Re: How accurate is the Vinyl Myths wiki entry
Reply #38 – 2019-10-10 02:44:51
Btw another vinyl myth that could probably use busting is 'if you clean an LP with an alcohol solution, you will *remove its protective coating*'. what 'protective coating' would that be? I definitely have to call bullshit on that myth as well as I've actually cleaned a record that way. Probably started by some company that sells LP cleaner. Vinyl is a very tough plastic, so there is zero need to have a protective coating on it. Although I wish CDs had the coating Blu-Rays have after seeing how some people mishandle them. I'm not the type of person that abuses their stuff but I'm not exactly trusting of letting others handle or touch my things. ... here's a currently online example of this: "The most contentious of the lot and one that will have a few readers and some hi-fi journalists up in arms is pure, isopropyl alcohol (as opposed to the remnants of your last vodka and tonic). This stuff can be disastrous for vinyl. The problem is, it also lies within many commercial record cleaning products, so look carefully at the ingredients before you use them. Pure alcohol strips away much of the rubbish and gunge from grooves – which is great – but it also removes the protective coating that rests on the groove walls/floor. I don’t mean the oft talked about ‘release agent’ that a record pressing plant utilises and is often left to bung up vinyl grooves, either. Once that essential protective layer is gone, music sounds harsh and brittle. I’ve done a series of sound tests to prove this phenomenon. Initially, alcohol-cleaned records sound great. After the third or fourth clean, they sound terrible. By then, though, it’s too late and your record has been irretrievably scarred." ~ https://thevinylfactory.com/features/8-easy-and-affordable-ways-to-clean-your-vinyl-records-by-hand/