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Since phonograph records are relics of the past since the birth of 8 tracks, cassette tapes, CDs, MP3s, etc., they are hard to replace if ruined. Sure some record shops still exist and you could try to find what you're looking for on eBay, but if you have that one rare record that's just about impossible to find, your only hope is to salvage it yourself.

The first thing to do is to make sure that the record is not dirty in any kind of way. Several record stores highly recommend the Nitty Gritty record cleaner. At $200 and up, depending on the model, it is pretty expensive, but everyone swears this works wonders. If that is out of your budget, for about $30 you can get a Discwasher D4 cleaning system, which contains a special brush and some cleaning fluid. If you get the Discwasher, be sure not to use too much cleaning fluid. After using the dry side of the brush, the record should not be wet. If you follow the directions carefully, your record should work as good as new.

If it is indeed a scratch, I cannot explain the process here without making a diagram, so I will have to refer you to Donald Sauter's web page at http://www.geocities.com/donal dsauter/skips.htm. Here he explains the process in which to play doctor to your scratched record.

Though I could not explain the mending process myself, I hope that this article has been of some help to you. With some records being extremely rare today, it is important to save these beauties because they are invaluable.

Learn more about this author, Kelly A. Mello.
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