Apparently you can clean 78s with WD-40. I'd not tried it before, but I have one record that was so dirty it just wouldn't play - dirt puts more drag on the needle, and the spring motor isn't as powerful as an electric one, so it just ground to a halt after two or three rotations. My normal cleaning method of soapy water and a toothbrush didn't help, so I tried the WD-40... and sure enough, it plays perfectly now! #gramophone#RetroTech#records#music
It's still not perfectly clean, as fluff collects on the end of the needle as it plays. I played it three times back to back and there was still some fluff on the third needle - although much less than on the first one! But it plays, and it sounds fine, so that's the important part.
@ApproachingSteed Yeah, all sorts of ways to clean records - for vinyl I have a setup that works reasonably well using an alcohol-based cleaning solution that I rinse off with distilled water. I would like to get a vacuum-based cleaner one day, but as you say that needs a wet/dry vacuum and that's expensive. Those gel stylus cleaners are great too.
None of that is any use for 78s though, as shellac is soluble in alcohol! And of course there's no need to clean single-use steel needles.
@thomas Ah, I see. I don't have any 78s. I knew the cheap washer "says" it handles 78s, but sounds like you need to be careful. Pretty sure the cleaning liquid used with my cleaner is essentially watered-down Drip Dry like for dishwashers. Not sure if that has alcohol of not.
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