The "Very Best Record Cleaning Formulation"

@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.

@Wizzard- I’m fascinated by archival techniques including those used for LPs (not shellac). Most of what I did was compare sonic results using different commercially available fluids and methods. I met Neil Antin (@Antinn) on these fora - he is the author of that tome on record cleaning methods, chemistry, materials science and the like. (His background is engineering based and he developed the Mil-Spec for use by the Navy in cleaning life critical o2 systems).  Neil is also an audiophile and during a brief retirement period put together his thoughts on cleaning LPs in a methodical way, starting with the basics.

One thing that Neil confirmed in his extensive studies was the value of a pure water rinse step to remove residue, including the contaminants left by the cleaning fluid itself. You might find it an enjoyable read.

One other thing of note- Certain cartridge manufacturers warn against any liquid stylus cleaner (Ortofon, for one) as it can loosen the glue that is used to bond the stylus to the cantilever shank. There is at least one commercial manufacturer who is offering a stylus fluid (proprietary, of course) that is supposed to be safe even for these types of cartridges.

Best,

Bill Hart

@wizzzard , Thank you for your extended response. Yes, it is Triton X 100 which I got from my hospitals lab. I am a retired family doc. 

I use supermarket distilled water. If you let 1cc dry on a black plate you will see a white residue. My point is that if records are allowed to air or fan dry this and any other residue will be left on the record. Since I have no idea what this is I would have to assume it is abrasive. Vacuum drying will remove the bulk of this. 

Why is Tergitol better than Triton X100?  

I will swap the isopropanol for ethanol immediately. 

People with large record collections may listen to any particular record once a decade. Records left for prolonged periods are notorious for growing fungus. The BAK will prevent fungal grow under normal (not excessively humid) conditions. I went to medical school in Miami, Florida. I made living designing and installing Hi Fi systems in the homes of very wealthy people. I would pull records out of large collections to listen noticing that mildew smell that everyone is familiar with when they leave their laundry in the washing machine too long.