Olive oil record cleaning technique . . .

Posted by hiatt@alaska.net (A) on April 22, 2007 at 11:15:07

I have been buyng old 78s lately , and I had a strange thing happen while I was using my carbon fiber brush on a rotating 78. The rotating record actually grabbed the brush right out of my hand and flipped it onto the floor. I blamed the occurrence on the worn grooves first. However, when this happened again on another 78 that I purchased from the same Ebay seller, I decided to investigate.

Upon closer examiation, I noticed that the surface of the 78 was very sticky. This would account for the brush being grabbed ut of my hand. Before cleaning this unknown substance off the record, I wrote the seller and here is his response:

"I have, and listen to a lot of the these old records. I clean them with olive oil and have had no issues with that. As far as the sticky substance, I'm really not sure what that would be since I used the oil to clean them. Are the records you received from me unplayable?"

I didn't know whether to get angry or double over from laughter. I started to think about the grocery store produce manager rubbing oil on his cucumber, or the used car salesman painting the bald tires black on his oil hemorraghing 1980 Buick Century.

So, I wrote a long, polite, letter to the seller suggesting the problems of his olive oil technique and of better methods of cleaning. This was his response:

"I appreciate all the feedback as it is always nice to get other ideas. Since I sell a lot of these records, I will definitely take any help I can get. I guess that the oil just seems to bring back some of the luster these old records loose over the years. I can take one that is starting to look kinda weathered or tarnished and it just seems to put the spark back into them. But I am going to print off the information you emailed me and study it to see if I can come up with something better. Again, I certainly appreciate your help and knowledge and hope to do more business with you. Have a great week."

I had to laugh hard again, as those visions of the oiled cucumber and painted car tires were dancing in my head once more. I don't know whether to take the seller's answers as pure innocence or as those from a sleazy used record salesman.

Anyway, after heavy brushing in a punchbowl partly filled with water and Woolite and the label protected by the Groovmaster Label Saver, the olive oil is gone. As you can see by the picture, the record was in excellent condition and did not need to have its lustre restored with olive oil. Bill.

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Topic - Olive oil record cleaning technique . . . - hiatt@alaska.net 11:15:07 04/22/07 (12)

I wonder what Popeye would have to say about using Olive Oil to clean your records - Olly 20:12:52 04/22/07 (1)

She's skinny enough to ge down into the grooves. /nt\ - HenryH 06:57:11 04/23/07 (0)

Re: I wonder if it isn't the same guy who.......... - user510 19:21:05 04/22/07 (0)

I learned many a moon ago that... - 4yanx 11:49:47 04/22/07 (1)

Lube is good in a pinch.. - marc-homeslice 13:40:25 04/22/07 (1)

Advice on cleaning 78s? - M3 lover 11:28:36 04/22/07 (6)

Re: Advice on cleaning 78s? - mothra 13:23:32 04/22/07 (0)

Woolite is a cold water wash detergent that has the same - hiatt@alaska.net 12:18:49 04/22/07 (4)

Great references. - M3 lover 12:38:16 04/22/07 (0)

Apologize for no URLs for the links, but . . . - hiatt@alaska.net 12:37:33 04/22/07 (2)

A little HTML code for you - Metralla 16:11:16 04/22/07 (1)

Thanks a bunch . . . nt - hiatt@alaska.net 16:44:01 04/22/07 (0)

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