirty word?) and the legacy we have been lucky to accumulate, in the best way we can.

Have I told you about my dream, if I won the lottery......?