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  1. THE BACKGROUND

    I bought nearly all my vinyl from new and looked after it, or at least stored it, well and was always a bit dismissive of the need for wet cleaning. More recently, I’ve been buying it second-hand or via eBay or Discogs too. Nine times out of ten, S/H purchases have turned up smelling of damp, in musty sleeves, and the vinyl looks dirty. 45rpm 12″ singles, which should sound best, often sound like bacon and eggs frying, especially ones without an inner sleeve. In the worst cases, it sounds like a wasp in a jam jar and I’ve gone back to the sellers for a refund.

    A recent purchase of a little-played Blue Nile 12″ (early 1990s single on Linn Records, so it should be a great master & pressing) sounded like both frying bacon and a wasp in a jam jar. I cleaned it with my carbon-fibre brush, but this did little other than remove visible surface dust and it still sounded rubbish. This prompted me to investigate wet cleaners.

    THE OPTIONS

    There are a few on the market:

    Knosti Disco Antistat £40
    Knosti Disco Antistat (2nd Gen) £58
    Spin Clean Mk II £89
    Okki Nokki RCM Mk 2 £435

    The difference between the two Knostis appears to be little more than a feeble-looking plastic handle. The Spin Clean is another, very similar looking, manual cleaner; manufactured in the USA and imported to the UK. The Okki Nokki is like a turntable with a vacuum hose instead of a tonearm.

    I bought the original Knosti for £40. It comes with a base unit pre-fitted with goat-hair brushes, drying rack to hose 15 records, a plastic clamp to cover the record label, a plastic adaptor for punched-out 7″ singles, a litre of cleaning fluid and a funnel & filter to return fluid to the bottle after use.

    The cleaning fluid is little more than distilled water and IPA in 90:10 proportions. Both can be purchased cheaply from the local chemist, so no need to spend £30 on a replacement bottle.

    CLEANING

    During operation, fill the base unit up to the level of the brushes, fix the label clamp/spindle to the record, lower it into the base unit, rotate the record with either the dimples on the clamp or gentle hand pressure on the edge of the vinyl. The brushes clean both sides at once (I gave each about 10 whole rotations). Remove the record from the base unit, remove the label cover/clamp, place record in rack, allow to dry (I gave it an hour). The record comes out dripping wet but the fluid does not seem to damage the paper label and it dries with no visible impact.

    TESTING

    Put quite simply, WOW! Filthy-looking, noisy vinyl now looks clean and sounds like new. Far fewer clicks and pops, no distortion, sound quality much improved all round. No more wasps in jam jars. No more fluff on the stylus at the end of play.

    CONCLUSION

    I am now a convert.

    If I bought more s/h vinyl, I’d consider buying an Okki Nokki machine. My local S/H record shop has one and will clean records for a small fee, so I might give that a go.

    I haven’t yet tried cleaning new vinyl (there are reports that removing the mould release agent used during stamping improves sonics from the off). The best 40 quid I’ve spent on an upgrade in memory.

    I have a theory that 12″ singles without inner sleeves gather dust, and small particles of card migrate to the vinyl grooves over time. I’m going to spend another £15 on 50 poly liners and clean all my records which don’t have inner sleeves.

    I’m not too sure about reusing the cleaning fluid – the filter was filthy after 15 records and I can see grot in the bottom of the bottle. I’m off to the chemist next.

    Thanks to @minibreakfast for the advice.

    • I use coffee filters (instead of the ones they supply) and they seem to do a better job although it takes a little longer. – the Knosti Disco Antistat is pretty much all I need- it says here.

      Also I agree about the sleeves

      I always clean new vinyl to prevent static, although, no doubt, I’m doing it all wrong, etc.

    • T’is indeed a great bit of kit, but don’t forget to rinse! Need to put every vinly through the machine again with some clean water or you’ll leave some residue in t’grooves.

      I salvaged an unplayable Beggars Banquet in the white cover with one of these – sounds astonishing.

  2. Groovy!

    Giving visibly dirty records a primary clean in soapy water, or even just a blast under the tap, will make the cleaning fluid last a lot longer.

    Also, there seems to be some magic ingredient in the supplied fluid that is great for sorting particularly static-y records (which are usually brand new ones). It leaves a little white residue on your stylus for the first play, but it the results are amazing.

    I realise some of the above is probably making Moose fnarr and snork himself into a coma, but there was really no other way to put it.

  3. I’ve found most records with paper or plastic inner sleeves don’t require wet cleaning if carbon fibre brush is used and the records returned to the cover with the opening inside the sleeve.

  7. I have a Knosti hack (I am an engineer, so I have a curious mind). Extract one of the brushes (expect lots of swearing and sore fingers), replace it in the slot, but don’t push it right down to the bottom end-stop.

    This allows one brush to clean the run-in groove and playing surface, and the other to clean the playing surface and the run-out groove (right up to the edge of the label). You will, of course, have to turn the record round to clean both run-in and run-out grooves of both sides.

    Handy for LPs with a locked run-out groove such as side 2 of Sgt Pepper’s or the first Heaven 17 album. Also for long 12″ singles like New Order’s The Perfect Kiss.

    • Make a V for Victory sign with your forefinger and middle finger – they’re both similar lengths. Imagine you have very hairy fingers. Now imagine dropping a small record into the gap between – both sides will be covered (more or less) equally up to the tip of your fingers. That’s how the Knosti is delivered.

      Now make a V sign with your little finger and the your third finger – they’re different lengths. Now think hairy fingers, small record, etc. Your little finger cleans from the bottom to 3/4 of the way up, the third finger cleans from the top to 3/4 of the way down. That’s how my Knosti is hacked.

      I do wish we had a functioning image host!

  10. I have the Mk2 version with the ridiculous handle and use Minibreakfast’s parent pending Moonshine recipe for the cleaning fluid. It’s a simple but effective bit of kit. However, the first time I used it, cleaning fluid leaked under the clamp and left a tide mark on the red paper label of the Bob Dylan LP I was cleaning, which was bloody irritating. I have since had the clamp upgraded by HiQual. It’s now a much better fit, can be done up tighter and makes a much better seal. That cost me £20 but I reckon it was money well spent. I was moved to write a review of the Disco-Antistat on Am*zon which is here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R23T1CMD3NTGTX/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewpnt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B018HXN9OA#R23T1CMD3NTGTX

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