DIY Record Cleaning Solution

Why would you use Dawn or Joy on your records? It contains chemicals that stick to your dishes so that food won't stick to the dishes. This is exactly my point, unless you are a chemist, you should probably use what is commercially available. It should be obvious that different chemicals have different sonics affects on the vinyl and some will be preferred to others. Does anyone make cologne and think it is better than what is in the store?

The distilled water you are purchasing in the store contains minerals and all sorts of problems that are left on your lp's. The purity of the iso is also very poor and full of impurities.

Would you really risk your lp collection because you didn't want to buy a $25 bottle of RRL that will last a super long time? This is crazy. You wouldn't buy a car and think you can make oil or gasoline for it???

I agree that the record cleaner is a nice piece made at home, but to promote this as an alternative is really impractical.

 

This approach can and does work very well - especially with careful rinsing. Store bought distilled is really good, just not reagent grade. RRL? Hmm ...

That's from the inventor. Some of us don't want a cleaning regime that leaves stuff behind.
Been through all that with LAST. I no longer use dish detergent, but I won't say it's bad for records as long as you're diluting it to a few drops per pint. You don't want foamy bubbles, you just want the distilled water to stick to the disc for a while.

 

There are many, many record cleaning fluids out there. Some good, some bad. But the most widely used mixture is what I use. Is it perfect? No. Is it 100% effective? No. Is the RRL? Nope. Any cleaner will leave some residue on your records. With the RRl you use a brush that does nothing more than push the grime back into the grooves as you wipe it. Actually this is true of any cleaner. Distilled water not a perfect liquid? Well it's close enough. Iso alcohal to dirty? Still close enough. Dawn leaving residue? Maybe. But when used in such a minute amount the residue it may leave behind is so slight as to be inconcievable. The Dawn acts as the lifting agent. The water digs into the grooves while the alcohal is strong enough to loosen the grime, but broken into a 25% mixture will not harm the vinyl. On my record cleaner I can do a second pass with just the water for a "final rinse" and remove anything that may have been left behind by the Dawn, water, or alcohal. You MUST use a vacuum to effectively remove the grime/dirt that was loosened by the cleaning agent. Without a vacuum all was for nothing.

So, is a home brew mixture of this cleaning fluid that detrimental to your LP's? The vast majority say no, it's not. It has been used by many LP useres and many major companiy's for many years - and it works. Are there possible better cleaners out there? Of course there are, and you are free to use whichever you feel will do the best job on your LP's. I use my method because it works for me, and really that's all that matters.

Would you really risk your lp collection because you didn't want to buy a $25 bottle of RRL that will last a super long time? This is crazy. You wouldn't buy a car and think you can make oil or gasoline for it???

I woud'nt make gasoline for my car, but I cannot find a distinction between gasoline and cleaning a record. Maybe you meant to say that "you would'nt buy a car and use anything different than gasoline?". Actually, I have a choice of gasolines to use, just like I have a choice of record cleaners. I don't need 98 octane or deisel when 89 octane will still get me from point A to point B. And at $25.00 for a 10 oz (maybe) bottle of RRL compared to $2.00 for a gallon of home brew, well let's just say many people have stopped using their cars because gas is too high and they are looking for alternatives.

Does anyone make cologne and think it is better than what is in the store?

Hmmmm....after each brew that I make at home it seems my wife gets turned on even more. Maybe the record cleaning fluid also acts as an aphrodiziac?

I agree that the record cleaner is a nice piece made at home, but to promote this as an alternative is really impractical

Using a vacuum IS a practical form of cleaning LP's, and is without arguement the BEST and SAFEST way to clean your LP's. Whether you spend a few thousand dollars and buy one ( ) or build one for a fraction of that cost ( ), a vacuum machine cleaner will ALWAYS be better than none. I don't promote ANYTHING, never have. I just shared my experience with my unit.

Jimmy

 

Ok, I have some questions. Or perhaps just one. What are the desired properties in Woolite?

I've not heard anyone mention using Orbitrac. This is what I use. Once I bought the original kit, I went out and bought a 12x12 piece of white velvet. I took Orbitrac's pad off and traced it onto a piece of card stock. I have clean pads constantly. I use a 3 brush process. Sometimes 4. The 4th brush is for insanely dirty records. Otherwise, the first brush has my homemade fluid, the second pure distilled water and the third for drying. Works like a charm for me. And yes, it's a process. But, it happens to be a process I love performing. Cleaning records is like a therapy for me. A neat Zen like thing. I like the Orbitrac because it's the only manual way I've found to get the fluid on the record in a very uniform way.

I'm still curious about the Woolite thing.

Ah, there's the second question. What exactly does the photoflow DO in the homemade cleaner?

 

You'd probably like the disc doctor brushes. Advantages over the Orbitrack - you can feel what you're doing. I like that. Disadvantages.. you need more room, you can't just hold and clean in front of you. And once you've seen the disc doctor pad material, you'll realize why velvet or the orbitrack is an order of magnitude out.

Woolite is a very gentle detergent, probably with a lot less 'de-greaser' than a dishwashing liquid. So it's very mild and doesn't require hot water for it's cleaning action (sort of a given for dishwashing..).

Photoflo reduces the ionic bonds in water, so it effectively reduces the self-surface tension. The cleaner sticks to the record more easily, and doesn't bead up. It also advantageously prevents the cleaner from foaming.

My thought is that if a homebrew cleaner foams on your brush, you've got way too much detergent in there. Bubbles don't help your cleaning process, scrubbing or otherwise.

 

Thanks for the info Mikey.

Problem with Disc Doctor products are, after paying $1600 for a VPI and being poor in general, it's beyond my means. I don't believe I'm doing any harm to my vinyl with the Orbitrac and I'm satisfied with the job it does. And it's better than my previous cleaning process. Licking them clean.

 

Ok, I've put together a new formula. I kept it real simple. Distilled water, Woolite, Photoflow, alcohol. The first batch obviously had WAY too much Woolite. I cleaned a rather dirty copy of Veeden Fleece by Van and put it on. One of the elements there left the record with a coating that created a high end whirling hiss. So, I dumped about a quarter of the gallon jug out and replaced it with more distilled water. That did the trick. It goes on smooth and begins to evaporate almost immediately and how did it clean? Well, the Veedon Fleece ended up sounding as clean as a whistle (what exactly DOES that old saying mean?). I then gave it the real test. I have a copy of Bruce Cockburns, Circles In The Stream and it was a mess. Very noisey deep seated grunge. I hadn't played it in awhile because I didn't think it'd ever come clean enough for me to be able to truely enjoy it. Long story short, setting aside the few scratches in the record, all the other noise was completely eliminated.
What I like about this formula compared to the last one I'd made is the last one, although you couldn't hear it, left a visible haze on the records. This one makes them shine like they're brand new. Sweet. I love my Orbitrac.