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"Glue Cleaning" Your LP's

So here's something I heard about and am getting ready to try: "Glue Cleaning." Apparently if you put a thin film of glue on a record and let it dry for a few hours, the glue bonds to every tiny particle deep in the grooves and you can then peel off the entire glue sheet to remove everything it picked up.

It was recommended to use wood glue or Elmer's glue, spreading it with a foam applicator to keep it evenly distributed. I will of course be trying this only with records marked for "experimentation" (a.k.a. records I hate).

Has anyone heard of this technique? Does anyone have any first-hand experience with it?

-Dusty
heyitsmedusty
slikric3000
638 posts
 
I would use bikini wax over Elmers, but thats just me.
undertow
1,032 posts
 
Nope I asked about Cleaning the Table platter with silly putty to remove debris, not an LP.. However its probably better to clean an lp with Silly putty over drying elmers glue on it and probably just as effective as what is being talked about here.
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
I have done the glue method and used Elmers wood glue. Putting on a thick enough coating so the glue is very white. Then when it dries it WILL come off all in one sheet. The coolest part IMO is the glue ring after removal: it has a perfect inverse copy of all the grooves. You can feel them on the dried glue surface!
Yeah it works great.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
OTOH, while you're waiting 8-10 hours for the glue to dry, I've wet cleaned my copy (15-20 minutes), played it (1 hour), filed it (1 minute), lost it (instantaneous), looked for it (8 hours) and bought another copy on ebay!

The question remains: who's having more fun?
heyitsmedusty's avatar
heyitsmedusty OP
185 posts
 
It sounds like this is a method that some people actually use, and no one has any horror stories or negative experiences of any kind!

For those of you who have tried this, what is your method for getting the peel started? I've used a pin to get under the dried skin in the dead wax at the end, but I probably won't want to risk making scratches when I finally decide to try the glue method on a record I actually listen to.

Also, on what kind of surface do you set your records as they dry?

-Dusty
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