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| What is the best record cleaning solution |
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| Total Votes : 89 |
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flavio81
contributor

Joined: 16 Sep 2009
Posts: 2275
Location: Lima

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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:11 pm Post subject: |
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The thread has been created to post what the posters (we) found as the best record cleaning formulas. Thus, i posted what i use with great success.
Granted, we don't know the LONG term effect on the vinyl. I (we) are not sure it is 100% safe. But i'm not claiming i am 100% sure this is safe on the long term. I only say it works, and it works really well.
Besides that, what other alternative formulas are there besides 50% isopropyl-water, and/or Photo-flo and/or a household detergent?
Photo-flo is discouraged to be used on vinyl records by Kodak itself. But that does not stop people for using it with success.A poster above uses dishwashing soap... He is not alone, many people do it. In theory, it would leave more residues than Photo-flo or the concentrated windshield cleaner i'm recommending. |
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kolchris
senior member
Joined: 25 Jan 2009
Posts: 69
Location: Southfield, MI
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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:22 pm Post subject: |
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| K-M used to recommend ethanol for their machine . Has this changed? |
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midfi
contributor

Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Posts: 510
Location: San Antonio, Texas

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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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the best record cleaner is made by us Will be going on sale soon, have been sold here locally for about a year and a half. We have 2 flavors, one for general cleaning and one enzyme based for vacuum cleaning. We have a pretty good local following on it too. There are a lot of good record cleaners on the market, prior to getting in with the guys I'm with I used Phoenix record cleaner from SleeveCity. Good stuff. |
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southpark
senior member
Joined: 21 Aug 2009
Posts: 50
Location: derby
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Anyone know what is considered the best cleaning fluid to buy in the UK? I understand I could make my own but... |
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Letitroll98
vinyl addict

Joined: 25 May 2008
Posts: 2252
Location: New Joisey

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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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| flavio81 wrote: |
Be careful, hand/dish soap leaves way too many residues. I wouldn't use tap water either. Distilled water works best (and with the glass cleaner concentrate, even better. |
I tried to get some info on the dish washing liquid I have on my sink, Palmolive Pure and Clean, and came up with a partial list from the MSD. Doesn't look like it has as many potentially harmful ingredients as your windshield washer fluid, but again, it's not a full list of ingredients. Only a guess, but I would bank on the dish washing liquid to be less harmful with fewer deposits than the windshield washer fluid.
Sodium C12-13 Pareth Sulfate - a surfactant
Sodium Dodecyl Benzene Sulfonate - a surfactant
Sodium Xylene Sulfonate - a hydrotrope
(Carboxymethyl)dimethyl-3-((1-oxododecyl)amino)propy
lammonium hydroxide - an antistatic
Ethanol
Lactic acid
The only other info I could get was that it Phosphate free.
I wouldn't use a hand dishwashing liquid for record cleaning as it foams, a non sudsing detergent would be better, but just noting that it doesn't look like there is anything in this that would leave deposits. |
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Zer0beaT
senior member
Joined: 16 Jul 2008
Posts: 51
Location: C/A/N/A/D/A
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 7:12 am Post subject: |
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I was wondering if using white vinegar for records with possible mold for a minute or two would damage it assuming it is rinsed very very thoroughly after and vacuum dried?
I'm just curious because I find vinegar really unsettles mold, mildew, etc very quickly like nothing else. It would seem a very good solution for vinyl no? |
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davidsss
contributor

Joined: 02 Mar 2006
Posts: 1328
Location: Melbourne Australia

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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:12 am Post subject: |
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Someone else in another thread suggested cleaning records in warm water with one third vinegar. I have tried this with particularly dirty records and it has done no harm to the record and has definitely improved the sound. I followed this with my normal cleaning using a fluid and a distilled water rinse, all vacuumed off. Vinegar is a mild acid so it pays to be careful. I'm no chemist but I don't think vinegar harms vinyl (vinyl is pretty tough, after all we drag a diamond through the grooves periodically).
DS _________________ My System: Micro Seiki BL51 Turntable, Stax UA7 Tonearm, RCM Sensor Prelude Phono Stage, Blue Angel Mantis Cartridge, Rotel RCD865BX Cd Player, Melody I34R (Astro Black 40) amp and Osborn Epitome Speakers. |
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southpark
senior member
Joined: 21 Aug 2009
Posts: 50
Location: derby
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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Could you use the Okki Nokki cleaning fluid without the actual machine?
Anyone?
Last edited by southpark on Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:16 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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registeredla
senior member
Joined: 28 Mar 2009
Posts: 367
Location: Il

