What our customer's say!"RCA version is nothing like original Discwasher", I completely concur with other reviewers who have compared this with the original made-in-USA Discwasher. The wood feels cheaply finished, the bottle gets stuck, and the pad is just plain corduroy, nothing like the old directional bristles. Also, when applying the cleaning fluid to the pad, the old design allowed for an even dispersion with just 2 or 3 drops. The new material, however, immediately absorbs the fluid (which now seems to be mostly alcohol) so it takes about 10 drops to get semi-even coverage. If you can find a non-RCA original Discwasher, buy it!
"Clean vinyl", Just what I wanted to clean my OLD vinyl records. Does a good job of cutting the hiss and pop from the needle. Fast shipping too.
"Poor imitation of the original record cleaner(a demonstration).",
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R347F2SXLDV6IB I bought this because my old discwasher from the seventies was falling apart. What a rip off! This does not have the fibers that point in one direction that actually pick up dust and dirt, like the original product. If you found this video review and demonstration informative, visit my web site and let me know. Thanks!
"So-So", This is my first record cleaner, and just by visual inspection, it seems to do a pretty good job. But when I do clean my records, I generate so much static cling on the other side of the record when I spin it to clean it, it sort of negates any cleaning you do because it just attracts more dust from the static cling. Perhaps I need to just be even more gentle...
"Shame on you RCA", I recently revived my old stereo and hundreds of LP albums from the basement. There are many of these albums that never made it to CD, and I also wanted to see what people were talking about when they say that analog vinyl has a warmth that digital CDs do not. Now, a week later, I really do understand.
But with that warmth comes dust and dirt, which is not a problem for CDs. I remembered that back in the day the standard of excellence for disk cleaning was the Discwasher. I spent about an hour looking for my old one, gave up and bought a new one, now made by RCA.
The old company either went bankrupt or just sold out, but RCA has run this product into the ground - it's not what you remember. Now made in China, the wood handle is imprecisely cut so that the bottle no longer fits well inside. Instead, it gets lodged and took some time to dislodge. That's not a big issue however, but indicative of how the quality isn't what it used to be.
The real issue, however, is the cleaning pad. The old model had ridges of material that ran lengthwise to the handle, with the fibers angled so that they dug into the grooves and pulled out the dust, holding onto it. That's why it worked so well. What's the pad covered with now? It appears to be brown corduroy, with ridges, yes, but the fibers have no particular orientation. Thus, it does not dig into the grooves and does an even worse job of holding onto the dirt it does dislodge. I was almost going to give up on the new Discwasher as the results were so second rate.
I was very disappointed, but thought maybe my memory had built the old Discwasher into something Herculean that didn't match reality. Memory has a way of accentuating either the positives of negatives.
Well, today I found the old Discwasher, and let me tell you, if anything my memory didn't give the old product enough praise. I have now cleaned several LPs with the old one, and there's an absolute world of difference. The old one digs the dirt out and keeps it in the pad until you brush it out, completely unlike the one that RCA is peddling these days. The new one leaves a lot of dust on the disc no matter how carefully you roll the brush.
Shame on you RCA for exploiting and cheapening a venerable old brand. What would it have cost you to put the proper fabric on the pad as opposed to corduroy? Maybe 15 cents per item?? But then again I guess they get the corduroy clippings cheap from a GAP factory in China.
Yes, it looks like the Discwasher of old, but that's the extent of the resemblance. If you're looking for the Discwasher you remember, look in the basement; maybe you'll get really lucky like I did. Or, look on eBay, but do not look to RCA.
Shame on you RCA for what you've done to this product.
