Suggestion for an upgrade of record cleaning fluid for vaccum cleaning

mahiruha

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Hi Guys,
for past one year I have been using VPI concentrate RCM fluid to clean my records in VPI rcm. The problem is it has to be mixed with distilled water and needs lot of volumetric measurements.I think there are better option in the market than this. Has anybody tried any other solution with good results.
Thanks,
Mahiruha.
 
Hi Mahiruha,

I use Disc Doctor. Quite decent. Needs distilled water to be added, but then so does every cleaner in the market. The adding is simple though, just fill up to a premarked line and then fill the small bottles and dilute roughly according to proportion mentioned. Forget that right now, but its simple to do.

regards
 
@Mahiruha and Stevieboy

how is your experience? specially old, dusty records, because strengths of record cleaners are truly tasted for these kind of LPs, on my part till now only used warm water with reasonable result, the added difficulty is the static, I use a ordinary record cleaning brush which I am afraid just does not work, so will more fancy and costly anti static brushes will exhibit better result? need to invest in this front

Also I have observed for unplayed/hardly played old records water is enough for cleaning and they hardly attract static, the listening pleasure is amazing
 
Hi Mahiruha,

I use Disc Doctor. Quite decent. Needs distilled water to be added, but then so does every cleaner in the market. The adding is simple though, just fill up to a premarked line and then fill the small bottles and dilute roughly according to proportion mentioned. Forget that right now, but its simple to do.

regards

Hi Steven,
good to hear from you about Disc Doctor.Checked the website looks pretty good. When you got big bottle did you also get the small bottle which you use to sprinkle the liquid on the vinyl?Where from you are sourcing the distilled water? My driver got me some from a petrol pump it doesn't look very convincing.My current Vpi liquid doesn't explicitely mentions the proportions. After doing a bit of maths I found 263.5 ml of water should be added to 2.05 ml of concentrate and I am very skeptic aboput this findings.So it helps if something comes with proper measurements.:)
Thanks.

@Akd: There is no one miracle solution for cleaning older records.Vaccum cleaning seems to be the most sensible option and you need a good cleaner solution to make the particles suspended. Static can be remved with a anti static gun and to some extent using brush but they don't pose that much of a problem. Bottom line is if the older record is dirty but scratch free you can play it well after cleaning.No problem atall. If the older record is dirty with lot of scratches no matter how much you clean it , it will have surface noise.
Thanks.
 
@Mahiruha and Stevieboy

how is your experience? specially old, dusty records, because strengths of record cleaners are truly tasted for these kind of LPs, on my part till now only used warm water with reasonable result, the added difficulty is the static, I use a ordinary record cleaning brush which I am afraid just does not work, so will more fancy and costly anti static brushes will exhibit better result? need to invest in this front

Also I have observed for unplayed/hardly played old records water is enough for cleaning and they hardly attract static, the listening pleasure is amazing

Hi Akd,

In my experience even clean water should do the trick. Buy an antistatic gun to use after your cleaning. This will take care of static buildup and completely remove it. I had got it much cheaper than the $100 it normally retails for, from a UK site. I think you might find a link on this forum, I had recommended it to Mahiruha long back. Milty Zerostat is the name. For removing dry dust when you place the record on the table, a carbon fibre brush is essential, bout 600 bucks I think. With the Disc Doc there's a slight bit more clarity. Personally I got it cos I did not want to handle the isopropyl mixture I used to use before it smelled quite a bit.

Regards
 
is wet vacuum cleaning advised bros?? like they use for car interiors cleaning??? ??? so we can rinse lps with the cleaning solution n thn wet vacuum em.

Hi entsurgeon,

Vacuuming is only done wet :) otherwise too much build up of static would happen. All commercial cleaners are made to vacuum after a wash and after a rinse cycle.

Regards
 
Hi Steven,
good to hear from you about Disc Doctor.Checked the website looks pretty good. When you got big bottle did you also get the small bottle which you use to sprinkle the liquid on the vinyl?Where from you are sourcing the distilled water?

Mahiruha,

Yes I got the big bottle and small bottle with a nozzle that folds down to prevent liquid from evaporating. It's very easy to mix shipping is also good cos it comes as a concentrate so weight is low. Distilled water is from my aquaguard RO!

Regards
 
Hi Guys,
for past one year I have been using VPI concentrate RCM fluid to clean my records in VPI rcm. The problem is it has to be mixed with distilled water and needs lot of volumetric measurements.I think there are better option in the market than this. Has anybody tried any other solution with good results.
Thanks,
Mahiruha.

Try this link. There are various methods given for diy fluid. I use Laura Dearborn's recipe. I don't have Triton X-114 or Monolan 2000. I put just a pinch of detergent in place of Monolan or Triton.
You will get good distilled water in Medical Store.
How-to: record cleaning devices and fluids [English]
 
Hi Steven,
the disc doctor sounds to be a really good option will try it out. It seems to work like a charm.I find this enitre process of vinyl cleaning more relaxing even compared to listening music.:eek:hyeah:
Thanks.

Hi Myriad,
I have have tried those recipies but VPI solution has provided me better results.Thanks for the suggestion of medical stores for sourcing distilled water. Sounds to be a better option.I still have a big bottle of isopropyl alcohol and a diluted solution of it is chiefly used for cleaning dirty covers of old vinyls.
Thanks.
 
The 1 oz VPI cleaning concentrate needs to be mixed with 1 Gallon of water - so you end up with 1 gallon of cleaning liquid which should last you for a decent number of records.

cheers
 
Here are some recipes for record cleaning fluids which I "pasted" from the TNT site sometime ago. These are the creations of various 'authorities'.

Hope it is of help.

To make 4 litres (unless otherwise stated).

Steven Rochlin's recipes
Distilled water Alcohol Detergent
1 part 1 part isopropyl none
1 part 1 part isopropyl a drop of Triton X-100
1 quart (~ 1 liter) 1/2 quart denatured 10 drops Photoflo
3 parts 1 part denatured a few drops
3 parts 1 part rubbing a few drops
4 parts 1 part ethanol some (Genie in the Bottle)

Laura Dearborn's recipe
Distilled water Alcohol Detergent
3 parts 1 part isopropyl 1 drop Triton X-114 or Monolan 2000

Don Roderick's recipe
Distilled water Alcohol Detergent
4 parts 1 part isopropyl (91%) 7-8 drops dishwashing detergent w/o additives
.
Keith Monks's recipe (TAS)
Distilled water Alcohol + Detergent
1 part 1 part denatured alcohol (90% ethyl, 9.5% methyl, .5% pyridine)

Jonathan Scull's recipe (Stereophile)
Distilled water Alcohol Detergents
3 parts 1 part NON-lanolin isopropyl 10 drops Photo-Flo + 10 drops "Direct" tile cleaner
 
For cleaning records, I use de-mineralised water with 10% isopropyl alcohol and a few drops of any liquid dish washing soap. Place it on an old TT. apply the solution and vaccum the same with a wet& dry cleaner. You have to make an attachment to the cleaner with a pvc tube and a velvet cloth pasted to it and a slit made to vaccum the dirt. It gives fantastic results. Believe me
 
I use spin clean fluid with distilled water and when I can't get hold of the spin clean fluid, I use the isopropyl alcohol mix.

For distilled water, I collect it from my dehumidifier. Even the water from air-conditioners will work well provided it has been recently collected in a clean container.
 
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