Cleaning reveals the pressing; it cannot fix it

I own a $4,000 ultrasonic record cleaner and every record goes through it. It has never fixed a bad pressing, and it was never supposed to.

Think of cleaning as the control in an experiment. When I tested my four albums, every one went through the same machine, the same lab-grade distilled water and the same routine. Contamination was taken out of the equation, so whatever noise remained belonged to the pressing.

Let me be clear about the limit. Cleaning removes what landed on the record after it was made. Non-fill, a damaged stamper and inclusions in the compound were pressed into the groove itself, and no amount of washing reaches them. Clean a defective record five times and you own a very clean defective record.

So when a freshly cleaned record still sounds rough, stop washing it. Listen to where the noise lives, read the dead wax, and if the fault is in the pressing, send it back. Another wash only delays the right decision.

My cleaner is a witness, not a doctor. It tells me what is wrong with a record; it has never cured one.