Ultrasonic Vinyl Record Cleaner Dark Grey

Why clean vinyl records.

Dust scraped off the edge of the vinyl with a needle, oils, fats, and chemicals deposited from the air inevitably accumulate in the grooves of the record - exactly where the mechanical recording method is intended to store sound information. As a result, clicks, cracks, and noise that shouldn't be there make their way into the audio path along with the music.

If the clicks, cracks, and noise are caused by dirt rather than mechanical damage to the groove, they will disappear or be significantly reduced after a good cleaning. Even new platters benefit from cleaning, as the factory process leaves a greasy film in the grooves.

Ultrasonic principle of operation.

The washing machine uses the principle of an ultrasonic bath, which is widely practiced in industry: an ultrasonic frequency emitter (20-100 kHz) immersed in a liquid (in our case, distilled water) creates compression/stretching waves in it. When the compression/stretching zone reaches any dirt on the groove of the record, bubbles (cavitation) form near the contaminated areas, which separate the dirt from the vinyl and carry it away into the water. Usually, ultrasonic machines are much more expensive than mechanical ones, and the HumminGuru is a nice exception.

How to use HumminGuru?

Before washing, it is advisable to clean both sides of the record with an antistatic brush. It will remove light dust, fluff, and mold so that they do not contaminate the water during the wash. Press the side and pull out the transparent water container from the machine. Fill it with distilled water and pour it into the upper plate wash compartment. Replace the container - it will collect the dirty water later. Lower the plate into the wash compartment and program the duration of the wash and dry cycles. (You can run one wash cycle without the plate to deaerate the water.)

For heavily soiled plates, you can add a surfactant-based detergent to the distilled water before the wash cycle.