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In the Forum: Analog Playback
In the Thread: Sensible record cleaning: vinyl piranhas and record Vaseline

Post Subject: The "Bonus" in Commercial SolutuionsPosted by Paul S on: 11/7/2009

Being old and long active in hi-fi, I have cleaned a Lot of records over Many years. Further, I bought a Nitty Gritty 2.5 FI scrubber/vacuum machine back in 1988, so plenty of experience effing around with that, too. And I've tried at least a dozen cleaning solution recipes. So far, after every brush with the "commercial" cleaners I have tried, I have kicked myself. It's been a long time since I tried any of them because, so far, every one of them contained some sort of stay-behind "lubricant", and I just do not like the final result, apart from the "quieter surfaces". (Yes, I do like the "Quiet Surfaces" a lot...)

I have heard for many years that alcohol will mess up the vinyl. Well, you couldn't prove it by me. These days, for my machine, I use about a 70/30% mix of alcohol and distilled water, then I top it off with a slug of Folex "detergent", which is mostly super-purified water, a good wetting agent, and some sort of easily-vacuumed-off detergent. This may not get "everything" out of the grooves, but it works well enough, given that if it leaves any residue, I can't detect it, after a whole lot of use. I also use a few drops of 60/40 alcohol and water, with just a drop or two of Folex in it, on my Disc Washer brush to brush each side lightly before playing. In this case there is no doubt that some trace amount of the solution gets left behind, but no troubles after Many years of doing it.

I admit I have been curious about the "enzyme" cleaners, how that might work on some of my very stubborn cases.

However, I would rather my records were not-as-clean-as-possible-but-free-of-lubrication as opposed to as-clean-as-possible-but-slick.

Paul S

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