*Cleaning Records

Record Cleaning Advice – Some Basics

The Prelude Record Cleaning System Is Now Available

Someone used to sit in an unheated, uncooled cottage all day, running the records through our proprietary multi-step cleaning process. (At the bottom of this listing you can see our old setup.)

There’s a very good reason why it was unheated and uncooled — not to save on electricity, but to allow the stereo to sound its best.

Now our record cleaning person has a nice big room adjoining our studio in an office complex to sit in.

Every Hot Stamper pressing has been vacuum cleaned on multiple machines using the Prelude Enzyme system.

Prelude is the only fluid we recommend for serious sound enhancement and cleaning of your LPs. You have never heard what’s really in the grooves of your records until you’ve cleaned them using The Prelude Record Cleaning System. There is nothing in our experience that works remotely as well.

We’ve also tried a number of “single step” record cleaning fluids and found that none were satisfactory. Disc Doctor is two steps, Prelude is three (or four depending on whether you choose to use their new final rinse. At this time we do not). If you can’t see yourself using a three step cleaning process — no matter how much better it makes your records sound — then stick with Disc Doctor. You are sacrificing a great deal of sound quality this way, but the choice is yours.

For cheap records alcohol and water are fine.

Cleaning Hot Stampers

We here at Better Records believe it’s virtually impossible to make meaningful comparisons among used or new (!) records that have not been properly cleaned. We have this fact thrown in our faces on a near daily basis, as so-so record after so-so record reveals layer upon layer of magic in its grooves after a good cleaning.

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Record Cleaning Tips – Prelude Step 2 Enzyme Cleaner

Proper Record Cleaning Is Key to Finding Your Own Hot Stamper Pressings

The Prelude Record Cleaning System is the only fluid we recommend for serious SOUND ENHANCEMENT and cleaning of your LPs. You have never heard what’s really in the grooves of your records until you’ve cleaned them using The Prelude Record Cleaning System. There is nothing in our experience that works as well.

We’ve also tried a number of “single step” record cleaning fluids and found that none were satisfactory. 

If you can’t see yourself using a three step cleaning process like The Prelude Record Cleaning System — no matter how much better it makes your records sound — then stick with Disc Doctor. For cheap records alcohol and water are fine.

Step Two

We think using the Step Two fluid in the final stage before rinsing has a clearly audible benefit regardless of how the record has been cleaned previously. No Hot Stamper record leaves here without having been cleaned with Step Two.

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Record Cleaning Tips – Avoid Recleaning Your Hot Stamper Pressings

 

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Records – A Step By Step Guide

We don’t advise it unless you can rinse them with the water we recommend and use the Walker Step 2 for the final stage. Any other process will probably result in a loss of sound quality.

It’s your record, do what you want with it, but after you’ve recleaned it, it will most likely not sound as good as it did when we shipped it to you.

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