Deep Cleaning Records With Steam?

Tried this method tonight for the first time - results were EXCELLENT. Thanks to all who have posted information and advice. Opens up the sound and I hear more than ever before. As others have noted, it does expose the flaws or damage in an LP like never before. All the more reason to treat your LPs well.

FYI, I picked up the Perfection brand hand steamer (recommended here) at Walgreen's yesterday. It was on sale for $19.99 here in Chicago. Not sure how long the sale is on.

Jon

I also got a perfection steamer for 19.99 yesterday in Des Moines but have yet to try it. I have a question for anyone willing to answer concerning water to use in the steamer. Why is it necessary to use anything more pure than distilled water in the steamer? I understand the potential advantage of rincing with ultra pure water. However, when water is boiled what comes off should be pure water vapor. I would think any minute amount of impurity in distilled water would be left behind in the tank. Isn't steam made up of individual water molecules that have gained enough energy to escape surface tension? These moecules condence together to make the "white" steam we can see. Water vapor itself is not visible.
Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this eye opening thread. Nice video Slttrains.

Hi Sonofjim,

Here is my opinion on this. I'm not a water expert but I was a licensed water plant operator in Florida for a decade and a half, so I know enough to be dangerous on the subject. Steam will be purer, but there are some compounds that will still present. Some are ionic compounds and will not be removed by boiling. If this was not true we could all make our own pure water at home. Too bad, because it would save us all a lot of money.

However, I do agree with you that the distilled water does work fine for steaming LPs. I think the biggest reason to use as pure of a water source as you can find is to keep the steamer clean and working properly. If you have ever replaced a heating element in an electric water heater you probably have seen how much stuff gets built up over time on the element from compounds in the water. Usually this stuff is calcium and/or magnesium compounds. Anyway, you don't want this stuff in your steamer if you can easily avoid it.

I think that if you follow a process like Stltrains demonstrated, or if you just immediately follow the steam with a cleaning solution like I do, you will keep the bad stuff from the LP and the water in suspension long enough to be able to get it off the record. IME, the best way to get this all off is to vacuum it up.

Dan ed,

Thanks for your response. You echo my summation that the biggest difference would be in the amount of muck left in the tank. This is why distilled water seems a reasonable stopping point for the steamer in this application. It appears that Stltrains has reached the same conclusion. Wouldn't you rather occasionally have to replace a $20 steamer than vaporize, for example, Walker's ultra pure water for $80 per gallon. That kind of mark up has to make even Exxon green with envy.

Gents - my 2 cents. By definitiion, steam is pure water vapor just as Sonofjim describes. Dissolved minerals and suspended solids are left behind during evaporation Some volatile organics will be evaporated as well. In practice however, the distillation process is not perfect and entrained liquid bearing minerals and other impurities will carryover - hence the need for multi-stage distillation to arrive at really pure distilled water. Equipment cleanliness, post-production transfer lines and storage vessels also affect product quality. I use the Perfection Steamer with relatively cheap grocery store bought distilled water as part of a muli-step cleaning process. I do empty the steamer after each session so as not to "concentrate up" solids left behind during evaporation. It does spit a bit but I vacuum as a final step - removing any condensed steam phase and liquid distilled water (due to spitting) from the LP surface. This is not to contracdict anyone else's more fastidious or rigorous approach...just what happens to work for me.