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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
terry9
2,333 posts
 
Several people have written about the importance of rinsing, if you use a surfactant. I agree.

I use a commercial US cleaner. It's better and cheaper than many audiophile alternatives. I also use lab grade surfactant for a whole bunch of reasons, like it actually is what the documentation says it is.

VersaClean from Fisher Scientific, especially formulated for plastics.
audio_d
56 posts
 
back in the 1990s myles astor did a survey of rcf's for sounds like magazine. he examined the chemistry behind the formulations and conducted listening tests. the top fluid was vpi, followed by nitty gritty purifier 2.
you can't go wrong with any of the name fluids like nitty gritty, vpi, mofi, disc doctor etc.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Thanx for the explanation ljergens. Obviously I was wrong. I believe during the stamping process PVC temperatures reach 300 F. Carbon Black is obviously added to all black records and I have read that it contains lead which acts as a stabilizer.Medical PVC has the phthalate DEHP in it which has been studies intensively for side effects in animals. I believe phthalates are the most common plasticizers but I can not find any mention of them being added to PVC for records. The PVC for records comes in bags of pellets that are premixed with carbon black and whatever else is in there. I am trying to find out who supplies the pellets to firm up the list of compounds added to the PVC and their concentrations. The next question is will Isopropyl alcohol damage records. I believe this is a myth. I have an old record sitting in a tub of 91% isopropyl alcohol now. It has been in it for 3 days.  
Very creative Terry9. At least you know what is in there unlike all the audiophile stuff. 
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
I just opened a conversation with ThermoFisher Scientific. They are a materials science firm. Perhaps they can let us know how record PVC is formulated.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Here is an interesting and non committed article I found. I love the bit about isopropyl alcohol evaporating too fast. That is why we use it in solution with distilled water. You can adjust the vapor pressure by adjusting the concentration of the alcohol. For cleaning car windows I use 75% isopropyl in distilled water. It cleans great and dries fast. For records I use 25% isopropyl in distilled water. It dries a bit slower. There is no residue in medical grade alcohol and there should not be any in distilled water. I filled a sparkling clean wine glass with the 25% mixture and let it evaporate. The glass was just as clean afterwards so there is no visible residue. 
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