Wet Playing Vinyl

Cleaning records with glue vinyl gong groove burn wet play and more.

Wet playing vinyl.

Never play or store a wet record. The stylus life will last forever because wet play does for a stylus what oil does for an engine. The solution you use to wet play also evaporates and causes other problems including not allowing the heated vinyl from the stylus to heat and cool as it does from normal air play. A kieth monks style record vacuum may be required to remove washed dirt from the groove bottom.

With thousands of records in our music collections the last thing one wants to do is ruin them. Instead using a record with moisture on it can damage the grooves and create an even bigger mess to clean. Never wet play your vinyl records. Most guys are against wet playing records as many feel that the liquid enters the stylus through the cantilever and loosens the glue holding it in place.

Doing so only causes the stylus to spread the abrasive sludge deeper into the grooves possibly doing irreversible damage. The risk of vinyl damage from wet play does exist and it should be tested with your own methods. It may initially sound better on some old records but the wet surface will dry and just end up leaving more residue overall. Have you ever tried playing your records sopping wet.

Never spritz water or wet play a vinyl record in an attempt to quiet the crackle and pops. Never wet play a vinyl record does wet playing a record help reduce noise. Check out this experiment with a play test included. Wet playing sounds like an ideal solution at first but is not.

Do not do this. Make sure that you fully wipe down your records with a microfiber cloth or let them air dry on a cleaning mat. Thoroughly clean and dry them before playing. Just properly clean your records and you will be better off in the long run.