Record Cleaning

[hjames]

Yes you are right, my answer was not entirely serious, therefore, the smily. But for everything you have to enjoy what you want, more or less prepare. So why is it so bad if his records washes ?

regards

juergen

Well, its not bad to me, frankly cleaning sounds like a good idea - I may buy a record rinse'n'vac too, after all this discussion ...

[majick47]

Years ago just about everyone had nothing more than a Discwasher kit to clean their LPs and looking back it wasn't very effective and just moved the dirt and dust around. About five years ago when I got back into vinyl I invested in a record cleaning machine. I strated out with a manual Disc Doctor and graduated to a VPI 16.5 RCM. What a difference from the old days, many of my old LPs are as quiet as a CD. Sure it's work but the results are well worth it. Where I have both a CD and LP of the same "album" it's rare when the LP doesn't kill the CD.

[pioneer]

I found one on eBay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/V-P-I-Record-vac...QQcmdZViewItem

looks like a vacuum box. so what about taking the home vacuum with a soft but porous cloth around the wand brush and cleaning it ? (after using alcohol on it)

I bought a VPI 16 record cleaning machine last year on Ebay for approx $150. It works great but I would recommend upgrading it to the 16.5 which I did with a kit from Elusivedisc cost $69 http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HW-3015
This was a huge improvement it needed a hole enlaged to fit the new vacuum pickup, that was fairly simple, I bought a cork mat so that the records would tighten securely and after a good cleaning it was ready to go.
They are loud when in use but certainly worth it particularly if you are picking up yard sale LP's. I use the VPI cleaning fluid but will try something else when I run out.

[Bernard Wolf]

This site has everything you could ever want to know about cleaning records. The Disc Doctor not only sells cleaning fluids and brushes but also explains how to use them. He actually believes manually cleaning a record is superior to machine cleaning.. check it out.

http://www.discdoc.com/p14.html

[jblwolf]

I have been using Kodak Photo-Flo 200,mixed with distilled water for over 30 years.I think it may have been Phillips-BASF-AFGA?? that did research on vinyl restoration and its really does a great job cleaning/restoring vinyl.

[SEAWOLF97]

I've always used 100% Isopropanol instead of the Discwasher fluid. It dissolves fingerprints instantly and does a good job of removing most things that end up on records. It evaporates quckly too so it won't cause any incidental damage to your stylus (some say alcohol can loosen up the glue that bonds the stylus to the cantilever but I've never had that happen). jblnut

Back in the 70's audio magazines recommended playing vinyl-collections WET. In Europe most known equipment was LencoClean. Record surface was moistened during playing by a special "tonearm" filled with "Lenco-Super-Mixture" and the stylus running in liquid. Sound was fine as long as playing record wet.
I find KM most professional and easy to service. Noise while vacuuming liquid is pretty low and you can use it even in your living room.

peter

This site has everything you could ever want to know about cleaning records. l

I have been using Kodak Photo-Flo 200,mixed with distilled water for over 30 years.

the above is what I was asking for by starting this thread , thanx and plse keep it up.

[remusr]

I found the recipe for use with my VPI:
10 drops Kodak Photo-Flow(200??),
1 liter 70% isopropyl alcohol
3 liters distilled water
It says not to use rubbing alcohol, must contain bad stuff for vinyl or leaves residue.

[rs237]

Cleaning is one thing. The important thing is the drying. This brings only vacuum the desired results. After a drop of oil. But that right. Either expensive oil from the HiFi shop, or cheap Sharkoil (Squalan) from the pharmacy. The one for $ 60, the other for $ 15. It is both the same.

regards

juergen

[nrwjbl]

Forgot to mention the mixture for cleaning fluid I use for many years:

3 units of Isopropanol alc (minimum 70% better 100%)
7 units of double distilled water (no mineral left overs)
1-3 drops of wetting-agent (Kodak etc.)
1 drop of dishwasher liquid

even records heavily stained can be cleaned with that mixture.

Seems quite pesky cleaning vinyls with a machine - but it pays - try to find an old dusty record with lots of sweaty fingerprints plus sticky coke residues, clean it and listen to it again - you've got a new record. That's the reason I use the machine for. Without a machine you better fling it to your trash can ...

Attached some pics of KM II.

peter

[jblwolf]

I wish I could find the research paper,but I do remember the mix-1.5oz pf to 1qt dist.water,as for any type of other additives there was none.when the study was completed, it was felt at the time that some record cleaners(on the market)-silcone base-alcohol base-sulfate base something?-ammonium base something?-may have a detrimental impact over time on the make up of different vinyls used by record companys.I have only used this solution on my collection,no other additives.I remember doing a recording of A=before/B=after cleaning/treatment of one of a prized Blue Note lps(spare copy)it was like night and day.than 10 years later,I comparing the recording B=after treatment to a fresh recording of the same record with no damage/sound loss.as a matter of fact I used they very same equipment that was used to make the first recording.man talk about having way too much time to enjoy my hobby!!!!I also want to add-have any of you used the straided discharge wire system to remove static charge when playing records?

