Vinyl Vac Review | Vinyl Vacuum Attachment

So we finally got a chance to get our hands on and review the vinyl record vacuum attachment called the Vinyl Vac. While this is not a new product to the market we were excited to discover it. The thought of being able to vacuum clean your records with a simple vinyl record vacuum attachment for your wet/dry vac for a reasonable price was amazing. Immediately we began to get excited. 

There are some caveats to the vinyl vac system like needing to have a wet/dry vacuum with a 1.25 inch or 1.5 inch hose and a place to use the vacuum record cleaner setup. If you are someone looking for a cleaning setup that deep cleans your records this is a great option. Just understand going into it you will need a few things and it is not just the Vinyl Vac you will be buying but we will go over that and break it all down for you. 

Vinyl Vac Record Vacuum Attachment

The Vinyl Vac record vacuum attachment is an easy and affordable way to aid in deep cleaning your records. We say aid because by itself the company does not recommend using it on its own without a cleaning solution or wet cleaning first with this following. We reached out to Vinyl Vac and when asked about dry vacuuming this is what they said “The Vinyl Vac is designed to be part of a wet cleaning system with a wet/dry vac. We never suggest dry vacuuming your records or using a household vacuum cleaner.”

One of the issues after cleaning your record is how do you dry them properly? How do you dry them without having to set up a drying rack and leave them sitting around all day or night? With a wet/dry vacuum you can dry your vinyl while also completely removing and lifting the dirt and contaminants from the surface that is where this vacuum attachment comes in. 

The Vinyl Vac itself is made from PVC tubing with plugs and washers to help direct the most force possible into the suction end of the attachment. Where the real genius of this all comes in is the full cleaning system or as a second/drying stage to your wet cleaning method.

Vinyl Vac Concentrated Cleaner 

The concentrate that comes with this kit is a 1 oz. bottle that makes 64 ounces of cleaner. That is a lot of cleaner for such a small bottle. Mixing it was super easy. 

1. Mix 1 ounce of concentrate in one half a gallon of distilled water 
2. Shake well 
3. Leave to sit for 24 hours so the concentrate and water completely mix

It is very important to make sure you use distilled water. That way you do not leave contaminates on your records. Once mixed and your solution has set you just transfer it into a spray bottle to be used for cleaning your records.

When we approach reviewing any cleaning solution there are a few things we always look for in cleaners. 

1. Does the solution lift contaminants effectively?
2. Does it remove static?
3. Does it dry easily?
4. Does it leave behind a film once dry?
5. What is the user experience like? (is it easy to use)

Vinyl Vac 33 Kit With Cleaning Solution

The Vinyl Vac 33 Kit With Cleaning Solution comes with the Vinyl Vac record vacuum attachment and 1 ounce of their liquid concentrated cleaner. This cleaning system is a great option if you do not already have a wet cleaning system setup. We used this setup both ways and were so impressed with how well this cleans without a wet cleaning system.

Our Vinyl Vac Review

If you know anything about cleaning records or have searched anything about cleaning records you have seen plenty of posts about getting “RCM” as audiophiles call it. RCM just means Record Cleaning Machine. There are several different types of RCMs from manual to fully automatic. Not only are there a range of types but there is also a range of prices to get into the RCM world. 

The Vinyl Vac is one of the best-priced manual record cleaning machines you can get. Even if you have to buy a wet/dry vacuum and build a record cleaning station you are still going to be at a much better price point than other manual RCMs. Let’s go over the process of how to use the Vinyl Vac and the cleaning solution they supply in the cleaning kit.

How Do You Use The Vinyl Vac?

At Vinyl Vac they created a great video to show you how they recommend and expect you to use their cleaning system.

How Do We Use The Vinyl Vac?

We recommend you follow the manufacturer’s instructions in the video above. It will yield great results. Most of what we did differently was in the cleaning process not the vacuuming. 

To clean your records the way we do with the Vinyl Vac you will need to make sure you have the following items.