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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:43 pm Post subject: |
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| For the last month I have been using Mobile Fidelity cleaners in my VPI HW 17 record cleaner. I have tried both the enzyme based and the heavy duty cleaners. They work very well with their velvet scrubing brush. Once sucked dry they look and sound like new. Sure the product is not cheap but a quart bottle in the machine cleans a good 300 records. The math works out to tenths of a cent per record. |
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bakelite2
senior member

Joined: 27 Jun 2009
Posts: 84
Location: Perth
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Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:54 am Post subject: |
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I have tried many different solutions and settled on a local product called OCRVC. I purchase it in concentrated form and dilute it to a 40-50 to 1 solution. By far the best I have come across and I have been using this for over two years now with no problems. One cleaning and one rinse is all that is needed.
One other thing is that it is also very cheap.
BH
Last edited by bakelite2 on Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:42 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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axis 67
junior member

Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 6
Location: Virginia
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 2:32 pm Post subject: |
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned Disc Doctor Solution. I have had excellent results using that and his cleaning pads. I first dry clean with a Hunt brush or Discwasher brush to remove as much dust as possible, then clean with Disc Doctor. I use a VPI 16.5 for only one revolution to remove most of the cleaning fluid and then use a seperate cleaning pad for two rinses with distilled water, vacuuming after each.
Many years ago I believed the Discwasher and D4 would get a record as clean as possible. I thought the angled fibers lifted everything from the grooves if I applied the gentlest touch I could manage. One good wet cleaning with a VPI changed that. |
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Letitroll98
vinyl addict

Joined: 25 May 2008
Posts: 2252
Location: New Joisey

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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Welcome aboard axis. DD solution has been very well reviewed by others. Never used it myself, not for any specific reason, just never got round to that one. But from what I've heard it's the go to solution for a single step cleaning. |
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Dadimo
vinyl addict

Joined: 18 Jan 2009
Posts: 575
Location: Long Island

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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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| I think its funny that most people that own a Nitty Gritty say the only thing they disliked about it ( or most disliked ) was that the supplied cleaning fluid was not that good. I see that Nitty Gritty sells a new enzyme record cleaner also now. |
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Vulcan Viewer
vinyl addict

Joined: 06 Nov 2009
Posts: 711
Location: Plymouth

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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 5:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Letitroll98 wrote: | | I wouldn't use a hand dishwashing liquid for record cleaning as it foams, a non sudsing detergent would be better, but just noting that it doesn't look like there is anything in this that would leave deposits. | Mmmm - Ok - how about:
(proportions unknown - but this is an expensive, well known, non-sudsing emollient wash cream - there are other washing solutions in the range)
It is Perfume free, Soap free, non-drying and non-foaming, and the list of ingredients may not be entirely complete:
Paraffinum Liquidum
Petrolatum
Zinc Oxide
Laureth-4
Cera Microcristallina
C12-C13 Pareth-3
Paraffinum Solidum
Cetyl Dimethicone
Aluminum (aluminium?) Sterate
Synthetic Wax
Carnauba
Stearic Acid
BHT (? no idea what that means)
250ML will cost about £5 in the UK.
This is a concentrate, so would use a single/half squirt (pump action dispenser) into a 1L bottle of deionised, distilled water.
Rinse with clean di/ds water.
As it's "non-drying" should also act as a lubricant for the stylus.
Note this is only a suggestion, I wouldn't dream of using it without a chemists judgement of how it would react to a vinyl record. |
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Alec124c41
vinyl addict

Joined: 28 Oct 2002
Posts: 4948
Location: Toronto, Canada

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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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There are several kinds of wax in that.
Cheers,
Alec |
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