Exciting News: CleanerVinyl now works with Made in Germany Elmasonic Dual-Frequency Ultrasonic Cleaners

Give your vinyl records the state-of-the-art clean they deserve! The Elmasonic P60H dual frequency cleaner is the perfect ultrasonic cleaning engine for the CleanerVinyl Pro system. The P60H can operate at 37 and 80 kHz, which enables a dual frequency clean. Do an initial clean at 37 kHz to remove coarse dirt and dust, and then follow up with a finishing run at 80 kHz, that removes the finest particles from the bottom of the grooves as well as chemical contaminants like pressing release agents or oily residues. Audiophile-quality vinyl record cleaning in one well-designed package! Read more about our collaboration on the Tovatech blog (Tovatech is the official Elmasonic US distributor).

CleanerVinyl Pro Ultimate Kit mounted to Elmasonic P60H Dual-Frequency ultrasonic cleaner. The P60H can be operated at 37 and 80 kHz, perfect for coarse dirt removal at 37 kHz and precision clean at 80 kHz all the way down into the grooves of vinyl records.

132 kHz High Frequency Ultrasonic Cleaners Now Available at CleanerVinyl

Exciting news! Our new 132 kHz high-frequency ultrasonic cleaners are now available!

Give your vinyl records a deeper clean at a higher frequency. How does this work? The size of the cavitation bubbles generated by the ultrasonic waves directly depends on the frequency. Higher frequency = shorter wavelength = smaller bubbles. And smaller bubbles can penetrate smaller features, which means they can get deeper down into the grooves of records. 

And this is not the only advantage. Smaller cavitation bubbles also are superior when it comes to removal of chemical contamination, such as release agents left behind after the pressing process.

Check out our new UC-8180L 132 kHz cleaners here.

132 kHz high frequency ultrasonic cleaner

A great way to integrate a high-frequency cleaner into your vinyl record cleaning recipe is to use it in a dual-frequency cleaning set-up. Since low frequencies are better for the removal of more coarse contamination such as dust and dirt particles, a dual-frequency setup gives you the best of both worlds.

First do a low-frequency pre-clean that removes most of the coarse stuff, and then do a finishing run at 132 kHz to remove all contamination even from the finest features in your grooves.

The CleanerVinyl Pro System has been designed for two-bath recipes, since the Pro motor unit can be placed directly on the rim of a cleaner. Put the Lift-Pro and Micron filtration system on the 132 kHz cleaner, and use a 40 kHz cleaner as the low-frequency pre-clean station:

Pro Motor Unit on 40 kHz low-frequency cleaner during pre-clean.

Once the low-frequency pre-clean on the 40 kHz unit is done, simply move the motor unit over to the 132 kHz set-up and do the final cleaning step. Then lift the records into the drying position and plug in the fan. That way you can clean up to 12 records within 35-45 min and never touch a wet record.

Pro motor unit on 132 kHz cleaner in drying position after completion of final high-frequency cleaning step on 132 kHz ultrasonic cleaner.

CleanerVinyl Max in Custom Colors!

We recently received an order for five CleanerVinyl Max vinyl record cleaning attachments for 10 liter ultrasonic cleaners. A vinyl record store in Denmark uses them for cleaning their vinyl intake before offering them to their customers in renewed condition. We offered to do custom colors and this is what we were asked to do. Pretty!:

CleanerVinyl Max is our high throughput solution for vinyl record professionals and serious collectors. Clean up to 24 records per batch in a 10 liter ultrasonic cleaner.:

CleanerVinyl Max (shown with Dry-Max fan and Micron 10 liter filtration system)

Great Video by J&B Music Studio Showing Their CleanerVinyl Max in Action

Check out this awesome video made by J&B Music in Joliet, Il. They use a CleanerVinyl Max to make sure that their vintage vinyl customers always get a shiny like-new record that plays to its full potential!

Completely Redesigned CleanerVinyl Pro System Released!

