The "Very Best Record Cleaning Formulation"

I learned at the Gangster Museum, NYC this about Denatured Alcohol

Alcohol had been subject to excise taxes as a beverage in the United States until 1906, when a process borrowed from Europe added “denaturants,” or substances that made grain-based (ethyl) alcohol taste or smell bad, to deter its use in drinks. The “denatured” alcohol could then be used, tax free, in manufacturing.

USA, during prohibition, those without bathtubs, or moon-lit nights (origin of moon shine) drank denatured alcohol, many became sick, yet ...

@wizzzard , excuse me, I missed your comment on denatured alcohol. I was using isopropyl alcohol and will switch to pure ethanol. To Orient you correctly my formula was 1 gallon water, 1 cup isopropyl alcohol. 2 drops Triton X and 2 tablespoons BAK. I do have a scale I use to mix epoxy and catalized lacquer and will switch to your proportions. I would very much appreciate your comments on Triton X and BAK. I use a Clearaudio Double Matrix Sonic Pro, worth every cent. You 

The AR XA was a tour de force of original turntable design and I think Edgar Villchur’s  best work. It is a turntable design every audiophile should study. It has been copied initially by Thorens and Linn, then improved by David Fletcher’s SOTA Sapphire and gussied it up by AJ Conti’s Basis, SME, Avid, Oracle and finally Mark Dohmann with the Helix. The only error is the XA’s lack of an anti skating mechanism. Everything else is commensurate with is price. 

Can I interest you in a set of cable elevators? They only cost $8500:-)

@wizzzard , I forgot to mention BAK (benzalconium chloride) as a cationic surfactant helps prevent static buildup on the record. This formula does leave a residue on the record which if used with a vacuum machine is very slight. I have to clean styluses once weekly. I get the impression records are quieter after treatment but I need proof of that and will have to devise an experiment. The anti static nature of the solution has been proven beyond a shadow of doubt. I use a turntable with vacuum clamping. It generates huge static voltage charges on the bottom of the record. After treatment there is no significant charge generated.

 

@mijostyn 

Good day Mijostyn,

 

I will address your four most recent posts at the same time.  First, I need to make some adjustments.  You have presented very good and clear questions, however, there are a few very minor deviations in the formulations you presented.

 

My first assumption is that you stated that you are using "Triton X" as a surfactant.  I believe that I am correct to assume that you are using "Triton X 100".

 

Triton X 100 is the most commonly used Triton surfactants manufactured by Dow Chemical.  You may not be aware of this trivial bit of information and history about Triton X 100, but, sometime around 1960, TritonX 100 was the Reference Standard of nonionic surfactants.  It was the base to which all other nonionic surfactants were compared.  In fact, to this day, it is the "Medical Standard" that is used in Medical experimentations.  Even if other surfactants are used ( and, they mostly are not), Triton X 100 is also used.  This is very important because Medical Research that is done today can accurately be compared and judged to studies that were done more than 63 years ago.  This is very important in Medical Research.

 

Nevertheless, the selection of Triton X 100 for cleaning vinyl records is a good choice, not the best or close to the best, but a good choice.  And, if you already have access to Triton X 100, I do not see any reason to make a change unless you are interested in making the "Very Best".  Stick with the Triton X 100, but you proportionally need to incorporate more into your formulation.  I thought that I would first alter what you are using and make it more relatable to the "Very Best Record Cleaning Formulation" that I initially presented, and then I though to also provide a comparison, and then make comments about the ingredients in question.  I decided to refer to your formulation as "Mijostyn’s Good Record cleaning Formula"

 

                                          "Mijostyn’s Good Record Cleaning Formula

 

                    Ingredients:                                             Parts by Weight (Grams)

 

                 Distilled Water                                                   779.772

         

                 Ethanol                                                               220.000

 

                 Triton X 100 (Dow Chemical)                               0.228

 

                 Benzalkonium Chloride                                         0.000

                                                                                       

                                                                                          1,000.000

 

Now, if I were to take my formulation and relate it to what you have been using it would read as follows for comparative purposes only.

 

                    Ingredients:                                              Parts by Weight (Grams)

 

                Distilled Water                                                      941.499

 

                Denatured Alcohol                                                  50.900

 

                Benzalkonium Chloride                                            7.600

 

                Triton X 100 (Dow Chemical)                                  0.001

 

                                                                                            1,000.000

 

You should not be concerned with the "Distilled Water" that you purchase at a supermarket, or drugstore, or Walmart.  As long as it is stated as distilled and not deionized.

 

I do not know if your intent to use Benzalkonium was as a "antimicrobial agent" or as an "anti-static agent", or both?  Nevertheless, you do not need an antimicrobial agent.  Also, the selection of this agent as an anti-static agent can only cause problems, also, if intended for such a purpose, the amount used is extremely excessive.  There are much better and easier ways to control static, and, they should never be incorporated within a cleaning formulation.

 

Now to the denatured alcohol versus "Pure Ethanol" aspect.  In one respect using denatured alcohol is LESS DESTRUCTIVE than using another alcohol such as, isopropanol, because it first depends upon the concentration of ethyl alcohol in the denatured.  The Ethyl alcohol concentration can be as low as 60%, or 90%, or most often 95%.  The majority of the denaturant is "Methyl alcohol".  And, I mentioned that ethanol has NO EFFECT on vinyl records, methyl alcohol does, but, although it is destructive - it is the least destructive of the more common alcohols.  However, you should use Ethanol purchased at a liquor store ONLY.  It is not worth saving a few pennies and progressively damaging your records over time. The other ingredients used to make alcohol denatured are copper sulphate (used for coloring only, and not a big problem), Methyl Ethyl Ketone, Methyl Isobutyl Ketone, and denatunium (to make it bitter tasting), and pyridine (to make it smell to high heaven).  There are also others.  The exact quantities are no longer governed and benzine has been banned.  But it is important to note that even in very minute quantities they are extremely effective.  Please, please use only ethanol for numerous reasons.  I will be preparing a graph for all to see why the level of 22.000% is important, and not just a number I picked out of a hat.  The graph will (or should) make it clear.

 

So, scrap the BAK, feel confident in your distilled water purchases, purchase and use only ethanol, and significantly increase you level of Triton X 100 by a factor of 5+.

 

I noticed that many use volumetric methods of making their formulations, I intend to convert my presented formulation in a volumetric format as well very shortly.

 

I hope this has cleared some things up for you and has been helpful.  If you follow what I have stated, you will no longer have any residue problems.  Also, Triton X 100 is not as low foaming as the Tergitol 15-S-7, but it is manageable and will not produce unnecessary spotting and quickly dry spot-free.