The $120 cleaning machine that paid for itself in one weekend

I finally broke down and bought one of those ultrasonic record cleaners after years of just using a brush and fluid. Spent about $120 on a basic model off eBay, and honestly I was ready to be disappointed. But last Saturday I ran a stack of 40 old thrift store records through it, mostly dollar bin stuff with visible grime. The difference was night and day on about half of them, pops and crackles just gone. One beat up copy of a 70s funk album went from unlistenable to actually enjoyable, which alone was worth the money. I still think the cheap spin cleaners work fine for surface dust, but this thing gets into the grooves way deeper. Has anyone else tried one of these, or do you swear by a different method for really dirty records?

1 comments

1 Comment

sammurray2d ago

Surface grime is one thing, but that deep groove junk is a whole different beast. Ultrasonic hits what brushes just smear around. Once you hear the quiet, going back feels wrong.