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Best Record Cleaning Fluid

Greetings All,

I’ve spend the last few days searching and reading about record cleaning fluids for my cleaning machine (Okki Nikki).  Wow - there are a lot of options out there.  Many more than I originally thought.  Some real esoteric stuff that costs a pretty penny.  I’m currently going through my entire collection, cleaning it, listening to it and adding it to a Discogs DB.  Want to finally know how many I have and have a list of them.  But doing this has resulted in me going through cleaning fluid rather quickly.

So many options, so many perspectives on what are the best fluids.  What do you all say.  I understand that alcohol is a no-no for fluids, but I can’t find out if some of them include alcohol or not.  Currently using up the fluid that came with the machine, but no where can I read it if has bad ingredients.

The 2-stage or 3-stage cleaning systems are not going to happen.  I did get a bottle of Revolv that I was told was good, and use if for new high quality pressings (as opposed to those I bought in high school).

Anyway, would appreciate some perspectives on good quality record cleaning fluids that don’t bust the bank.  Thanks for keeping the sarcasm in check.

Happy Listening,

pgaulke60
clearthink
1,421 posts
 

scott69"Many years ago I had the opportunity to evaluate record fluids and brushes. I found little to no differences in the cleaning effects of the 6 fluids I checked. Methodology - I sectioned a dirty record, cleaned them with commercial record cleaners borrowed from a nearby audio dealer and then evaluated the number of particulates per unit of area with a SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope)."

What a load of fantastic, imaginitive, misleading nonsense this guy does not know what he is talking about! One of my companies actually has one of these microscopes so I have talked with my engineering and scientific staff about how it might be used for this purpose because if anyone knows anything at all about SEMS they know they only work on electrically conductive surfaces! You will get all kind of errors and bad data otherwise this is just how they work! You could use an ESEM but they have their own problems mostly related to the pressure the sample is under this guy is bogus so I wouldn't belief anything he says.
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,977 posts
 
What a load of fantastic, imaginitive, misleading nonsense this guy does not know what he is talking about!

Huh?...this article talks about using a SEM and actually has pictures.  It mentions: " Because records are so dark, they absorb light. So we switched to the Scanning Electron Microscope."

https://www.dak.com/vinyl-record-grooves-magnified-1000x/
voiceofvinyl's avatar
voiceofvinyl
93 posts
 
Voiceofvinyl, plasticizer molecules? Another myth.  
Sorry, a plasticizer is an additive to the vinyl formulation that keeps it soft and flexible and the right amount of it helps keep the surface of the vinyl, where it contacts the stylus- just soft enough to help minimize noise while not deforming while under normal stylus/cartridge/arm forces. 

I have been told alcohol dries out this additive and increases running noise.
elliottbnewcombjr
5,304 posts
 
I also was told long ago to beware of removing the helpful stuff, you call it plasticizer, I'll go with that name.


cleeds

I am not saying use the stylus to clean, I am saying, most do not need cleaning, the stylus stays essentially clean, meanwhile grub on the stylus will reveal those that do need cleaning. 
pgaulke60 OP
294 posts
 
Can we please get back to experiences with off the shelf products.  There have been some helpful posts about several products.  Would like to hear from a few others about their experiences.  I do respect and understand those that have commented that they have tried many products and found them quite similar.  I think that is a valid point.

Thanks
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