Item	Quantity	Use
Vinyl Vac Kit	1	This is the record vacuum attachment and solution you will be using to clean wet vacuum your records dry.
Record Cleaning Station	1	This is the ideal setup for a place to freely clean your records without worrying about damaging your turntable or records. This is where your record will sit while being cleaned.
Wet/Dry Vacuum	1	This is the style vacuum you will need to have or purchase to clean your records with this system.
Spray Bottle	1 x (4 pack)	We only need 2 but this is the best price on Amazon that we found. Once you have mixed your cleaning solution you will need a spray bottle to spray the solution on your records. We recommend an extra for the rinse.
Disc Cleaning Brush	1	We recommend this kit because it comes with a microfiber-covered pad for cleaning and a label protector. Then you can use the stylus brush and spray for ongoing maintenance after you have vacuum cleaned the records.

All in cleaning your records the way we did with Vinyl Vac Kit you will be around $150. That includes building our cleaning station, a wet/dry vacuum, and everything else you need to clean and maintain your records with this setup. That is not bad considering some other options in the market start at four times that cost.

So what did we do differently than the instructional video? Well, it was minor changes to suit what we felt cleaned better and provided less risk to the vinyl itself. Here is a list of things we do differently and why.

1. Instead of a paint edge brush to clean your records, we use this microfiber-covered pad. The main reason is we found that paint edge brushes come in a variety of qualities and textures some of which we felt could damage your vinyl if you used them. So to reduce confusion and potential damage we recommend a high-quality microfiber pad that doesn’t shed like the one in that kit. The kit also comes with a label protector which we will go over next.

2. The lack of a label protector is a concern, especially if cleaning older records with labels that may be losing their adhesion. So for that reason, we highly recommend that you pick up this disc cleaning brush kit that comes with a label protector to reduce the damage the cleaning solution may cause to your record label. 

3. Instead of using a foam brush to provide the distilled water for the rinse, we found in our tests that more distilled water provided better cleaning, better rinsing of contaminants, and better static removal. We found that sometimes the foam brushes could hold dust and contaminants lifted by the solution. We found that if you heavily sprayed distilled water instead, it would help suspend the contaminants to run off or be sucked up by the vacuum. This may not sound like a problem but for the same price, you remove the risk of again scraping the dirt and contaminants along your vinyl. So for that, we suggest another spray bottle full of distilled water. 

Vinyl Bro’s Quick Guide To Using The Vinyl Vac Cleaning Kit

Before you can get started you need to premake your vinyl cleaning solution as it takes a day to fully mix. If you have the Vinyl Vac Cleaning Kit that comes with a 1 oz. bottle of concentrate then you will need to dump it in 64 ounces, half a gallon, of distilled water and mix it. Let it sit for a day before using. Transfer some of your cleaning solution into a spray bottle.

Now that you have your cleaning solution, let’s go through the steps.

1. Place your dirty record on your cleaning station or old unplugged turntable.

2. Place your label protector on your vinyl

3. Spray the record to saturate your vinyl with cleaner.

4. We found the best results when we let the cleaner sit on the vinyl for 15-30 seconds or so. The great part about this cleaner is that it moves and evenly spreads to saturate the vinyl for you.

5. Use the microfiber foam pad in a circular motion following the grooves with light pressure by spinning the cleaning station or turntable platter to rotate the vinyl. We spin the records about 2 or 3 times in each direction.

6. Distilled water rinse. For this step, we add distilled water to another spray bottle and spray the record heavily to let the water cover the record well. 

7. Attach your Vinyl Vac to your wet/dry vacuum using the supplied washer and adapters.

8. Place the vacuum spindle hole over the spindle of the cleaning station or turntable. You can do this with the label protector or the supplied felt pad.

9. Turn on your vacuum and slowly turn your cleaning station or turntable to vacuum up the water/solution on the vinyl. We recommend slow turns and 2-3 full rotations in both directions.

10. Repeat for your next side or record.

Our Thoughts On The Vinyl Vac

We enjoyed the process of cleaning the vinyl with this system. The supplied cleaning concentrate does an absolutely amazing job at lifting even hard stuck contaminants of the records. Most sprays are light to medium duty dusting and static control sprays but not this spray cleaner. This is as close to a submersion wet clean as you are going to get without using a submersion wet cleaning method. The downside to it is you will need to vacuum it off so you can not use it like most spray cleaners that you air dry. 

We found that by following the instructions supplied for the cleaner and the vacuum attachment it was very easy to use and straightforward. The instructions are very easy to follow and are very clear making it easy for you to figure out what to do. 