Exciting news! We just released our completely redesigned CleanerVinyl Pro System with a nice new look:

These are the updates we made: 

• Pro System now also fits on Made in Germany Elmasonic P60H dual-frequency ultrasonic cleaners. This great news for anyone interesting in highest quality cleaning performance. The P60H can run at 37 kHz and 80 kHz.
• The Pro motor unit now has integrated RPM control from ~0.2 RPM to 5 RPM (0.2 = 1 round in 5 min).
• There is now an integrated adapter for the larger holes of 7" singles.
• The Pro now comes with spacers for running 3, 6, or 12 records per batch.
• The Lift-Pro fan unit for accelerated air drying of the records now has 'air guide panels' that reduce the average drying time to only 15-20 min. Go 'sleeve-to-sleeve' in 35 min or less, and never touch a wet record!

Check out our new Pro System video for an introduction:

Combine the Pro with our Micron fluid filtration system for truly audiophile cleaning results!

All Pro System components are available separately, i.e. you can put together a system that fits your needs and your budget and upgrade later.

Or get a complete Pro System Kit and save some money!

What is the Best Ultrasonic Vinyl Record Cleaner?

You may have found this post while Googling "what is the best ultrasonic vinyl record cleaner?".

Of course our opinion here at CleanerVinyl is that our designs are the best! You would probably expect that...;-). 

We usually do not comment on our competitors, but we would like to take the opportunity to tell you why we think that our products deserve your consideration. When you look at the other products in the marketplace, ask:

• Are they designed and made in the US? 
• Are they designed by vinyl records enthusiasts, who understand what is needed for a great cleaning experience? CleanerVinyl was founded by Beolover, a premier provider of vintage Bang&Olufsen restorations. We live and breathe vinyl! Many of our competitors are ultrasonic cleaner manufacturers, who mainly aim to sell more cleaners by providing a vinyl record cleaning attachment.
• Are they shipping next-day and reach most destinations in the US in 2-4 days (international locations within 5-7 days)?
• Do they ship free in the US?
• Do they come with 1 year full warranty and a satisfaction money-back guarantee?
• Do they have dedicated and fast customer service? We usually answer inquiries same day, even on the weekend! We like discussing all things vinyl...give us a shout at info@cleanervinyl.com!
• Are their products ultrasonic cleaner independent? (in other words: can one upgrade or replace the cleaner at a later point in time?). For example, higher frequency cleaners are becoming more affordable right now...maybe you would like to get one in a year or so?...
• Are they ergonomically designed? Cleaning a bunch of records can get old pretty quick if the equipment is not easy to use! With this in mind CleanerVinyl Systems...
• are designed considering the needs of serious collectors and record stores, i.e. people who want to clean often, or large numbers of records.

• 

  Convenient vertical record loading.
  Take the motor unit to your records
  (and leave the ultrasonic
  in the garage!..;-)

  allow record loading in a different location than where the ultrasonic cleaner is located. That means the motor units can be removed and taken to your record collection instead of the other way around. Load the records and then safely carry the motor unit to the ultrasonic cleaner, which is usually placed in a location where the noise does not bother.
• allow record loading in vertical orientation, i.e. the records are simply stacked on the shaft of the motor unit. No balancing on a horizontal shaft or scraping along a slot...

  

  Micron in-tank fluid filtration system.

• can all be combined with state-of-the-art cleaning fluid filtration. Our Micron System circulates the cleaning fluid in a 6 liter cleaner tub through a 1 micron particle size rated volume filter within 4 min. This means you can clean many batches of records in a single filling of the cleaner before the fluid needs to be replaced. The Micron system also essentially eliminates re-deposition of dirt, i.e. no 'rinse cycle' is necessary. Just run the records and dry them and put them back into their sleeves. Done!
• have integrated air drying, which typically allows going sleeve-to-sleeve with a batch of records in about 45 min. Never touch a wet record!

