Record cleaning - roller, Anyone buy one of these?

[Phono-lover]

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Saw this on Amazon and bought it. My old record brush, less that an year old, was falling apart. It was not working well and leaving lots of debris on the records. At closer inspection it was the little brush fibers.
This roller is super sticky, just like the pet hair rollers. It completely removed everything on the record and just rinses off. Records look new after a quick roll.

Only problem I have been having is that it needs to be washed off and then the roller will not work again until it is dry. Nothing I tried to dry it with worked. Paper towels and micro-fiber cloths seem to leave lint on it.
So, it works for the current side I am playing but not dry by the time I get to side two.
I guess the solution is to buy another. One for side A and one for side B.

Anyone else have one of these? Opinions would be appreciated about this product.

[hobie1dog]

A hair dryer wouldn't work to quickly dry it?

[gofar99]

Hi, I used one from a different company and found it to deposit a residue on the LPs. After a few "cleanings" the LPs would collect gunk in the grooves. Yes it did get off the dust....but the gunk was horrible. Serious sound degradation and stylus build up. It took Simple Green followed by intensive cleaning in my ultrasonic cleaner to get the gunk out. The one you pictured may be different, but I would be wary. It would be interesting to hear from others to see if they had the same experience. BTW the roller makes a good lint remover from clothing. :?

[jdjohn]

I use one of these made by Tonar:

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I don't roll the entire record with it, but rather first use a brush to collect any dust into a line, and then use the roller across the line to get it off the record. Actually, I blow the line first to get larger particles off, and then roll. I only rinse the roller every so often when I think the tackiness has faded, which is about once a month...or longer depending on usage. I just use warm water and rub with my fingers (no soap) and let it air-dry (no towels!).

I've had no residue left on my records, nor any build-up on my stylus. And trust me, I am very religious about having a clean stylus. I use a 30X loupe to examine it before a playing session, and if there's any doubt, I use a USB microscope at about 200X for further examination.

It is quite an OCD ritual I have. Put the record on the platter, apply a clamp on the spindle to hold the record secure, spin the platter/record by hand while holding a brush across it with my other hand, use the tacky roller across the line of dust (if any), brush the stylus, examine the stylus with a loupe if in doubt, and THEN play the record.

I wash newly acquired records and use poly-lined sleeves, so that helps reduce dust/debris/static in the first place.

[Alec124c41]

If you are using a carbon fiber brush, lay it across the grooves of the turning record, and slowly pull it off the edge of the record. It will take the dust with it, and not leave that line. You will, however, get a small pile of dust at the side of the platter.

Cheers,
Alec

[jdjohn]

Most of the time, I use a velvet-type pad, but I do have a carbon fiber brush as well. Either way, I sort of like the line of dust instead of a pile of dust. I can use the tacky roller across the line.

My larger issue is getting table space from my wife so that I can do some washing. Her winter-time plantings indoors are taking up valuable table workspace [-X

[Alec124c41]

If you mist the velvet pad with a small spritzer ( I use one that came with my glasses), a slight rotation of the pad should pick up the dust. This also leaves a bit of humidity at the record surface to negate ststic.

Cheers,
Alec

[Phono-lover]

Thank you JDJOHN for that advice. I will use the roller to get that last line of dust off of the record. It makes sense that a roller will not get very deep in the grooves. It probably does nothing to remove the debris in there at all.

I looked at the package the roller came in and it says nothing about records. The Amazon text lead me to believe that it was made for that. Here is the advert copy:
"Acrux7 Anti-Static Viscous Silicone Cleaning Roller, Cleaner for Vinyl Record & LCD Screen, Washable & Reusable"

One review of this product said that after about 100 uses it is no longer sticky. I have only had mine a month and used it on 5 records. I will keep a log of the uses to see if that is true.
Amazon now has the RECORD ROLLER and VINYL BUDDY. Same product at $2 and $4 more. One is RED so it has to be better. :-)

[jdjohn]

Happy to help. In any event, I think those rollers are supposed to go across the grooves, and not parallel with the grooves.

Amazon reviewers can be stupid. It would not surprise me if the reviewer referring to the roller losing stickiness after 100 uses had never even cleaned/rinsed the roller...like they thought it should last forever without being cleaned. Of course I could be very wrong about that.

[AudioFeline]

The pet-hair sticky rollers are bad for records, as noted above, will leave a residue.
I believe that the sticky rollers made for records do not leave a residue. I prefer to be conservative, so will not use them, just in case. The need to wash it after each use will drive me mad.