We spent some time with this device and really put it through its paces. We cleaned 25 old records with this system. Ranging from light cleaning to heavy-duty or extremely dirty records. You know the records your family friend gave you that were in their attic or basement for years and you don’t have the heart to get rid of them? We even cleaned some of those. The Vinyl Vac system was not phased by much of it. In fact, we only had about 3 that needed a deeper clean but a second clean fixed them right up.

Let’s talk about the results for a minute. This cleaning system did a great deep clean. Most of the records came out sounding for the most part brand new, with no surface noise. That’s awesome for a cleaning method that’s not a submersion method.

Before

After

Our Rating

We will start the rating process with the cleaning solution and then go over the vinyl vac attachment.

1. Does the solution lift contaminants effectively?
   • Yes, we felt this cleaning solution did a great job at lifting the contaminants. Once you do a distilled water rinse and vacuum dry there is just usually nothing left. Only a handful of times did we have to clean a record again and this is something an immersion method could handle. 
   • 4.5 out 5 on lifting contaminants
2. Does it remove static?
   • Yes, exceptionally well. There was zero static after using this and a distilled rinse there shouldn’t have been any static and there wasn’t.
   • 5 out of 5 for static removal
3. Does it dry easily?
   • This one is tricky as this method wants you to use the vacuum but yes it could air dry after a good distilled water rinse however this would take a long time to dry without the vacuum. Since the vacuum is required for quick drying we do have to consider that.
   • 4 out of 5
4. Does it leave behind a film once dry?
   • No film is left behind.
   • 5 out of 5
5. What is the user experience like? (is it easy to use)
   • So this is also a bit harder to rank. Overall this cleaner is easy to use. Simply mix the concentrate, wait a day, spray, scrub, rinse, and dry. Since it requires all these steps there are a lot of places that the users experience can go bad.
   • 4.5 out of 5

This gives this cleaning solution by itself an overall score of 4.5 stars from Vinyl Bro. 

The vinyl vac attachment is a different kind of review. Here are the main things we focused on.

1. What is the user experience like? Is it easy to use?
   • This is again subjective but we believe this device is very easy to use with one big caveat, you have to have all the right equipment with it. This is not a big setback as the equipment is not very expensive and for what you are getting it yields great results.
   • 4.5 out of 5
2. Does it do its job effectively?
   • The Vinyl Vac is very effective at its job. We enjoy seeing just how clean the records come out.
   • 5 out of 5
3. Cost
   • The biggest drawback for this category is the Vinyl Vac by itself does nothing so you have to buy other equipment with it. Even with the cost of the additional equipment, this is still the best price manual RCM.
   • 5 out of 5

This gives the Vinyl Vac Attachment at 4.8 out of 5. For the whole kit, it comes to 4.7 out of 5! 

Some Common Issues Or Questions Found Online

Our goal in this section of our review is to clear the air a little. We always try to reach out to the manufacturer regarding these issues and concerns to hear their take. The team over at Vinyl Vac was very perceptive of our questions and concerns and answered them quickly and with accurate information. 

A few issues we noticed coming up online in forums and reviews were:

Is it really alcohol-free? Some people online after cleaning their records questioned if it was truly alcohol-free because it cleans so well and has a “cleaner smell”. Well, we just asked, and here is what they let us know. 

“Having our cleaner be alcohol-free was one of our goals as we developed our concentrate cleaners. Obviously, I can’t disclose our secret recipe but I assure you there is no alcohol in our concentrate cleaners. Since there are various opinions as to how alcohol may or may not affect your vinyl records, we wanted to make sure that it wasn’t a part of our recipe.”

When do you use the reducers that come with the Vinyl Vac?

“If your wet/dry vac has a horsepower greater than 3 you might consider using reducers. Most customers use their Vinyl Vac with no reducer.”

The team over at Vinyl Vac also wanted us to share that they are developing new products and working on upgrades as we speak but they are not ready yet to discuss what those are. We for one can’t wait to find out what they are! 

They also provided all of our readers with the opportunity to receive 10% off orders over $19.97 on Vinyl Vacs website. Just use the promo code VINYLBRO10 at checkout.