Tonar Tacky Rolling Record Cleaner

I remember when I was a kid my dad having the Nagaoka CL-152 record cleaner, and having spent the last few years struggling to find a good way to clean dust off my records I was temped by the replacement CL-1000. However, no matter how great it might be, £79 for a record cleaner seems a little steep.Is the Tonar Tacky effectively the same thing but for £25? Overall, I'd say yes. The only issue is that it comes with virtually no instructions at all. From a little trial and error, I'd say there are two things worth knowing:1) When new it is VERY tacky, and you probably want to wash it before first use (it is intended that you can revitalise this product by washing from time to time with washing up liquid using your fingers). I did find that when it was brand new out the box, before a wash, it would leave a very faint residue in places - although these marks were not permanent and did not cause me any issues. If anything this product possibly works best when it already has a small amount of dust on the surface and is not quite as tacky.2) If you live in a hard water area, when you've left if to dry after you've washed it, it will have very small flecks of limescale on it which will get deposited onto a record's surface on the first 'roll', so if you're a vinyl perfectionist you might want to briefly roll it over your turntable cover or something before first use after a wash.But despite the small amount of hassle, this is a really great cleaner. Used properly it removes every last speck of dust, does not generate static, and for me cleans way way better than using a carbon brush or a microfibre cloth. Having owned it for a while now, and having washed it a few times, it has not degraded or lost any 'tackiness'. My records absolutely sound at their best, with minimal pops or crackles, when I clean them using this before playing.

This is a well made item. It gets into the grooves of the record and give it a vary good clean but only if you are cleaning a dusty record, don't expect it to clean oily finger prints and the like. I only give it three stars as it is on the expensive side for what it is, But as it's easy to clean it should last a long time.

Like everyone else, i've tried loads of ways to clean vinyl and was very sceptical if this was worth it, just another device that may end up in the back of the cupboard, i have a spin clean record washer which does work to a point but it's a real faff about & results are mixed, if a record is very dirty then it's amazing how much it pulls out but i've never been wowed at the difference in playback. I have a jap import of Queens first album which is heavy laden with loud crackles & pops through the entitre album & although washed twice it is only a little better ~ tried the Tonar Tacky not expecting much but i was blown away, the album now sounds fantastic, it obviously gets right deep into the grooves, i've now used it on quite a few albums with stunning results on everything it touches ~ 5 stars is worthy for this product, any album i buy now will get cleaned with the Tonar before it hits the turntable ~ if you love playing your old vinyl then i can't recommend a cleaner any better than this unless of course you can afford something like an Okki Nokki

Over 50+ years of vinyl ownership i’ve Tried all sorts of vinyl cleaners, but this is the best by a county mile. Playing new album’s without cleaning always gives you some small surface noise ( the factory applied coating) but using Tonar Tacky leaves the surface clean, no surface noise at all.Ive also used it on a album I had not played for a least 25 years,it lifted all the muck and left the surface clean, no pops or hiss, it sounded great. I would recommend this product to any vinyl addict.

This gets of surface dust quite well and has replaced the carbon fibre brush that I was using but it does not go deep into the grooves as claimed.Bought Lart du Son for the fith or sixth time in 20 years for the Knosti bath when I realised its limitations and as usual the results are stunning

Lots written already here about this product, so just a short opinion from another user ...Prior to this, I was using a record cleaning brush/pad combination (i.e. a velvet pad with carbon fibre brushes at the leading and trailing edges. It did a pretty decent job, BUT one more than one occasion I managed to badly scratch my records when flipping them over to clean the other side, whilst still holding the brush. When I accidentally lost my grip and the records slipped down, it landed on either the (metal) corner of the brush or on my fingernail (which was sticking out on the side of the brush as I held it upside down). Hard to visualise what I am describing here, but the point is that I managed to put some significant scratches across a couple of brand new records when using the old brush.For a while, I switched to a cheap brush that was just two strips of soft carbon fibre bristles, but that was really hazardous because the edges of the aluminium handle where the bristles ended were really sharp. Again, I caused massive damage to an (old) LP when I hurriedly swept it across the surface with too much pressure and the corner edge of the brush dug in a made a deep scratch.I am making myself sound like an unbelievably clumsy old duffer here ... maybe I am :-( !?Anyway, the beauty of this cleaning device is that there are no sharp corners and it is designed to be used with two hands (one on the roller, one of the record) when the record is lying face-down on a flat surface. This way, there is far less chance of accidental damage. A big plus for me.Having tried it on a handful of records in different states of cleanliness (although none very dirty), I can say that it works exactly as well as I expected it to. Top marks for simplicity and effectiveness.However, the biggest disappointment with this product is that it is only supplied in a flimsy cardboard box and a thin, vacuum-formed clear plastic inner tray - there is no 'case' for it included. Obviously, it is going to pick up a lot of unwanted dirt and dust if it is left out (it looks a bit ugly to have lying around, too) and if it is put away in a drawer with other things there is the probability of the roller getting dented and damaged (reducing its effectiveness).In my opinion, at this price, there is no excuse for not providing a plastic box/case/holder for the roller. The manufacturing costs for this (all-plastic) device will surely be measured in pence, not pounds. At half the price, I could understand the lack of proper case, but not at this price.So, the item loses a star, not for performance, but for value for money. Finally, I am aware that the Japanese original design of this tool cost three or four times as much, but they did all of the R&D work and theirs DOES include a proper, hard case.UPDATE: Having used this on numerous records over the past week, I take back some of the praise that I (foolishly) heaped upon it on Day One. Essentially, it does tend to leave sticky 'blotches' all over the cleaned surface, after you have rinsed it and tried to re-use it.I have actually relegated my one of these to cleaning fluff off the TV screen or my clothes (both of which it does extremely well), as it causes more trouble than it's worth when applied to vinyl records. Sorry :-( .