Call me crazy! Would you ever dream of dumping Elmer’s Glue all over your prized LPs? Well, I did! I not only dreamed about it, I bit the bullet and tried it! But, why did I do it? And, did it work?

I read about this technique online, where you coat your LPs in a thick coating of glue (like Elmer’s, either the common white glue or the woodworkers’ glue), let it cure overnight, then peel it off. What it does is adhere to the deep-down crud in the grooves, and lifts it out when you peel the layer off. I had received an LP from a friend (an A&M Audiophile pressing, no less), and while it had a slight warp, it was a bit noisy. I didn’t bother putting it on the record vacuum this time–I just decided to bite the bullet and try it on this record. The noise level dropped substantially. Sure, there are still a few ticks and pops, and a second treatment of the glue might even improve that. However, the “cruddy” sound (that low-level grunge) was for the most part lifted out successfully, and it plays nicely. I have a few others I want to try this on, in the near future.

I’d normally say, “Don’t try this at home,” but if you do it properly and practice on a couple of unessential LPs first, you might find that you prefer it to other cleaning methods. To try this at home, pick up a large container of Elmer’s glue. I used the woodworkers glue, but the standard white glue would probably work just as well. And it’s cheap, and plentiful. Also, grab some of those cheap, disposable foam brushes. You can rinse them out and reuse them, but the foam seems to work well to distribute the glue evenly. Masking tape also helps here as well: put some pieces on the lead-in groove on the edge of the LP, which will give you an easy way to start the peeling process. Don’t get the tape into the grooves with music in them, however!

Now, take a deep breath and dump some glue onto the record. Distribute it evenly. But very importantly: spread it on thick over all of the music area of the grooves. I can’t stress this highly enough. If you end up wth a very thin layer of glue, or a stray “string” of glue, you will have one hell of a time trying to remove it. Apply it thick, and it’ll come off very easily.

After you’ve let the glue cure overnight, until it’s no longer cloudy, you can peel it. Start it carefully from the edge and try to peel it all in one sheet. Dust off any remaining pieces of the dried glue, then give it a spin: you will be pleasantly surprised!