What do you do when nothing seems to get LP clean?

I have to chime in here in the interest of music-lovers who understand the whole cleaning issue, but aren't particularly bothered by them. I find the two-answer list of Mr. Kidknow a mite harsh: Answer Three is don't worry about it, don't clean them (apart from a Diswasher unit or something along those simple lines), keep the record player and keep buying lots of records and enjoying them. Don't get me wrong, someday I will probably buy myself a record-cleaning machine, I see the logic and expect results, but in the meantime, when I buy used records or new, I check them for condition, take them home and can't wait to slap them on! In most cases the record sounds terrific, and I sit back at the music which pours forth regardless of complicated cleaning processes. I have too many records to contemplate multi-stage cleaning processes, I'd have no time to listen to music! All that said to insert Answer Three (buy music, listen to it and don't worry about it because nothing will make these last forever and someone should be enjoying them, the more the merrier), I understand that cleaning records makes them even more enjoyable. But remember, it's about the music first, and we can't be bothered always worrying about improvement while listening to the pieces various musicians have composed. I'll be watching to see what the final consensus, if there ever is one, is, while I put a few more quarters in my VPI record-cleaning machine fund and throw a few more dollars at the local vinyl-vendors.

Thanks everyone for the great info. I got my VPI yesterday and started going wild last night. I've ordered Paul's enzyme stuff but haven't received it yet. I plan on going the Last preservative route.

Here are my questions:

There is a dealer where I live that claims that little pops can (may) be picked up and removed after a few plays by the stylus. First of all, does this make any sense after a good cleaning? Secondly, should the Last be applied only after you are sure the record is as clean as possible? Will the use of the Last prevent any future clean up or improvement through future cleanings or "stylus pickup"? I just want to do things right. Thanks for any input.

I started using Vinyl-Zyme on my 30-year-old records that have not been played for ten years a couple months ago. Also used records I buy. This is followed by the regime used on new records: RRL SDC and SVW followed by Last. They sound great to me but I'd like to try Paul's stuff. Does anyone know if Vinyl-Zyme uses the correct enzymes MrKidKnow informed us of?

Jeff,

I don't know what exact enzyme class Vinyl-Zyme is using. It's pretty tough to determine the enzyme class without spending significant money on specialized lab equipment or paying an independent lab to do this. All I can say with regards to Vinyl-Zyme is that I haven't heard of anybody having a bad experience with this product. Thus, Vinyl-Zyme appears to be safe on vinyl at this time.

I personally will not try any enzyme cleaners on Nitrocellulose or Shellac-based records until I know more about these record compositions.

There is a simple test for detecting the presence of cellulase enzymes. I don't have the exact recipe anymore but what you do is you expose a piece of camera film (celluloid) to the solution for a fixed amount of time and if the celluloid material shows blatant signs of chemical attack (breaks-up/disintegrates), then the conclusion is that a cellulase enzyme is present. I do recall some other type of colorimetric test that produced a strong blue color but don't recall if this identified a specific enzyme class or if it was a generic positive test for enzyme presence (could be confusing this test with a method that detects amino acids and proteins). This test may only work on enzymes that contain specific metal ions in the porphyrin ring.

I've got a gut feeling that a protease confirmation test could be designed using eggwhites since they are concentrated proteins. Obviously, starch could be used to detect amylases and a phospholipid source could be used to detect Lipases. I'll have to look into this further down the road. Haven't done a search yet; these may be easily found on the internet.

Mr. Kidknow

I couldn't stand it. Had to try the enzymatic solution (not the alcohol-based cleaner, of course) on a shellac 78. "The Washington Post March" by the Victor Marching Band. I play this thing for guest on my circa 1928 Victrola, so it's suffered through God only knows how many steel needles. Put it on my Empire 298 with a Grado 78 rpm cart and ... voila ... hardly a sign of surface noise. Really amazing.

Now I guess I'll put it aside and wait for it to melt.

Seriously, this is about the most unscientific "test" imaginable, but I thought Mr. Kidknow might be interested. Dave