[loach71]

I found this text years ago on the internet -- but I forgot where

I looked up the original Discwasher patent on their cleaning formulation.
The patent is U.S.# 3,951,841. This patent most likely applies to D3 which preceeded D4. I don't know what changes might have been made when going from D3 to D4 but they were likely minor and still fall within the scope of the original patent. The cleaner basically contained an antifungal agent, a surfactant, one or two solvents to keep the surfactant soluble in water and assist in cleaning, and distilled water.

The Patent discussion indicates the following possibilities:

1. The antifungal agent was sodium azide and probably ran between 0.0001% and 0.004% by weight.

2. The surfactant was either Triton X-114 or Triton N-57 and probably used somewhere between 0.0003% and 0.025%. These surfactants start to become insoluble in water when the temperature reaches 70 - 75°F which is what makes them effective at cleaning oils/greases but can cause formula stability problems (separation into two layers) without the assistance of a cosolvent or other surfactant.

3. The two possible solvents are propylene glycol and isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Propylene glycol is probably run between 0.001% and 0.2%. The patent suggests IPA is run anywhere from 0.01% up to 5%. Since this cleaner can be thought of as being similar to a glass cleaner, the total solids level usually does not exceed 0.1% by weight (glass cleaners are prone to leaving visible streaking above this level). Thus, my best guess at the original D3 Discwasher solution is:

Sodium Azide = 0.004%
Surfactant (most likely Triton X-114) = 0.025%
Propylene Glycol = 0.01% to 0.075% (probably closer to the high end)
IPA = Won't hurt to run the full 5%
Distilled Water = quantity sufficient to add up to 100%

[hjames]

Anyone remember the Ball system "Soundguard" circa 1976 or so ...the idea was to clean your records, then apply a "slick finish" with their spray that created a low friction surface to "dramatically lengthen the life of your records".
I swear that over time, that stuff etched the surface of some of my import albums and added a ton of record noise ...

I wish I could find the research paper,but I do remember the mix-1.5oz pf to 1qt dist.water,as for any type of other additives there was none.when the study was completed, it was felt at the time that some record cleaners(on the market)-silcone base-alcohol base-sulfate base something?-ammonium base something?-may have a detrimental impact over time on the make up of different vinyls used by record companys.I have only used this solution on my collection,no other additives.I remember doing a recording of A=before/B=after cleaning/treatment of one of a prized Blue Note lps(spare copy)it was like night and day.than 10 years later,I comparing the recording B=after treatment to a fresh recording of the same record with no damage/sound loss.as a matter of fact I used they very same equipment that was used to make the first recording.man talk about having way too much time to enjoy my hobby!!!!I also want to add-have any of you used the straided discharge wire system to remove static charge when playing records?

[SEAWOLF97]

Anyone remember the Ball system "Soundguard" circa 1976 or so ...the idea was to clean your records, then apply a "slick finish" with their spray that created a low friction surface to "dramatically lengthen the life of your records".
I swear that over time, that stuff etched the surface of some of my import albums and added a ton of record noise ...

and there was a spray that solidified on the surface, and you peeled it off and with it any dust/dirt that was in the tracks was now stuck in the stuff.

[jblwolf]

I have record collecting buddys that used the discwasher products as well as 3M's? soundguard and Last sound? products and now 20 years later their lp's are now more or less unplayable.we have tried using to Pho-flo mix on them but it really did do much good unless you play them wet,seems the damage that those products did was permanent.I would also stay away from a product named Groovy cleaner,over the years I've seen this product start some type of mold to grow on the vinyl.maybe we need a list/poll of products to stay away from.

[Hoerninger]

Once I got a very dirty disk "Petit Fleur" by Chris Barber.
(I like to ask friends for their old disks to "preserve" the music on CD).

But cleaning with the record cleaning unit KNOSTI gave no success. KNOSTI is not expensive and normaly does its job pretty well. It has two label bowl to protect the the labels and two brushes to clean the disk.


The sizzling noise kept on to be very nasty. I thought to myself it is the dirt, there are not so many scratches. At that time my daughter had a job at a petrol station and I got in mind there is a car wash. The agents for cars can solve dirt pretty well and they will not damage the surface optically - otherwise the car wash can shut its doors.

I took a drop of the car washs agent into KNOSTI and I had the success. I played the wet disk and recorded it on the PC. "Petit Fleur" did not have the sound of a campfire anymore, and had its French charm back again.

So, is a car wash agent good? It depends but I would better say no. After cleaning and playing dry I observed that there must be a residuum in the tracks. The needle fetched some creamy material out of the groove and I had to clean it. This happened more than one time.

Just 2cts.
__________
Peter