Clearing a skip with a wet toothpick

[derspankster]

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I own a nice copy of Marsalis Standard Time - Wynton Marsalis (Columbia FC 40461) that I bought used locally some time back. It sounded great except for an annoying skip on side 2 that has kept me from even playing it. I recently read a post on one of the forums about cleaning ticks and pops with a wet toothpick. I decided to endeavor to find and remove the offending deeply embedded dirt or foreign substance that was causing the record to skip. Previous cleanings with my Spin Clean failed to dislodge the offending substance. Carbon fiber brushes did nothing.

I was able to locate the problem with the help of magnifying glass. I wet the end of a pointed toothpick and gently scraped the record surface with the toothpick at about a 45 degree angle.

To my delight the speck popped right out immediately and the pop and skip is gone. Frankly, when I first read about this technique I was skeptical. I'm not sure it would work every time but I sure had success the first time.

der

[derspankster]

I need to add that I followed the grooves as closely as I could and in the playing direction (clockwise) I didn't press hard at all and it took just one short pass. I actually saw it pop out with magnification.

[dysmike]

Very cool, I have an otherwise rather minty album with a single skip.. in the last 4 seconds of the final song. I'll have to try this.

[derspankster]

I had what I considered an unplayable disk so I decided to take the chance. Hope it works out for you dysmike. Let us know.

[Pauw]

I'm impressed.....it is often a surprisingly small and simple thing that will cause a skip. The big thing is find it and then remove it but this sounds good to me. :D

[Spinner45]

I need to add that I followed the grooves as closely as I could and in the playing direction (clockwise) I didn't press hard at all and it took just one short pass. I actually saw it pop out with magnification.

From here on in I'm abandoning my using a wire brush with perpendicular strokes. This looks to be a lot better. :)

But but, the wire brush is the only thing that can DEEP clean those grooves!
Except for, what I use, a sand blaster.

[derspankster]

From here on in I'm abandoning my using a wire brush with perpendicular strokes. This looks to be a lot better. :)

But but, the wire brush is the only thing that can DEEP clean those grooves!
Except for, what I use, a sand blaster.

When it's REALLY dirty! Does it add any surface noise? ;)

Just don't use any of that "Scrubbing Bubbles". It cleans well but it will take your fingerprints right off!

[Spinner45]

From here on in I'm abandoning my using a wire brush with perpendicular strokes. This looks to be a lot better. :)

But but, the wire brush is the only thing that can DEEP clean those grooves!
Except for, what I use, a sand blaster.

When it's REALLY dirty! Does it add any surface noise? ;)

I can't really tell, the compressor motor on the sandblaster drowns out any noise from the record.

[derspankster]

Moving on. The wet toothpick technique really did work for me. Maybe I was lucky but I've only tried it that one time so far. If anyone gives it a go please share your experience.

[crofk]

I’ve used it for years now. Really works pretty good with harming the record.

kc

[derspankster]

I’ve used it for years now. Really works pretty good with harming the record.

kc

I wish I'd have heard about it years ago.

[mikethompson1981]

I gotta try this on a Queen record I have, thanks for posting this up.

[ilyavictoria]

I just put a drop of distilled water on that spot and use sharpened toothpick.

[Jim Leach]

How about the wood glue trick, just where the skip is?

[dunrollin]

Thank you so much for this tip. Tried it on an otherwise perfect ebay purchase and it worked just perfect.