How we ultra-sonically clean your records

When you buy a secondhand record from us, we want it to sound the best it possibly can. Almost all secondhand records are ultrasonically cleaned by us before it hits the record bins, hence those little orange 'Ultrasonically cleaned' stickers on the inner sleeve. 

We have two production lines, with two ultrasonic cleaners per line. Most days, that's 4 batch of 100 LPs (or more!). We use 5-disc machines because that's the most we can safely pre-wash at once. 

The first step is the pre-wash. Fine brushes scrub both sides of 5 discs at a time.

This removes hard lumps of organic matter, fungus, and tar, etc. More than half of households in the 50s and 60s had at least one smoker. The tar in the smoke was electrostatically attracted to the vinyl so, with older discs, the pre-wash is a crucial step. 

The second step is popping the records into the ultrasonic cleaners. High frequency transducers blast a 44kHz signal into the water that causes cavitation (tiny vacuum bubbles that collapse faster than the speed of sound) and gently scour impurities off the surface of the record. 

Finally, the last step is the post-rinse. We rinse each record in a special solution so the records drain dry without water beading and leaving impurities.

Once completely dry, we put the record in a new sleeve and they head off to be graded by our vinyl experts.  

So... you're probably wondering, can I ultrasonically clean my own records?

You sure can! We have a good variety of ultrasonic cleaners and cleaning accessories available online and in-store. Click the links below to shop now. 

Ultrasonic Cleaners
Vinyl Sleeves
Cases
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