  

  Most of our designs have a singles

  adapter built in on the base of the shaft.

• can clean 7" singles without the need of inserting adapter clips into the larger center holes of 45s.

Interested?
Check us out at CleanerVinyl.com!

How Do Wetting Agents (or "Surfactants") Help the Removal of Dirt from Vinyl Records During Ultrasonic Cleaning?

Here at CleanerVinyl we frequently get asked: "How do wetting agents work when cleaning records?" or "Why should I add a wetting agent to the distilled water in the cleaner?"

The simple answer is that a lot of dirt is 'hydrophobic' (i.e. water rejecting - think of oily fingerprints, for example) and cannot easily be dissolved by water. The reason for this behavior is that water molecules are 'polar' (i.e. have a positively and a negatively charged end), while many dirt molecules are non-polar (i.e. they are neutral). Polar and non-polar molecules cannot mix well. An example that you probably know well is when some oil is mixed with water. The oil forms droplets in the water, but does not dissolve. 

A way around this is to add molecules to the water that have a polar and a non-polar section. A well known molecule in the vinyl community is Tergitol, the main ingredient of Tergikleen (similar molecules are in Ilfotol and Kodak Photo-Flo).

The figure below shows a Tergitol molecule. The green end with the -OH group is the polar part of the molecule, while the red end is the non-polar part. 

The great thing about such molecules is that they love to form mono-layers around non-polar objects like dirt particles. When they do that, the non-polar ends bind with the surface of the dirt particle, while the polar ends stick out into the water.

This has the very useful effect that the water now 'likes' the dirt particle, which causes a net-force on the particle that helps drawing it into the water away from the vinyl surface. And this amplifies the effectiveness of the ultrasonic cleaning process.

Now you know why a few drops of a wetting agent is very helpful for the vinyl record cleaning process!

Surfactants bind to dirt particles and help prying them loose from the vinyl record surface. This makes the ultrasonic cleaning process much more effective.

What is the Best Ultrasonic Frequency for Vinyl Record Cleaning?

At CleanerVinyl we often get the question: "What is the best ultrasonic frequency for vinyl record cleaning?". As it is often the case in life, the answer is not totally straight forward. Generally, lower frequencies are better for removing coarse debris from the surface of the records, while higher frequencies are better for removal of smaller particles and 'chemical' residues, such as finger prints, grease, oil, or other residues from liquid contaminants.

Cavitation bubble size vs. ultrasonic frequency.
From: https://techblog.ctgclean.com/2011/12/ultrsonics-number-and-size-of-cavitation-bubbles/

The reason for this relationship is that the cavitation bubble size depends on the frequency in an inverse way, i.e. the higher the frequency, the smaller the bubbles, and vice versa:

In the best of all worlds one would use a multi-frequency cleaner to cover both ends of the "dirt spectrum". 

The good news is that decades of research have shown that a frequency around 40 kHz is a very good compromise in the middle of the frequency range, which covers the entire range of cleaning challenges. That is the reason why most standard ultrasonic cleaners on the market have a frequency close to 40 kHz. 

Our research at CleanerVinyl has shown that this is true, and that excellent cleaning results can be achieved on vintage vinyl records with 40 kHz cleaners. 

Check out our playlist of before/after demonstration videos that demonstrate impressively how well 40 kHz works for rejuvenating vintage vinyl records.

What are the Pretty Turntables Featured in CleanerVinyl Before/After Videos?

CleanerVinyl.com Customers keep asking us about the lovely vintage Bang&Olufsen turntables we show in our CleanerVinyl Before/After videos, where we demonstrate how well ultrasonic record cleaning works on vintage vinyl records.

A great example is our recently published video featuring a George Benson track, "No Sooner Said Than Done" from the album "Bad Benson", which we demonstrate on a beautifully restored Beogram 4004. 

