I "elmered" some vinyl today, and thought I may have made a big mistake.

I had a bottle of the white elmer glue kicking around, and applied a layer of it with a cheap children's water color brush.

Now, I know the wood glue is the preferred method, but with 4 bottles for a dollar selling at my local store, I figured I'd give it a shot.

The glue, after the application, sat gooey and tacky twelve hours later. It did not look good for my experiment.

And spots on the record seemed to be clear- I couldn't tell if the glue had become dry and transparent in these spots, or if the glue reticulated away from choice spots on the vinyl.

I went to bed unsure as to how it would turn out in the morning.

Well, I woke up to find the glue dry and primarily clear, with just a spot or two being a milky, semi-opaque hue.

I grabbed a corner of the glue, and peeled off this huge, rubbery membrane of dried elmer's glue...


...as well as all the detritus that had been on the record!

The vinyl looked pristine!

Now, before I go any further, this wasn't your typical "dirty" record, but one that was salvaged from a box of records that had experienced water damage, and had grown mold on the vinyl, that resembled treacle from a well, and the cardboard sleeves and paper liners resembling mottled blue cheese.

To add further insult to injury, these poor records also suffered an accumulation of basement dust thick and the consistency of concrete powder.

Well, the glue stripped away the muck and filth as a facial masque peels away the blackheads and flaky skin from an aged beauty queen at the parlor. The vinyl glistened!



I dunno if using white elmer's glue has any negative effects- I know the wood glue is a popular choice though.

Anyhow, I was skeptical but after peeling away the glue I am now a convert for tackling those "impossibly filthy" records with this substrate.

I would think that a mixture of 50/50 with distilled water would give you the same results with a much quicker drying time, a thinner film, and a lot less glue. I think my wife has a Barry Manilow album I could try it on.

So, how it sounds now?

did you give it a final once over with a standard cleaning solution? i would think with the mold that a final rinse would be a good idea.

Haven't spun the record yet- TT is not currently hooked up- just swapped in the new pre-amp since my last one bit the dust.

But visually it's an amazing transformation.

Oh- and I'll try that distilled water trick- hopefully it'll help.

And yes- a final rinse with solution should be done to remove any grime that could still possibly be left behind.

But give this trick a try- it's a popular one as of late, with the wood glue.

Let us know how it sounds.
I have heard this is a good way to rescue Filthy records.
I would think this is overkill for the average LP.

overkill for the typical record? Indeed!

This is best for the record so filthy you don't want to put it in your RCM.

But there's better time and cost effective ways for your standard album, for sure!

Thanks Paul, I think a lot of us have been curious as to how this really works.

Larry, leave the glue on the Barry Manilow record, it will sound better.

Jim

I've done a few more- good results so far, though on my Masters of Reality record (Ginger Baker), the glue, where thinnest, left a few traces on the record.

Thus the further reinforcement that it should also go through a RCM before final play.


But for records that seem trashed, it's the way to go. I bought four more bottles of glue last night.

Great tip, THANKS!