Thanks for feedback. I have found using a vacuum Record cleaner to rinse and dry after ultrasonic cleaning seems to give best results.
Ultrasonic cleaning
How many of you are ultrasonic cleaning your records and what solution are you using? I have a Kirmuss ultrasonic machine and I am currently using Tergikleen solution with distilled water. Have some Audio Intelligence ultrasonic solution on order to try. I can tell a big difference with noisy records lowering the noise floor.
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@lnitm I use an ultrasonic machine with a tank of Distilled water, a cap full of Spin-Clean washer fluid MK3, about 2 drops of Mr. Clean and a 1/2 cap full of Kodak Photo-Flo 200. The photo-flo causes the water to sheet off without any spotting. Taking the arm out of the water bath, I can rest the LP on it's edge sitting on a towel. Bone dry in about 15 minutes. I find I can clean many LPs before I need to change the water. My one no break rule is never let anything touch the surface of the LP after it has been cleaned. NOTHING. 😆 |
I use 2 methods, It’s a process but Amazing results, I pre clean using the vinyl vac method, in small glass bowl with a painters foam brush for applying and painters edger with soft bristles for lightly scrubbing around the record using distilled water, 1ml of Ilford Ilfotol, and 2ml 99.99% Lab grade isopropyl alcohol. Vacuum it off then distilled rinse and vacuum dry then in the 6l vevor with distilled water and 5 ml Ilford (degas for 30 minutes) then put the record in for 20 minutes then distilled rinse using separate foam brush and vacuum dry. New records I do 2 at a time, estate sale or Salvation army I do only 1 at a time. I wait until i have at least 10 records to clean. It’s time consuming but I enjoy it. As long as there is no actual damage to the grooves I get jaw dropping results. I do not use the heat setting as the cavitation from the degas heats it up to 30 degrees Celsius which is 86 Fahrenheit. Hottest it gets after a batch of cleaning is 90F which is fine for LP records. |
I use Klaudio's ultrasonic machine and distilled water and that suffices for the vast bulk of my LPs. For the occasional used LP that is in really bad shape, I have a Nitty-Gritty machine and use Record Doctor fluid. The beauty of the Klaudio machine is that it is a one-step process: Simply place the LP in the machine and walk away - you'll have a clean, dry record when the cycle is finished. |
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