Beogram 4004 Turntable from 1978 playing George Benson's "Bad Benson" Album after it was cleaned ultrasonically

Watch the video here:

These turntables usually are Beogram 4000, 4002, or 4004 units from the 1970s, which we restore at our Beolover branch (CleanerVinyl.com was founded by Beolover in 2014). Beolover started out in 2011 as a 'hobby on steroids', which turned into a small business with the mission to serve vintage B&O enthusiasts around the world. Beolover performs state-of-the-art restorations of vintage B&O, and most work we do is featured on our blog at beolover.blogspot.com.

If you are interested in getting such a turntable to play your ultrasonically cleaned records on, check out the blog or get in touch at beolover@gmail.com. While Beolover mostly restores units that are being sent/owned by customers, we also sometimes have fully restored Beograms or Beomasters up for sale on our "Audio for Sale" page. A bit like renting a time machine and traveling back to the 1970s to a B&O store!..;-). Beolover even gives the same 1 year full warranty on restored units like they came with in the day!

CleanerVinyl Easy3 Enhanced with a 'Wind Tunnel' for Accelerated Drying of the Records

Check out this awesome enhancement of our CleanerVinyl Easy3 model with a home made 'wind tunnel' for speeding up the record drying process. Alfred of 'Alfred's good vinyl blog' in Germany went to town on the Easy3 with cut to size IKEA "FINFÖRDELA" panels that direct the airflow towards the records on the Easy3 shaft. He also added a second fan to double the air flow.

Alfred said that adding the fans and the wind canal reduced the drying times to about 6-7 min from about 20 min with the standard setup. Well done!

Entire Album Posted after the Ultrasonic Clean: Enjoy One of the Best Kraut-Jazz Albums Ever as it Sounded in 1978 on Vinyl!

After recently posting our fifth CleanerVinyl before/after video featuring a track by eminent kraut-jazzer Volker Kriegel we thought, why not post the entire album? Now that it sounds like new after cleaning it with a CleanerVinyl EasyOne setup, it makes for a great example of a successful restoration of a 40 year old vinyl record. And it is awesome music! Check it out here:


Volker Kriegel recorded "House-Boat" in 1978 for the German MPS label (MPS 15535). It is one of our favorite German jazz albums here at CleanerVinyl. It is far ahead of its time, has great melodies and a nice laid back atmosphere. Perfect for some relaxed listening on a Sunday afternoon! Enjoy!

New Before/After Video: George Benson - "No Sooner Said Than Done" on the CTI Release "Bad Benson"

CleanerVinyl was founded by vinyl nuts who at some point realized that they needed a high throughput method for cleaning their massive vintage vinyl intake. Need is the mother of invention, and our first prototype led to CleanerVinyl One (now replaced by an improved design, CleanerVinyl EasyOne). When we buy a vintage record that plays rough, we record our favorite track on that album as it played when we received it. And when the record sounds great after cleaning we declare success, and record it again with the aim to publish before/after cleaning videos to promote the awesomeness of ultrasonic record cleaning.

So when we found "Bad Benson" (CTI 6045) in the bargain bin of a local thrift store we were excited! CTI is one of our favorite labels and our collection probably now contains about 50% of their output of great 1970s jazz. George Benson recorded it in 1974, and we love the track "No Sooner Said Than Done" on the B side. Nice and mellow, perfect for hanging out on a Sunday afternoon!

The record looked good. It did not have any major scratches and so we bought it for $2.99. Happy day, we thought. But when we put it on the platter and played it, it sounded very rough. That meant: Off you go to the ultrasonic, where we cleaned it with one of our new CleanerVinyl EasyOne units in a PS-30A cleaner (we like to use the EasyOne for the occasional cleaning of a single record...very easy to use. Instant gratification!)

And, wow, after our standard 15 min cleaning run in distilled water with a few drops of Kodak Photo-Flo, this record sounded great! Almost like new! So we decided that this one was a great example of the power of ultrasonic cleaning, and we decided to make it the focus of a CleanerVinyl Before/After video! Watch it on YouTube. Enjoy!:

Awesome New Customer Review About the CleanerVinyl Easy6 Audiophile Kit with Micron Fluid Filtration!

