Youtube has become the “how to” guide for a generation. Your questions are now short instructional videos, many less than five minutes long. Youtube has shined down on the vinyl community and for the last few years, people have been asking this question: “How do I clean my records with wood glue?”
Wood glue is a real trend that promotes a better clean. Even Sebastian Bach of Skid Row fame promotes this technique, claiming how “You peel it off after a couple of days and it sounds brand new. There’s not a pop or a crackle between the songs.”
Before you consider taking Bach’s advice, you should consider if your records even need this. Many records only need to be cleaned with a special brush and an alcohol/water based solution. So, most new and used records are fine without wood glue. We are talking about a visibly scratched and dirty album. This is your parents’ copy of Wishbone Ash’s Argus that was passed among friends and fell victim to abuse and countless spins.
Youtube users Ghettofunk13, BlackSoldierFly, Vinyl Eyezz, and others have great instructional videos to get you started. But, there isn’t much examination of the record’s quality after cleaning. So, if you aren’t seeing great results using a traditional cleaning approach and are on the fence about wood glue, this may help.
Below are a few before and after images and audio samples of dirty albums cleaned with wood glue. Dookie Records and The Spacemen were clean with only wood glue, while the Buckinghams’ sample was cleaned with the brush/solution method and wood glue.
Dookie Records “No Can Do”
Before
After
The Spacemen “The Lonely Jet Pilot”
Before
After
The Buckinghams “Makin’ Up and Breakin’ Up”
Before
After
Final verdict: Sebastian Bach may be wrong. For scratched and dirty records, wood glue can’t make your albums sound brand new. At its best, it will reduce, not remove surface noise and sonic abnormalities. After the time and money spent using wood glue, you are better off using cleaning products from your local record store. If you’re still wondering how it works, hit up your local shop’s $1 section; there’s always an Air Supply record worth ruining.
For a more detailed discussion, visit Audio Karma.
