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THE KEITH MONKS RCM
The method of cleaning is, essentially, quite simple but extremely effective. The record is spun on a turntable and a specially formulated liquid (one for vinyl and another for shellac records) is applied to the whole surface using a nylon brush with fine fibres. The combined action of the rotation, liquid and brush serves to loosen and dislodge any dust, paper fibres, particles of vinyl, etc. and these are held in suspension in the cleaning fluid. At the same time, the liquid will also dissolve grease from fingerprints, tar from tobacco and similar foreign artifacts and any static charge on the record will have been eliminated. After a suitable time, dependent on the initial state of the record, the cleaning fluid, complete with all the grime it has collected, is vacuumed off the record and out of the depth of the groove. If the record is exceedingly dirty, it may be necessary to repeat the process more than once to achieve optimum results. The record is perfectly dry at the end of this process and may be played immediately, if desired.
The process is completely safe and causes no damage to the record whatsoever. In fact, we regularly clean new records, purchased for our own collection. You would be surprised to find just how dirty a record is when it leaves the pressing plant!
Unlike a cleaning brush, which will move dust around but neither reach the bottom of the groove nor remove it from the record surface (you can always see a fine line of dust where the brush has been lifted from the record) this system leaves the surface and, more importantly, the walls and bottom of the groove, perfectly clean. Tests have shown that even brand new records will benefit from cleaning by this method. After cleaning by this process, the record will be in the best possible playing condition. To ensure that the record is not re-contaminated by insertion into an old inner sleeve (which will contain particles which have fallen off the record and paper fibres) we recommend a brand new sleeve be used. For this reason, all records cleaned by us are returned in a new inner sleeve. For continued daily use, we recommend a carbon-fibre brush for regular cleaning before playing. These are available from any decent record shop at minimal cost and are infinitely preferable to any felt faced cleaning brush, as they can reach into the bottom of the groove and also discharge any static which builds up.
Providing the record is not physically damaged by scratches, scuffs, pits caused by dropping the stylus into the groove, etc., you should enjoy many additional years of pleasure from your music after the record has been professionally cleaned in this fashion. Similarly, surface noise caused by poor material used in the manufacture of the record (particularly 78's) will not be eliminated.
WHAT WE CAN DO FOR YOU
We attend a number of Collectors Fairs and record shops throughout the year. We demonstrate the record cleaning machine, play samples of our electronic restoration service and can clean your records while you wait. However, it is a fairly slow process (averaging some 12 LP's per hour) and large collections can not be handled in this way. The cost of cleaning a single record is 2.50 Euros, three for 7.00 Euros, inclusive of the new inner sleeve. If you have a large collection, then we would be happy to quote a 'collectors price' once we know how many records are involved. We are also exclusive agents for this machine. If you have a very large collection, or are involved with broadcasting, archival stores, etc, contact us for details of purchase.