It is always a happy moment when we receive a happy customer email with a link to a enthusiastic review at CleanerVinyl. Check out Ivan Buzik's review below about cleaning 600 records with the Easy6 Audiophile Kit that he bought a couple months ago. He included this picture that shows the Micron filtration system filter after cleaning 600 records in comparison with a new replacement filter. Impressive!:

CleanerVinyl Micron filter after cleaning of 600 records (left) in comparison with a new replacement filter (right)

Review (click open the link below to visit the original posting at YouTube):

Posted by Ivan Buzik to our CleanerVinyl Micron Filtration System Video on YouTube on 4/17/2019:

I have purchased CleanerVinyl Easy6 system about 2 months ago. Before purchasing I have done some research on another Ultrasonic record cleaning solutions and have decided to go with CleanerVinyl. I talked to Rudy at first, the man behind this invention for advice what system to get (One, Three, Six, Pro, I did not consider Max what is 24 records at a time) and decided for Easy 6 - and that was a good choice. That comes with integrated dry fan and I have added filtration system to it - Micron and that was another good choice. What a big difference from the days when Michael Fremer did his first review of CleanerVinyl system (sometimes in 2016?). No need to empty tank for drying after each clean, just lift al records above the water and lock it at that place and start drying using fan. I was using the same water, just always adding some more to the required level and adding few drops of Kodak Photo-Flo 200 solution. In about 2 weeks I finished cleaning about 600 records with the same filter (see attached photo of the new and used one) and the water was still very clean with no signs of contamination. To clean a batch of 6 records usually took me 1 hour from taking records out from the sleeves, clean and dry them and putting back to new inner record sleeves. Cleaning time I set for 15 minutes and drying for 25 - 28 minutes and that was sufficient even when house temperatures were lower. In the summer time I believe that 20 - 23 minutes will be enough for drying time. Currently I enjoy listening to cleaned records and for some what I play more frequently use just a clean Audioquest anti static record cleaner brush if there is some debris on the record. When time comes, I’ll fill up Ultrasonic Cleaner container with water again and with new filter will clean another batch of records, again about 500-600 of them. Before using Ultrasonic Easy6 record cleaner my primary record cleaning machine was VPI HW-17 for many years. That unit was a big, heavy, like a tank. It did the job but not the same way as CleanerVinyl system does. My records are now pristine clean after using Easy6 system and sound great too. For those of you who are looking for record cleaning system or have traditional one using brush with vacuum I strongly recommend CleanerVinyl. It is a simple but great and inexpensive solution to keep your vinyl collection in a top shape. Ivan Buzik 

Why Is Using Fluid Filtration a Great Idea When Cleaning Vinyl Records with an Ultrasonic Cleaner?

In the early days of CleanerVinyl we usually replaced the cleaning fluid after a few batches of records. It was common to see dirt accumulate at the bottom of the cleaner after running 10-20 records through it. Of course this depended on how dirty the records were, but even with pretty nicely looking records, after a while we could see some dirt! And of course this made us think about redeposition of dirt during the cleaning process. We also did not like to dump the fluid so often...lugging distilled water bottles around and draining the cleaner all the time also was not our favorite thing to do.

So we designed the CleanerVinyl Micron fluid filtration system, which eliminates this issue. We implemented a high capacity filter with a state-of-the art 1 micron particle size rating (hence the name CleanerVinyl Micron...;-) in a fully in-tank contained package that keeps the liquid where it belongs: Inside the tank...no leakage possible by design! This picture shows the Micron system in action. It circulates a 6 liter tank in about 4 min.

CleanerVinyl Micron in-tank fluid filtration system.

