How to Use The Vinyl Flat
Step by step instructions on how to fix a vinyl record
Updated August, 2022
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The Vinyl Flat record flattener is an essential tool for anyone who owns vinyl records. If a vinyl record is damaged, it can often be repaired. The Vinyl Flat + Groovy Pouch applies pressure and heat to fix most records.
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Because vinyl records vary by weight, surface condition and chemical composition there is no precise, “magical formula” for repairing warps and dishes with the Vinyl Flat - some experimentation is required.
THE 1-MIN GUIDE
We created this video to quickly show an overview of the process
THE 5-MIN GUIDE
Let's go into more details
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What do you need?
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A warped record
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There are two main methods you can follow:
COOL DADDY
This is a no heat option recommended as the first step to repair valuable records
When the Vinyl Flat is used without heat, it may take a very long time to reduce warps, but it is also the safest method.
At room temperature, results may take weeks or even months depending on the degree of warping. This technique is very straightforward.
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Please thoroughly clean the surface of the record before you start. Then assemble The Vinyl Flat inserting the warped record centered between two of the soft groovy rings and the two metal plates.
HOT MAMMA
The second method uses heat to speed-up the repair process
Excessive heat, when combined with pressure, can further deform and ruin a record, so carefully read and follow these instructions.
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Although you can use your kitchen oven, we recommend against this. The lowest setting on most ovens is 175 degrees Fahrenheit, which is too high to flatten your record. You need to manually turn your oven on and off to keep the temperature in the optimal range of 130-150 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Instead, use our Groovy Pouch, which provides the optimal temperature.
1. Prepare the Groovy Pouch
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Always clean thoroughly the surface of the record.
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Connect your Groovy Pouch and insert the provided digital thermometer to understand the temperature range of the three heat controller settings of your pouch.
Find the setting that provides 130 degrees Fahrenheit. As a rule of thumb, the lower the temperature of the pouch the safer the process but the longer it will take.
2. Assemble
Center the warped record between the Vinyl Flat plates and the soft rings.
Start with the larger rings – they are general-purpose that can be used with any record size (7”, 10” or 12”).
3. Insert Vinyl Flat in Groovy Pouch
Never add the warped record directly in the Groovy Pouch. Use the Vinyl Flat.
At this point, there is no need to keep measuring the temperature. Just use the setting that provided the optimal temperature in Step 1.
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We recommend an initial heating cycle of 1-1.5 hours. The key to success is the heating time, not the exact pouch temperature.
4. Cool Down
Turn off the Vinyl Flat and wait for at least 45min until it cools down to the touch.
5. Check and Enjoy!
If the warp is completely unaffected by the initial heating cycle, repeat the heating procedure but increase the heating cycle by 30 minutes.
If the warp is slightly reduced, only increase the follow-up heating cycle by a maximum of 10 minutes.
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​It is suggested that you stop using the Vinyl Flat once the warp or dish has been reduced to a playable level.
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ENJOY!
