DIY Record Cleaning Solution

I found the following home recipe for cleaning records: One part isopropyl alcohol, three parts distilled water, half a cap of Woolite, and a few drops of Kodak Photoflow. I've seen this elsewhere without photoflow as an ingredient. Any recommendations, and if this formula is a good one, how much liquid would you consider a "part", considering the amount of Woolite called for? And would the alcohol be the 90 percent variety?

 

I'm moving this over to hardware. The thread may get a little more action here!

 

Haven't used Woolite for ages.
I know Photoflo comes in two different concentrations. The one called Photoflo 600 is more concentrated and a few drops will treat a gallon of distilled water as a final bath in the E-6 and color paper processes. Maybe extrapolate from there?

It seems like a lot of Woolite for 1 gallon of water, though.

 

A thread here that has some info:

http://www.recordcollectorsguild.or...BB2&file=viewtopic&t=20499&highlight=photoflo

 

Dewaserch on the AA Vinyly forum using the author key: Myles B. Astor

The man is a trained chemist and provided extensive background into the workings of the chemicals used for vinyl record cleaning.

Isopropyl alcohol can be purchased from the grocery/drug stores in pint bottles. There are two kinds, one has oils added, for rubbing, I think, the other lists ingredients only the alcohol and water (the "91%" stuff, I think.)

I use only 25% Isopropyle alcohol in distilled. Its good for removing fine dusts, but for such as mold componds and biological residue something else is needed.

 

Thanks for the comments and link. I made a one-cup batch, 1/4 91% isopropyl, 3/4 distilled water and three drops of Woolite. What are people using as an applicator? I see a Disc Doctor kit with a special brush. Any other methods? I used cotton balls on a few records and dried them with toilet tissue.

 

About the only thing that most people agree regarding record cleaning is that the Disc Doctor brushes are good for applying (and, if you do it, scrubbing in) record cleaning fluid.

 

I have messed with lots of homebrew cleaning fluids, including the one you mention. My suggestion would be to just buy some RRL (Record Research Labs) fluids. It doesn't require rinsing and does everything you want a cleaner to do. I also suggest you buy or build a cheap RCM, as once the fluid and brush have loosened the crud, you want it sucked off the vinyl and out of the grooves. It takes very little actual brushing to clean, the solution should do most of the loosening of dirt and grime. Disc Doctor brushes are very good, but it can also be done with a soft carbon fiber brush.

I am sure there will be several who think my suggestion is rubbish, as everyone has their way to clean vinyl that works for them. I have tried a bunch of methods and cleaners, and RRL is the best, hands down that I have tried. Since trying RRL I have quit searching cleaning fluids and methods. This stuff works folks. Plus, it isn't expensive, as it takes very little fluid to clean an LP. JMO

 

The beauty of the Disc Doctor brush is that it does everything that the ridiculously overpriced cleaning machines do: it digs out the crud and the gunk that the cleaning fluid loosens up. A vacuum machine is really not necessary. There are a million effective cleaning fluids out there, but the DD brushes are the only thing I have found that will REALLY clean out that gunk left behind. JMHO

 

Just curious, How do you remove the gunk? Do you use a seperate brush for removing the grunge, or do you just wipe it down after scrubbing?

 

If that works for you, thats great. I built a RCM for $30 that works great, which to me is not ridiculously overpriced. Once the fluids have the gunk suspended, it just makes sense to me to suck it off the surface and not smear it around back into the grooves with a brush. It is also important to keep your brush clean, otherwise you are just reapplying the dirt from the previous record back onto the next one you clean. How often do you clean your brush? Like I said, if your method works for you, I have no problem with that. But I still say that loosening the grunge with a good solution and brush, followed by sucking the crud off makes more sense to me and in my opinion reaps better results. To each his own.

 

Yes, you use two brushes during the process. One for cleaning, and the other for rinsing with distilled water.

 

Yes, I was referring to the ones that are retailing for $400 and up. That is absurd.

 

Not if you have $50k+ worth of LP's.

 

It's sometimes easier to get the stuff (with dealer discounts for new or used if you act fast enough) than try DIY because I don't have the time. What time I have, I got to spend it listening to music with my 4 year old daughter. I use the RRL stuff then rinse with distilled water and IPA mix (10%) because I can not only be absurd but also be anal.

 

You do have a point

 

I bought my VPI HW17 recording cleaning machine about 20 years ago. It has cleaned thousands of records, gone through about a swimming pool equivalent of cleaning fluids, and has worn out several wands and brushes. It has never required service, still works perfectly and doesn't look like a high school shop project (which is what any DIY by me would look like). And, of course, it does an excellent job of vacuuming up whatever Disc Doctor, RRL, VPI, distilled water, alcohol or other goop I've ever put on a record. Perhaps my best audio investment of all time.

If you have the time and skill to build your own, please be my guest. If you have the time and patience to wipe off your soggy records by hand, you have my admiration (though I don't envy your laundry bills if you do it right). But I'll stick by my trusty VPI machine.