The 'high capacity' aspect of the Micron system is a result of using a 'volume filter' (instead of the frequently used small surface filters or sponges, which need to be replaced or cleaned all the time to keep the fluid flowing). A volume filter buries the dirt deeply in pores throughout its volume, and therefore can be used for a long time before it needs to be replaced. We estimate that a Micron filter cartridge is good for more than 1000 records before replacement may need to be considered.

Our volume filters are custom made to have the larges volume possible that can be fit under the records in the tank, and they have a state-of-the-art particle size rating of 1 micron. This means that they filter particles that are larger than one micron (that is about 1/100th of the diameter of human hair) during the first pass through the filter. 

But it does not end there: Smaller particles are still filtered out by this type of filter, but the particle may have to pass through it a second or third time to be caught in a smaller pore (these filters have a distribution of pore sizes, and the rating reflects the largest pores they have). The consequence is that there is not really a lower limit to the particle size that can be caught, but it may take a bit longer until smaller than 1 micron particles are finally removed.

In practical terms, this means if you run the fluid continuously through such a filter, it will finally be ultra clean and pretty much all dirt is being removed from it. Consequently, redeposition is essentially eliminated, and the cleaning fluid only very rarely needs to be replaced.

Hence, records can be cleaner almost continuously with the same batch of liquid. That is the perfect solution for record stores and serious collectors who clean large numbers of records for their collections. Check it out at CleanerVinyl.com, the home of ultrasonic vinyl record cleaning!

What is the Best Vinyl Record Cleaning Method?

At CleanerVinyl we often get the questions "what is the best vinyl record cleaning method?" and "why should I use ultrasonic cleaning?".

The first question is actually not so easy to answer (the second is!-see below)! It really depends what your objective is. If you just want to wipe a bit of lint off the record before playing it, then we would recommend using a carbon fiber brush. If, on the other hand, you want to get a record ready for playing that you bought used in a record store or on ebay/discogs etc..., then a simple brushing does not cut it in most cases.

Then you want to use at least a bit of liquid to help dissolving the dirt out of the grooves. And then ultrasonic is really the way to go! Caked on dirt, mold, fingerprints and similar contamination are difficult to remove with traditional methods since it is difficult to get to the bottom of the grooves with a pad or sponge, or brushed wand, like you find them on classic cleaning devices such as the well-known Spin Clean or devices like the Okki Nokki. This figure shows the principal differences between the cleaning methods:

Penetration depth of record cleaning methods.

The ultrasonic method is able to enter the most intricate of features with its microscopic cavitation bubbles (see our previous post about how ultrasonic cleaning works). Each of these bubbles is a microscopic 'blaster' that blows dirt from the surface. These bubbles are so small, they can easily make it to the bottom of the grooves on the record where they release their cleaning jets. The cleaning fluid then carries the dirt away from the groove. This process can be further enhanced by adding cleaning fluid filtration to the mix. The CleanerVinyl Micron filtration system with its industry leading 1 micron rated particle volume filter is able to remove even the smallest dirt particles from the cleaning fluid while the cleaning process commences. This dramatically reduces the likelihood that a dirt particle makes it back to the surface before the cleaning process is over. 

CleanerVinyl Micron in-tank filtration system.

The Micron filtration system is able to circulate a 6 liter tank in about 4 min, and a 10 liter tank in about 6 min. This means that the cleaning fluid is pushed several times through the filter during a 15 min cleaning run. Another advantage besides eliminating redeposition is that the cleaning fluid can be used for many batches of records before it needs to be replaced.

New Before/After Video: Listen to Kraut-Jazzer Volker Kriegel Before and After Ultrasonic Cleaning

At CleanerVinyl.com we collect a lot of jazz albums. Our business really started out of necessity...our collection grew and we needed to clean the records. And our initial prototype became our first commercial product. The CleanerVinyl One (which has recently been updated and became the EasyOne).

Anyway, recently, we started expanding our collection of 'Kraut-Jazz' and one of this genre's most important musician, Volker Kriegel, has our full attention. We recently bought his album "House-Boat" that he recorded together with Wolfgang Schlüter in 1978 on the MPS (Musik Produziert im Schwarzwald - Music Produced in the Black Forest...;-) label.

