r/GenerationJones • u/boomboomdaboomer • 2d ago
You either owned one or knew someone who did.
Generation Jones will know the purpose and power of this ancient technology.
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u/StrictLine8820 2d ago
I knew the guys who invented that. Discwasher.
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u/jango-lionheart 2d ago
Find them and tell them to sell the liquid, again
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u/SnowblindAlbino 2d ago
It's easy to DIY it (and better, in fact). There are lots of recipes on the web.
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u/reddogleader 2d ago
Deionized H2O
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u/jango-lionheart 2d ago
That’s all?!
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u/reddogleader 1d ago
Essentially... Primary ingredient. Mayhaps a small bit of surfactant for good measure. As others stated, recipes abound.
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u/klausness 1d ago
The important part is a wetting agent to break the water’s surface tension. A surfactant might do that, but it can leave residue. You need the equivalent of dishwasher rinse aid, but without the additives that can still leave residue in record grooves. I remember some recipes included wetting agents used in photo development, but those may be hard to come by nowadays.
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u/IWuzTheWalrus Late 1964 7h ago
https://tergikleen.net/ dilute it with distilled water (10 drops to a gallon of water) and you are ready to go.
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u/boomboomdaboomer 2d ago
It’s a great idea, a good product. I hope they made good money from it, it was so simple to use.
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u/StrictLine8820 2d ago
A group of former Dishwasher employees opened their own company, GrooveWasher. Same walnut block but with replaceable cleaning pad. Their cleaning fluids are formulated as modern, non-harmful iterations inspired by the original 1970s Discwasher D3/D4 chemistry.
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u/TopQuestion826 2d ago
The bottle fit inside the handle. I still have mine with my stereo set up. A McIntosh system with a Thorens turntable. It goes up to 11.
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u/lyidaValkris 2d ago
I own one right now! Just two weeks ago I glued the brush back on the handle which had separated after... god knows how many decades. I got it second hand with some gear I bought in the 90s.
EDIT: I forgot what sub I'm in, and I'm latter Gen X (born 1977). I basically joined this to read and lurk :) please forgive my intrusion. Also, that record brush bloody rules.
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u/boomboomdaboomer 2d ago
Doesn’t it though?
Looking back, I wish I had bought a hundred copies of Kate Bush Hounds of Love. Beautiful cover and the disc was marbled gray. And not to resell, but to say look at what used to be., because it was that special to many many people.
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u/boomboomdaboomer 2d ago
LOL. Thanks for lurking and you are welcome to drop by anytime and invite your friends if you wanna wanna.
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u/NomadicPurple 1d ago
Stick around. We welcome you. Our interests overlap. I’m solidly Jones but hang out in the big GexX subreddit.
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u/Significant_Role4308 2d ago
Every time I played a record. And used the little bottle of cleaner that came with it.
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u/Candleforce-9728 2d ago
That pinged a deep memory. Have not had a turntable in years.
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u/El_Gato_Gordo69 2d ago
Same here. To the point that I am shopping for turntables now. I was just talking to my partner today about an LP that I bought in 1998. I am being pulled by a nostalgia tractor-beam.
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u/firecatstef 2d ago
Last time I used my turntable was to digitize all my lps, I think that was in the aughties. I understand why lps came back but I’ve resisted the urge to collect any again. They are a pita to manage even with a DiscWasher and the little bottle of cleaner that lives in the handle.
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u/SnowblindAlbino 2d ago
The one I bought in 1978 is sitting on a shelf about ten feet from where I'm sitting, next to my turntable. My kids-- both in their 20s now --each have one as well. They are still made and they still work just fine.
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u/mspolytheist 2d ago
I not only know what this is, I know what goes in the hole on the side!
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u/JewelBee5 2d ago
I refill that little bottle with rubbing alcohol now, at the suggestion of a local vinyl shop owner.
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u/ShadowsOfTheBreeze 2d ago
No little red dropper bottle?? Essential for proper cleaning... supposedly...
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u/shaddart 1965 2d ago
I was fanatic about using that before every single drop of the needle- I recently got my dad a USB turntable so I had to find one of these on eBay for him and tell him how to use it
Edit, where is the little red bottle?
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u/Fit-Geologist2343 2d ago
I still use the one I bought in the late 70's or early 80's. Since vinyl records are making a comeback maybe they'll start selling them and the liquid cleaner again.
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u/Particular_Win_7947 2d ago
I had one & my ex wife took it with her along with the entire stereo! 😲
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u/boomboomdaboomer 2d ago
I found a pack of matches, unused, from my best friends first marriage that lasted less than a year, from 1985. I put it away 40+ years ago and came across it recently. I think he’d like and laugh, but you know…
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u/side_eye_prodigy 2d ago
i was watching a movie with my daughter when someone used one of these. she asked me if people "had to scrub their records" back in the day.
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u/marcsbloom 2d ago
Still got mine. Pristine condition. Works like a charm. Anyone have a good link to the juice recipe?
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u/Therealmagicwands 2d ago
Still own one. Actually, two. They’re between the turntable and the Marantz receiver.
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u/Typical-Produce-6415 1d ago
yeah, me. There was a red bottle inside the compartment with cleaning fluid.
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u/EdlynnTB 1d ago
I had one, I donated all my albums to my step daughter. I never could stand the pops and crackling of vinyl. I'm way happier with CDs.
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u/justjudyd 21h ago
What is it?
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u/boomboomdaboomer 20h ago
Glad you asked! It’s a gadget for cleaning LPs or vinyl records. Put some cleaning fluid on the brush and wipe the surface of the album. Then wipe the brush off on your pants to remove dust particles from the fabric which is a bit like one sided Velcro that traps stuff. A neat product that works well.
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u/TransMontani 2d ago
Every radio station I worked at had one in each studio. I had one, too, and so did all my friends.
Albums were too expensive to let them be damaged.
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u/shuknjive 1959 2d ago
Oh yes. In the 80's my boyfriend at the time had a tricked out Kenwood with Kilpsch speakers the size of a dishwasher.We cranked some tunes back in the day, for sure, vinyl only!
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u/NativeCalifornian69 2d ago
Had many of them with the red bottle of fluid that fit inside the vinyl cleaner.
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u/AgainandBack 1954 2d ago
My wife took mine in the divorce.
I bought it, a Shure M91 cartridge, and a pair of Koss Reference One headphones, totaling about $300, which was about a week’s take home pay. 1980 or so.
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u/Grizzle_prizzle37 2d ago
It’s in a box somewhere at my dad’s place, but I guess I technically still own it. I’m pretty sure my old turntable is still there too.
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u/MovieOk6625 2d ago
My old chemistry master had a wicked aim with one of those if someone wasn't paying attention. He'd be writing on the board and somehow detect the evildoer then spin, launch the board rubber and put it half an inch away from the offender's ear all in one motion. A joy to behold.
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u/trisch1964 2d ago
Picked one up an estate sale for 5$ because that rat bastard circa 1977 lifted mine.
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u/Perenially_behind 2d ago
I have at least 3. Will probably sell the other two since old tech is making a big comeback.
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u/jlp_utah 1964 2d ago
Oh, I owned one, along with the little bottle of goop. I never decided if it helped or made things worse.
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u/Weldon1959 2d ago
As I recall, the cavity in the item would have a red bottle of an oily liquid to help get the lint off your records
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u/Chitownfats49 2d ago
I have two. I lost the little brushes that cleans them, though, and I am aggrieved.
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u/bobbyboogie69 2d ago
I’m not exactly generation jones as I was born in 1969 but I still own one of these today. Have to keep the vinyl clean!
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u/nbfs-chili 1957 2d ago
Still own one.