Any vinyl collector knows that taking good care of their records is very important.

Records get dirty. That’s just what is going to happen.

There are many products out there to turn a crackly record back into a smooth-playing piece of art. So which products are the best? In this article I will go over methods to clean your records and I will also talk about my favorite products to get the job done. Just to be clear, if a record is broken, it is broken. Once the grooves on a record are damaged, no product will bring it back to life.

How Do You Clean Vinyl Records?

1. Microfiber Cloth

The first way of cleaning a record is with a microfiber cloth. This type of cloth will not scratch records like a paper towel or tissue would. Whatever you do, don’t press down hard. Apply the cloth lightly.

2. SPIN-CLEAN RECORD WASHER STARTER KIT

This is more affordable than most record cleaning machines. It is an idiot-proof cleaning machine that works very efficiently. The Spin-Clean has it’s own reservoir where the solutions goes. It comes with everything you’d need to clean a record. You will be blown away by the quality of your record after using this machine. I highly recommend this machine. If you don’t believe me, than just read all the 175+ positive reviews.

3. RCA Vinyl Discwasher

If you don’t want to throw $80 into a record cleaning machine, This is for you! It only costs $15 and will bring your dusty-old record back to life. This type of cleaner and brush have been used since records were the only way to listen to music. It works excellent for reviving old LP records. If you are looking for how to clean vinyl records, this could be your answer.

4. Glue Method

This method will probably seem very sketchy for you. It might take a bit of courage to do, but is proven to work. The glue method involves pouring some wood glue all over your beloved record and waiting 24-48 hours. After this time period, you just have to carefully pull up the glue. Make sure you plan this all out and have a sense of what is going to happen. The video above does an excellent job explaining how this works.