• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Question about cleaning Vinyl records

P

porteno2

New Member
porteno2

Following is a thread made on 2008 by Craig,

Craig's Record Cleaner Formulation; Absolutely No Patents Pending. This forumlation is based on the Discwasher patent, assuming that all ingredients have the same density as Distilled Water which is a pretty reasonable assumption.

(For Cleaning Vinyl Records)

All of these ingredients can be purchased from a supermarket.

Note: Prestone Antifreeze consists of the following and is toxic to humans and pets:
- Ethylene Glycol (107-21-1)
- Diethylene Glycol (111-46-6)
------------------------------------------------
Ingredients:

1. One Gallon of Iron Water (consists of Distilled Water)

2. 70 % Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol (Part of our Emulsifier)

3. Automatic Diswasher Cleaning Liquid {Like "Cascade Complete" brand - - - be sure that you DO NOT use the type that includes chlorine bleach as an ingredient} (Part of our Surfacant)

4. Antibacterial Liquid Hand Soap such as "Softsoap" (Our Antimicrobe agent and another part of our Surfacant)

5. Small amount of Prestone anti-freeze or equivalent (This is the other part of our Emulsifier)

----------------------------------------------------------

Recipe:

1. Remove 1/2 of a cup of water from the Gallon of Distilled Water. Discard this water; all the following ingredients are added directly to the large bottle of distilled water.

2. Add 3 Teaspoons of Prestone Anti-Freeze to the Water.

3. Add 4 Teaspoons of 70% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol to the concoction.

4. Add 5 Teaspoons of Automatic Diswasher Liquid to the concoction.

5. Add 5 Teaspoons of Liquid Antibacterial Soap to the concoction.

6. Put the cap back on the Water bottle.

7. Stir thoroughly for 5 minutes.

8. Let it settle for one hour.

9. Stir Again.

10 Done

My question is, Could I instead of using Cascade dishwasher liquid use hand detergent dishwashing soap (the one you use to do dishes by hand?)
Thank you
 
Register to hide this ad
When I was hand washing my records, I used Dawn. But the rest of the rest seems about right.
 
Dishwasher soap? Alcohol? I've found alcohol based solutions to be a little over-enthusiastic and actually increased surface noise. Record Research Labs (now sold by MoFI) says:

"Alcohol permeates the vinyl surface and “leaches” out essential oils from the jagged groove walls. Vinyl life expectancy may be reduced by alcohol based cleaners due to the heat created by the stylus in the groove without necessary lubrication."

The Library of Congress and the Canadian Conservation Institute have researched cleaning fluids, they're smarter than me. The CCI's ingredients are more accessible.
I've been using it for years and everyone I've given it to has reported excellent long term results:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=330330
 
drknstrmyknight said:
Dishwasher soap? Alcohol? I've found alcohol based solutions to be a little over-enthusiastic and actually increased surface noise. Record Research Labs (now sold by MoFI) says:

"Alcohol permeates the vinyl surface and “leaches” out essential oils from the jagged groove walls. Vinyl life expectancy may be reduced by alcohol based cleaners due to the heat created by the stylus in the groove without necessary lubrication."

The Library of Congress and the Canadian Conservation Institute have researched cleaning fluids, they're smarter than me. The CCI's ingredients are more accessible.
I've been using it for years and everyone I've given it to has reported excellent long term results:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=330330
Click to expand...

Permeatation, leaching out of essential oils and heat created by the stylus are not the biggest issues. I know a guy who had this tested at a university with physics professors. Turns out that the heat created by the stylus in the groove with or without lubrication is negligible at best and that's measured by very sensitive instruments. The amount of heat produced is not enough to have any effect what so ever.
The real problem with the use (or I should say over-use) of alcohol on records is how it reacts with the dirt. Dirt on a record is mostly protein based. Alcohol can harden proteins (the dirt) to the record making it very to extremely hard to get off. Thus giving more noise. A few drops of alcohol are fine, but not much more than that.
Another example of cleaning formula that creates more noise is the VPI stuff. I don't know what's in it, but I would not be surprised to find out that it's alcohol based.
The other ingredient I would replace is the Softsoap. I have found that stuff to be hard to rinse off your hands and I can only imagine what it will do to a record or more importantly the stylus. I'd use a few drops of Dawn plain or something instead, something less greasy. The softsoap type stuff will only to turn into a dirt magnent and build up on your stylus real fast.
Just my 2 cents...maybe less. YMMV

Personally, I may give the CCI's mix a try on one or two records I have that seem to be quickly reaching the point of no return provided I can get the needed chemical.
 
Last edited:
Cleaning vinyl records

drknstrmyknight said:
Dishwasher soap? Alcohol? I've found alcohol based solutions to be a little over-enthusiastic and actually increased surface noise. Record Research Labs (now sold by MoFI) says:

"Alcohol permeates the vinyl surface and “leaches” out essential oils from the jagged groove walls. Vinyl life expectancy may be reduced by alcohol based cleaners due to the heat created by the stylus in the groove without necessary lubrication."

The Library of Congress and the Canadian Conservation Institute have researched cleaning fluids, they're smarter than me. The CCI's ingredients are more accessible.
I've been using it for years and everyone I've given it to has reported excellent long term results:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=330330
Click to expand...


Thank you drknstrmyknight for your advice,you seem to know what you are talking about and if I may, I've another question, Why is it that when I used D3 and put those 2 or 3 drops on the cleaning pad (discwasher) didn't get absorbed down into the bristles they stood on the surface unlike some new cleaners I tried lately? What did they used in D3 chemistry to make it act like that?
Thank you
regards
John
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom