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Re: [ARSCLIST] question regarding cleaning shellac
Hi David,
From personal experience this is a very touchy subject for many
collectors. Nevertheless, please permit me to separate your question into
two parts.
In the short term, assuming an adequate applicator was employed, cleaning
with the diluted dish washing liquid will remove a noticeable amount of
contaminants & afford some sonic improvement. It is by no means
thorough. A variety of contaminants remain including components of the
commercial detergent [perfumes, oils, dyes, etc]. For the most part, all
of these remaining materials are biological feed stocks to support future
growth of mold & mildew. Please remember that most liquid dish washing
detergents are not very effective are removing mold & mildew nor are the
formulated to rinse residue free.
The use of the tooth-brush is hard to quantify. Bristle configurations
vary & what is soft to one may not be to someone else. Relative to "hard"
surfaces such as old shellac, Diamond Discs & acetates I don't believe a
soft tooth brush is harmful, it's just poor at reaching into groove
effectively. The idea is to present a fiber mass that fits well in the
groove & has the characteristics required to strongly & safely agitate the
cleaning solution. Random directionality, inappropriate fiber construction
as well as the choice of fiber are variable that must be carefully
controlled is the quality & safety of the process is to be assured. This
is why I've repeated argued that variations of painter pads are not as
effective as some would believe. Careful listening comparisons routinely
demonstrate the value of better cleaning materials.
It is a wonderful experience to hear the results of thorough cleaning of
78s as well as modern vinyl pressings. We hope later this year to evaluate
alternate methods for the cleaning of lacquers prior to plating in an
effort to improving the quality of modern vinyl pressings. And don't be
fooled. Great analog mastering & recording engineers are still among us
as well as the facilities to produce the highest quality of pressings. In
the end we hope to re-define the standard for recorded sound with the goal
of encouraging a greater effort to be made to bring digital recording
technology up to this level.
It matters to us & should to others, regards,
Duane Goldman
At 04:39 PM 1/23/2003 -0500, you wrote:
A question thrown out in general, but in particular to the doctor:
What harmful effects occur from using a detergent such as Ivory liquid,
highly diluted, applied to a shellac disc with a soft bristled
tooth-brush?
looking forward to some responses.
David Sager
------
h. duane goldman, ph.d. | P.O. Box 37066 St. Louis, MO 63141
lagniappe chem. ltd. | (314) 205 1388 voice/fax/modem
"for the sound you thought you bought" | http://discdoc.com