The age old problem of static on vinyl records.

Record players and records are highly prone to static because of the kinetic nature of a spinning turntable and the PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) composition in the mix of the vinyl records. The problem is further exasperated with the release of “high quality” 180gram records. There is simply a lot more vinyl than in a 1970’s ~100gram pressing.

There is a lot of static build-up on the record during the pressing process. Taking a 180g record out of a paper sleeve for the first time can be a physical. You can feel the static charge on the record as the hairs on your arm stand up. You can see the dust instantly sticking to the pristine playing surface.

The friction of pulling a record out from its sleeve causes it to gain electrons and become negatively charged. Then spinning it on a turntable and needle drag will contribute to even more to static build up. The negatively charged record now attracts positively charged dust and dirt onto the playing surface, causing crackles and clicks. It can even mess with the pickup electronics causing all sorts of noise.

Very few devices were manufactured to deal with static. The trusty MILTY ZEROSTAT GUN is the most commonly used. It’s a piezo-electric crystal device which generates ions. I have a whole collection of these, even the 1974 version still works. There is a lot of confusion out there about how to use a MILTY GUN. Here is a video explaining exactly what happens. For this article it is suffice to note the following points:

• You do not need to hear a clicking for the Milty to work
• Pulling the trigger very slowly will release positive ions
• Releasing the trigger will produce negative ions.

“The Triboelectric Series is a list that ranks materials according to their tendency to gain or lose electrons. ... During such an interaction one of the two objects will always gain electrons (becoming negatively charged) and the other object will lose electrons (becoming positively charged).”

From the chart you can see that Vinyl is more likely to gain electrons and become negatively charged. The human body on the other hand is more like to lose electrons and become positively charged. Unfortunately, one does not cancel out the other. When you touch a vinyl record, it will discharge some of its static and an earthed turntable will also do the same but in practice it will not neutralise the record. The way to do that is to subject the record to both positive and negative ions stabilising the PVC molecules.  It’s advisable then to store the record in an anti-static inner sleeve which are designed to reduce friction and therefore static build-up.

After years of struggling with static on records, I have made a reliable, easily used record cleaning brush which will neutralise static on vinyl records, cd’s and in fact on any material by simply bombarding the material in both positive and negative ions.