This album came via Discogs and was listed as near mint ("NM"). We usually like to buy NM if it is at all affordable, since a good 'mechanical condition' is always the beast starting point before reconditioning an album with your ultrasonic cleaner.

When we received the album, visual inspection yielded a nearly perfect surface, no scratches and very few minor scuffs, probably from the original plain paper inner sleeve (of course we replaced that with a nice Mofi sleeve after we cleaned it!). While looking great, it played pretty rough, though. Indicating that this album probably spent some time in a basement or dusty attic. This made this record a nice test case for a CleanerVinyl Before/After video. You will be surprised how nice this almost 40 years old record sounded after we took it off our EasyOne demo unit, that we like to use for a quick clean of a single record on site.

We decided to use the fairly quiet track "Are You Really Living Next to Me?" on Side A for the demo. In the video below we first play a few seconds of the as-received record, and then we play the entire track recorded after the cleaning process. Enjoy!

What is the Best Spacing Between Vinyl Records When Cleaning Them with Ultrasound?

Many of our customers at CleanerVinyl.com wonder what the 'best' spacing between the vinyls is when cleaning them with an ultrasonic cleaner. There are a lot of 'strong opinions' out there on the discussion fora etc...our experience is that it does not matter that much. Sure there is some absorption of the ultrasonic energy on the records in the cleaner, i.e. if there are many records one should run the cleaner a bit longer, but in general, ultrasonic cleaning is able to penetrate very small cracks and crevices. Check out this video, which demonstrates that dirt can be removed between two pressed-together ceramic rings:

e

We performed many experiments at CleanerVinyl.com and we came to the conclusion that even at less than 0.5 inches spacing the records get clean very effectively if you run them for 10-15 min. Since the main effort during record cleaning is to take them out of the sleeves and putting them in the cleaner, running them a few minutes longer is really not a big deal. It is much more important to have a bigger batch size if high through-put is desired (imagine cleaning a collection of a few thousand records, or if you wanted to clean the vintage vinyl intake at a record store etc...

Check out our CleanerVinyl Pro and Max systems, which were designed for high throughput needs:

The Pro System (Up to 12 records, drying position, Micron fluid filtration):

CleanerVinyl Pro System

And the Max System (up to 24 records, Micron fluid filtration, drying fan):

CleanerVinyl Max System

Some of Our Favorite Grover Washington, Jr. Tunes

At CleanerVinyl we design and build vinyl record cleaning equipment out of passion for vinyl records. Our first design, the CleanerVinyl One (now replaced by the upgraded CleanerVinyl EasyOne), came directly out of a prototype that we built for cleaning our own collection.

We buy many vintage vinyls, and Grover Washington, Jr. definitely has some serious shelf space at CleanerVinyl!

So we thought, why not share a few of our favorite tunes as a YouTube playlist! Check it out here:

Enjoy!

An Introduction to the Ultrasonic Cleaning of Vinyl Records

Here at CleanerVinyl we often get the question "how does ultrasonic cleaning work", and what makes the process different from the classic record cleaning methods that use a special cleaning fluid in combination with brushes and/or vacuum wands.

Ultrasonic vinyl record cleaning is a very different approach compared to these classic methods. There is no mechanical interaction between a cleaning tool and the vinyl surface, which means no micro-scratches are introduced by the cleaning process. Brushes, pads and wands essentially remove dirt by scratching along the surface scraping away any dirt that is in their path.

​​

The ultrasonic process has a bit of a 'magical' aspect to it. One simply submerges the to be cleaned item (your vinyl records!) in the cleaning fluid (usually water with a bit of detergent or surfactant), turns the cleaner on and then the items get clean without any further interaction. 

