June 18, 2011. Paul Hixon
credit: kevindooleyThis article has been written for the new DJ that has chosen second hand DJ turntables and vinyl as his main method of DJing. If you are going to collect and hold onto a large collection of vinyl then there are a few things that you should probably know.
Vinyl will last for a very long time if cared for properly. Also, if you do not care for you vinyl very well then it is going to be expensive to buy the same records over and over on a regular basis. Collecting vinyl is expensive enough as it is without having to do this.
One of things you are going to have to learn to do is to clean your vinyl records and other used DJ equipment. Sometimes you will have to clean them because you have not stored them with very much care. Other times the vinyl will have to be cleaned because you purchased it in poor condition; the last person to own the record may have left it in a damp place where mould and dust collected on the album. If there is only dust on your record then it should be simple to clean; you just have to wipe the dust off with a carbon fibre brush. If there is mould caked into the grooves then you may have to clean the record with soap and water. One of the things you should keep in mind about cleaning records is that if the records are actually damage then cleaning them will not improve the quality of the sound. If the records are scratched then you may simply have to buy new records or attempt to repair them.
I have given you a couple different techniques for cleaning your vinyl. Hopefully you will take very good care of it so that you do not even have to resort to these methods.
Updated June 18, 2011. Published June 6, 2011. Paul Hixon
