I never realized what evil lurks in a record’s grooves. I didn’t know that records need to be regularly washed, mopped, and vacuumed. If fifty cents worth of pvc had any sanitary habits, they’d never occurred to me. Then a booklet with bright orange and blue covers came in the mail. It was the new edition of Watts, Just For The Record, a twenty-seven page guide to record protection, maintenance, and preservation based on the ingenious philosophy of the late Cecil E. Watts, British musician, recording engineer, and scientist who devoted his life to record care.

“The musical content of the record is contained within a tiny groove that extends in a tightly wound spiral more than half a mile. The groove itself is actually narrower thari the thickness of a human hair,” says Watts. He describes the factqrs that influence the record’s dynamic integrity: stylus condition and pressure, foreign matter, and static electricity. Most turntables and changers track at two grams or vless of stylus pressure., so the concern is to remove all dust, dirt, and grease from the record surface so the stylus won’t squash if into the grooves as the record is played. Watts identifies static electricity as the villain; the record builds up a static charge as it plays and this static electricity acts as a magnet to attract dirt, dust, and fluff. A dirty record will distort; fuzz, pop, skip, and sound like shit. “When a record is new and clean,” says Watts, “it can produce these variegated sound patterns with astonishing fidelity. But if allowed to become dirty and contaminated with pollutants of one kind or another, it loses its magical properties and dnless the condition is corrected, it must be discarded.”

The Vac O Rec in operation: the record spins through a cleaning slit which removes dust and discharges static electricity. (Photo by Richard Robinson).

Many rock hi-fi buffs think record cleaning is sissy' stuff invented by middle-aged audiophiles. If you have more than two hundred dollars invested in your hi-fi system and thinkrthis, you’re wrong. Advances in electronics have increased the frequency response ptnd made signal fidelity of sound systems a must; otherwise the better your hi-fi the worse your records will sound.

Watts invented a riumber of record cleaning tools. His Dust Bug, Preeher, and Anti Static Fluid are classic of the genre and his Record Care Kit is a standard audio store item. The booklet is included with the kits, or available separately for $1.00. It describes his record care program in detail: precise instructions explain how to handle, play, and store records, how to clean them, and how to clean the stylus.

Douche it by the book.

Watts’ tools have one drawback: you nave to clean the record. His fluids and brushes and pads require minimal comprehension of record care theory and some manual dexterity in actual record cleaning.

I confess I always blew the dust off my records, then wiped them clean on my sleeve. With due respect to Watts’ lifetime work, those bottles of murky fluid and little brushes make me nervous, and I certainly can’t contend with them as part of the record playing process, no matter how healthy they keep my records.

Vac O Rec, a machine introduced by VOR Industries of Irvine, California, has automated Watts’ principles and made record cleaning as easy as putting the record on the turntable. Vac O Rec is a record cleaning machine. It removes microdust and static electricity from the record automatically. You plug the machine into an ac outlet, turn it on, insert the record to be played into a slit at the top of the unit, and let the record spin for thirty seconds, then remove the record. This process is repeated after the record is played and before it is stored back in its jacket. A Vac O Rec costs between thirty and , forty dollars and it will not remove finger print grease or other globs from the record surface-, but it does provide routine maintenance. I would suggest getting a Watts Record Care Kit and a Vac O Rec. Use the Vac O Rec as you play your records and keep the Watts kit for major restoration jobs and an occasional washing of your most heavily handled records.

Another method of keeping records clean is by washing them in warm water with a liquid detergent. This does work, but you have to be very careful. Do not rub the plastic surface and be sure to dry the record thoroughly by dabbing at it with a soft towel. The record must be completely dry down to the bottom of the grooves before it is played. I’ve done this with records that were grimy, but don’t recommend it as a normal procedure. It is better to use the cleaning fluids made by Watts or other record care systems. If you’re stuck with a dirty record and no cleaning tools, however, a careful washing is better than nothing.

Watts booklet and tools are sold by Elpa Marketing Industries, Inc., New Hyde Park, New York, 11040 and Scottsdale, Arizona, 85260.

Vac O Rec is made by VOR Industries, 1652 Kaiser Avenue, Irvine, California, 92705.