The secret to this process is the formation of small evacuated bubbles in the water due to the interaction with the ultrasound that is transducer into the water. Piezo-electric ultrasonic transducers vibrate the bottom of the tank at 40 kHz or similar. This introduces sound waves into the fluid in the tank. Like in sound waves in the air, this introduces high and low pressure regions that travel through the tank. In the low pressure regions small evacuated bubbles form. These bubbles move randomly in the tank until they collapse ("cavitate"). This cavitation occurs predominantly in the vicinity of a surface. This is shown in the first Figure, which shows a series of high speed camera photos at 305000 frames/sec of a cavitating bubble in front of a surface.

Fig. from: E.A. Neppiras: "Accoustic Cavitation", Physics Reports 61(3), pp.159-251, 1980.

The photos show that an energetic water jet directed towards the surface is formed during the cavitation. This jet blasts away dirt particles attached to the surface. This is the main cleaning action of the ultrasonic process.

Here is another pretty picture of such a bubble with a more 3 dimensional view:

Fig. from: “Fundamentals and Applications of Ultrasonic Waves” by J. David N. Cheeke

The random movement of the bubbles before cavitation as well as the 'automatic self-alignment' of the water jets towards surfaces immersed in the cleaning fluid is the reason that the cleaning process works wherever the cleaning fluid can penetrate, even in difficult to reach nooks and crannies. This is impressively shown in the video below, where it is demonstrated that an ultrasonic cleaner can remove dirt between two pressed together ceramic rings. This implies that there is not much concern about 'perfect spacing' of the records, or the orientation of the records relative to the transducers. It basically works wherever the fluid can penetrate.

Exciting! All New EasyOne Ultrasonic Vinyl Record Cleaner!

Exciting times at CleanerVinyl.com! We updated our product line with the all new CleanerVinyl EasyOne.

This video gives a brief 2 min intro to the EasyOne System:

EasyOne is a complete redesign of our initial product, the CleanerVinyl One. We are a bit sad to see the One go since it was our first product ever. But after almost three years it was time for an update!

The EasyOne sports an adjustable rim adapter that can accommodate pretty much any 6 liter ultrasonic cleaner in the market today.

CleanerVinyl EasyOne can be adjusted to fit the rims of most 6 liter ultrasonic cleaners.

This is a great feature, since it does not lock you in with regard to the cleaner you are using. Future proof design! Imagine, 132kHz cleaners become more affordable, and then you would like to upgrade! The EasyOne is ready for this right out of the box.

Another great new feature is its integrated singles adapter, which allows cleaning 7" singles without needing to use adapter clips:

CleanerVinyl EasyOne accepts singles without the need for adapter clips.

Just put a single on the shaft, add the singles cap and then the magnetic end cap, and that is it!

Yes, it has a magnetic record mounting system! No more screwing! Just put a record on and pop the end cap on:

CleanerVinyl EasyOne: Records are mounted with a magnetic cap. No more screwing!

We also designed an optional Second Record Adapter (SRA) for the EasyOne. Just pop it onto the first record and then add a second one:

CleanerVinyl EasyOne with Second Record Adapter (SRA)

Of course the EasyOne is part of the CleanerVinyl System, and can be upgraded and expanded with our CleanerVinyl Dry fan unit and our CleanerVinyl Micron filtration system:

CleanerVinyl EasyOne Audiophile Kit: Combines EasyOne, SRA, Dry fan, and Micron filtration system.

This makes the EasyOne System hands down the most affordable audiophile-level ultrasonic vinyl record cleaner currently available!

The Micron system eliminates re-deposition of dirt for superior cleaning results. Its best-in-industry 1-micron rated volume particle filter keeps the cleaning fluid ultra clean. The Micron is able to circulate the entire 6 liter tank through its filter in about 4 min. This means the entire tank gets filtered several times during a standard 15 min cleaning run. A great side effect is that the cleaning fluid can be used for many batches before it needs to be replaced.

Please, visit the CleanerVinyl website for more info and purchasing. Check out our kit deals!