Taking Care Of Your Vinyl Records
Just as you need to care for your audio equipment, you also need to clean your records and care for them.
If they’re dirty it hardly matters how great your turntable is as your needle is not touching all the detail originally pressed in the record's groove by the stamper..
As such, Your music just won’t sound very good!
You will not feel the breath of the artist or see the soundstage. Cleaning the surface of the record while making it shiny and make you feel good is not groove restoration. This as both water with or without a soap haver the same electrical charge, the record repels efforts beyond surface cleaning. Only by ionizing the record and change its charge by our spray application will the record accept a sonic plasma wave and whereby our process now reaches into the grooves and restores the record over multiple 2 or 5 minute cycles over 16 or 20-25 minutes, first removing remnants of prior cleaning processes, fungus, as well as finally the release agent that traps dust particles inside the grooves.
Treat your vinyl right, and you’ll enjoy crystal clear sound every time!
AFTER KIRMUSS RECORD RESTORATION AND PROPER STORAGE: ONLY ONE 5 MINUTE CYCLE WITH THE KIRMUSS IONIZING SURFACTANT APPLIED EVERY 3 TO 4 YEARS IS ALL THAT IS REQUIRED.
Before playing any record, always use a Parastatic felt brush to remove dust from the surface, followed by a 2.5 m Carbon Fiber Brush with a metal case to remove static. (Model KA-B1).
Store records vertically in a cool dry area away from sources of heat or direct sunlight. With records restored, slip them into HDPE anti-static record sleeves with an alkaline sandwiched filler (not rice paper)..
While one should discard paper sleeves as they may be ridden with fungus, do store them away from the record but easily retrieved if they have anything printed non them, adding value to your record for future resale.
Keep your records clean!
The weakest link in your music experience is the source material. We know what compromises the CD and digital music have made for portability. Vinyl records are the oldest form of recordings and where you don’t want to let dirt, debris, fungus or other contaminants build up inside the grooves. Most forget where moist air with paper sleeves holding the records promotes the growth of fungus. Vacuum or air drying methods re-introduces dust and static as well as leaves residues in the grooves which sees the stylus no longer make proper contact with the pressing.
With our unique process and by removing the record's release agent, sometimes present for 30, 40 and 50 years and even in the latest pressings, all records are often redeemable. WITH THE NEEDLE NOW MAKING PROPER CONTACT WITH THE GROOVE, even light surface scratches while originally thought permanent in most cases are no longer touched by the needle's dyne and are now transparent. Seven times out of 10 we may also recover and not hear the click associated with a tone arm skid, just because the needle is now riding in effect what the stamper had as detail, less release agent.
Improper storage and handling can also affect your records. Keep in a dry, well ventilated area. Replace paper sleeves with anti-static, anti-fungal, 4 mil HDPE sleeves. (also available from us (Model KA-RS-1-40). DO NOT THROW OUT PRINTED PAPER SLEEVES. While they may be ridden with fungus, store them separate to the record as mentioned where they may add value to your record.
Handle record by the edges.
"One thing is certain: playing a dirty recording, regardless of its format, is one of the most damaging things you can do to it.”
-(Gerald L. Gibson, Head of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress, 1991)
The good news? Caring for your records isn’t all that hard.
By using the Kirmuss Audio Record Restoration System you’ll never have to worry about dirty records getting between you and your music as the release agent left over from the pressing process has been removed.
To remember: Most processes cosmetically clean the record’s surface, and most leave a coating or residue in the grooves. Vacuum systems also introduce dust and apply static, also leaving residues on the groove surface. The KirmussAudio process strips out lodged contaminants from the grooves, including removal of the original record release agent that may in fact see dust, dirt, and fungus lodged in the grooves.
Grooves are the key to great sound
Record grooves are where your favorite music lives. As your stylus cruises the grooves, it sends those analog signals through the cartridge to your preamp and, finally, to your speakers.
Grooves are essentially to records and with release agent removed with the needle riding "in the pocket", what words are to a novel and just as you can’t tell a great story without compelling language, you can’t enjoy great sound without both surface cleaning and groove restoration, removing the release agent.
Why store records vertically?
Stacking records can warp or bend them. Record shops don’t display vinyl vertically just for customer convenience.
They do it to protect their product.
How to store your records
- Cool, dry, and vertical – that’s how to store your records.
- Excess moisture can promote the growth of fungus. Heat can harm vinyl, deforming the record, and warping it. As such it is a good idea to store your records in a dry, temperature-controlled environment. Most of the time, this means keeping them within your primary living space.
- Attics are a no-go because the summer heat can warp your vinyl.
- Basements are iffy, too. When the relative humidity reaches 58% or higher, the risk of mold increases.
- Due to the fact that PVC with a soy derivative as a stabilizer and with a release agent present that attracts dust and dirt which in turn promotes the formation of fungal colonies on the surface, added paper and cellulose, mold will grow on the vinyl itself, and also grow on a paper record sleeve. AFTER RESTORATION we strongly recommend the use of NON PVC, HDPE sleeves to store records.
How To Handle Records
Don’t touch the Grooves!
When possible, only touch your records at the edges and on the label. Otherwise, the oils from your hands and fingers may coat or lodge inside the grooves. The more oils, the more we see dust stick to the playing surface and promote also the growth of fungus. It’s kind of a springboard toward gunking up your records, then being picked up by your stylus, so you’re better off not beginning the process in the first place.
Proper handling also matters during the moments just before and during play. Use a Parastatic felt brush to remove dust, use a 2.5 million carbon fiber brush to reduce static. Do not forget to clean the stylus before each play to remove whatever materials it picked up in the prior audition. Always raise and lower the needle on your turntable using the cueing lever – not your fingers. This avoids pops being created by a hard needle drop. When you’re done listening to a record, be sure you slide it into the sleeve.
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ROBERT PLANT from LED ZEPELLIN showing a "WHOLE LOTTA LOVE" for vinyl... although the way he has is laying on the carpet may not be the best way to handle his record collection!
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"AS GOOD AS IT GETS"!
John Joseph Nicholson, "Jack" to his friends... listening to some vinyl back in the day. -
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix probably created a "PURPLE HAZE" around his record collection...
Cigarette smoke is absolutely horrible for any Vinyl! -
Marlon Brando Jr. was one of the greatest actors who ever lived... but he should not have been smoking anywhere near his vinyl... The way he held those records must have left nice fingerprints on them too!
Someone should have "Made Him an Offer He Couldn't Refuse" and taught him the proper way to handle his beloved music LP's! -
Terence Steven McQueen, the star of such classics as Papillon, Bullitt, and The Great Escape obviously had great taste in music judging from the record collection at his feet...
That Miles Davis is absolutely fabulous! Too bad no one told Mr. McQueen how much better his records would have sounded had he taken better care of them!
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Someone really should have told Sir Michael Philip Jagger that he could get more SATISFACTION out of his record collection if he didn't smoke near it!
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Nice to see "Frodo Baggins" (Elijah Wood) enjoying some vinyl!
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ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD!
Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) absolutely loved his vinyl! The Boxing Legend that gave us such iconic phrases as
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" &
"Don't count the days, make the days count."should really have known better than to handle those 45's with a bit more care and TLC...