 

I built mine for under $150.00. Fully automatic, dispenses cleaning fluid, scrubs the record, vacuums the debris - all by itself. My neighbor has the VPI and an old Nitty Gritty. Mine cleans just as good as them both, but mine has an automatic fluid dispensor with fluid regulator control valve that the others don't have. My freind uses a spray bottle and hates it because the spray gets on the label or on the VPI surface. Mine also has interchangeable scrubber wands for light, medium, and heavy cleaning. I built it over the course of a coupple weekends with just mostly junk parts. Not really all that hard to do. Many more construction pics at my site: www.jimmyneutron.org

 

great project!

 

AWESOME Job Jimmy! I'm extremely jealous. I have just about given up on mine. It's been a nightmare.....and even if it was working right it looks like a 1st grade project compared to Mr. Neutron's.

One question....Does putting the clean side down onto the cork cause any problems of re-soiling the record?

 

Jimmy:

Beautiful work. Way beyond my ability.

Randy:

I think I can answer the cork question because my VPI record cleaning machine also has a cork platter mat. You need to keep that mat clean or it will transfer dust right back onto the cleaned vinyl. I usually vacuum mine before starting any large record cleaning project. Its also a good idea to have a dustcover on your RCM and to keep it closed when not in use.

 

I agree that it makes more sense for most people to just buy the fluid and even a machine if you will get much use out of it. If you count your time, you'd have a whole bunch of hours into building anything that looked decent. Better motors and such cost way more than what people are quoting here. The way they get away with that is to use an old turntable as a platter and motor if it turns automatically at all, many people DIY manually operated machines. Also they often don't count labor, gas for trips to stores and in many cases shipping on parts that were mail ordered. All in an attempt to justify their efforts. Not that they don't deserve a "harumph!" as Johnny Neutron does for their efforts, they do!
One thing about the Nitty gritty machines that is overlooked here is that they don't have platters. they clean the bottom side of the Lp, using gravity as an aid and do not cross-contaminate records by necessitating laying the just cleaned Lp side on a platter where a dirty Lp was just removed to clean the other side. they only make contact with the label. So you can't use a "spray bottle" or "wear-out wands" with the Nitty Gritty designs. I have had one of their machines for perhaps fifteen years also and it works wonderfully. They only require semi-anual replacement of the velvet "sweeps" which scrub the Lp. Those are great, but not really the topic of this thread which was DIY solution...
I have the same take on fluid however. Yeah, you can make it after driving all over creation to round-up the parts or you could just buy a bottle and be done with it. Professional fluid is not too expensive in pint size bottles. I bought a gallon of the stuff years ago when I got the machine and still have more than half of of it! That's like a lifetime supply, no more trips to the store, no more projects in the kitchen and no more dirty records... I guess that's too easy ;-).
-Bill

 

I think one should maybe add a little gasoline to the lp cleaning mixture also. I love the local chemists on the web. By the way, can you tell me where you can find distilled water that is actually free of minerals and the rest of the impurities that will spoil your lp cleaning project? The real labs actually make their own through lengthy processes. This is not something that you can just "mail order." This is just about as good as a magazine reviewer making his own mixture because he knows better than the chemist. Why not just try a commercial product that has been tested? While you're at it, save $50 a month until you can buy the VPI cleaner and then you can use it for the next 20 years without explaining how you don't need one or how you can hook up your shopvac to your turntable and get the same results. I guess it all depends on how much you value your time.

 

Thanks a bunch for your kind words guys!

First let me clear up a few things. First: The cork does need to be clean, as already stated. But there is a catch. Most platter type cleaners (actually all that I know) have the fluid applied externally, ie, with a spray bottle. The problem here is that everyone, and every spray bottle will spray differently, and most of the time it's too much. The fluid will then flow onto the label and raise it, or it will seap over the sides of the record and wet the cork and table. Cork can be wet and then dried again, but this takes away from the use of the cleaner - if it's too difficult or messy to use, most people will stop using it. When building my RCM I took this into consideration and designed in an automatic pump motor with a fluid control valve linked to a transfer hose that has a specific number of holes and in a specific length of tubing. This is a fool-proof way to deliver the EXACT amount of cleaning fluid in the right amount over the record surface only. This will keep the cork mat clean and dry, and will not allow for a messy cleaning cycle.
Second: There are as many different types of record cleaners as there are opinions. I suggest you use what you're comfortable with. I will say that using any solvent type fluids or ammonia based fluids will ruin your LP's - whether you believe that or not I would'nt chance it. My brew is 75% distilled water (regular store bought), 25% Iso alcohol, and 1 drop DAWN detergent. This works just fine for me.
Third: I have found that using different types (thicknesses) of cleaning brushes (scrubbers) is ideal because some records may need deeper cleaning than others that may need light cleaning. Buy different brushes to cover all possible jobs. My RCM has replaceable scubbers just for this.
In the end my opinion is that if you are capable then you should build one yourself. Not only will you save mucho money but you will gain experience and have the satisfaction in accomplishing a project that will provide you many years of use. The parts cost for my machine is just as I described - under $150.00 and all parts are available locally. A VPI, or ANY commercial cleaner that comes close to what mine offers can cost several thousand dollars. I'm sorry, but even though I CAN afford this, I WON'T. The mechanics of a RCM is too simple to justify that kind of money. There is plenty of How-to's on the internet to help someone build this kind of project - including my website which chronicals the buid project to help anyone wanting to build it.

Good luck!!

Jimmy

 

That looks awesome Jimmy.