I was wondering how you all approach your hifi cleaning. How often do you, what do you use or do you let someone else at it?
I hoover weekly and have a nice feather duster which reaches under and in between equipment. I also use this with my turntable and lid (care taken around stylus).
After this I use the hoover with a brush attachment on the turntable around platter and tonearm etc, on the components themselves, especially the opening of my slot loading transport and finally around otherwise difficult to reach places of the rack.
I only use window cleaner once in a while on the turntable lid if there is a build up the feather duster does not remove.
I think (!) I am OCD but leave that for you to decide
Must admit that whilst I hoover around and under it I rarely move the rack forward. Usually only when I need to sort the cable salad out and/or plug something new in. Itās a complete PITA to move it forward and back. There is little space behind it and itās spaghetti junction.
Daily light dusting with a microfibre duster. If any marks/deposits noted then wipe off with a cloth lightly moistened with weak detergent solution (washing up) liquid. Iāve always followed this regime. I would never use any kind of household sprays or even specialist electrical foam cleaners or the like for fear of causing damage or leaving behind deposits which may be difficult to remove.
I did look at a dust cover for the lid on the turntable but thought there was more chance it would leave micro scratches so didnāt bother. Use decent light duster wands that I found from others on here.
Occasional dusting with a microfibre cloth is all my electronic stuff gets. Speakers get an occasional wipe with a microfibre cloth with some wood polish sprayed on it. Occasional in this regard most commonly means anywhere from fortnightly to six weekly.
Lately, I wait until after itās so dusty you can write your name in it and only get cleaning when the rack is literally draped in the first dozen cobwebs.
Every 12 to 18 months I do a complete breakdown of everything.
This means taking what is possible to dismantle as far as it can reasonably go.
Then with a thorough going over the floor plan.
Decades ago, when adverts for a particular disinfectant or bleach (Dettol? Domestos?) used to say ākills 99% of all known germsā I always used to wonder about the other 1%, and unknown onesā¦
Then bear in mind that in the right environment bacteria can double in number every hour or faster, so that 1% could be back to the original number in 7 hours or lessā¦ But of course surfaces of hifi boxes donāt present ideal environments ā¦ and in reality it doesnāt actually matter whether or not it has bacteria on it!
In the past 12 years or so Iāve used 2 and just starting a 3rd bottle.
I mostly pump a couple of spray on some kitchen paper to run through a cable or two, never directly on anything. Used sparingly it should last a whileā¦. Nordost recommends using it every few weeks, but in my environment 12 to 18 months seems fine.
Nordosts speaker and other cables are not insulated. Dust and fluff build up contributes to static that makes a notable loss to quality, so the anti static spray 3X should be crucial if running Nordost cables IMO.
Ā£60 a bottle of snake oil is not bad compared to many others
Thanks for sharing @TOBYJUG. Having almost only Nordost cables, I think itās worth the stretch, especially if the effect is long lasting as you mentioned. My dealer never talked about this spray but I was aware of it. If thereās an audible effect, then itās compulsory buying it. Where do you mostly notice this difference?
