Vinyl Cleaning

I make my own cleaning solution. Get a 1 gallon jug of distilled water, and drain off 1 pint of the water. Then add 1 pint of 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol to the distilled water, plus 1/4 teaspoon of a good surfactant (a high quality liquid detergent will work, but I usually buy a chemical surfactant from a chemical supply house). Shake the gallon jug of solution to distribute the surfactant. You can store the solution in the jug or a glass container (such as several quart Mason jars).

I use this solution with my Nitty Gritty cleaning machine. Apply a fairly liberal amount of the liquid to the surface of the LP, work it around the surface of the record with a gentle brush, or an applicator such as the one that comes with LAST record preservative. Then vacuum off the solution.

I've been using this solution and method for more than 20 years and have been very pleased with the results.

There is a discussion on this topic which is entitled "Best cleaning fluid procedures with the VPI 16.5." Some don't like any alcohol, although using 5% isopropyl alcohol and 95% distilled water along with the dab of soap (surfactant)will do the trick. Too much soap will cause it to foam and leave a residue. SDCambell may be recommending far more alcohol (12%!!)than is useful and could harm the vinyl if left on for any length of time. Also, there is no 99.9% pure alcohol as chemically, it's a virtual impossibility. Typically, you'll find 60% and 90% at the drug store. Go for the 90%.

(In case you are wondering, the balance of the alcohol in the 60% or 90% solutions is pure water. As you may recall from chem class, alcohols and most acids love to absorb water, making it reasonably impossible to get more than about 95% to 98% pure unless you want to spend the national budget.)

Cheers!
Jim

Actually, Jim, I buy 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol in a local drug store. It may not be widely available, but it's not that hard to find. Your point is valid about not leaving the cleaning solution on for an extended time, but the 30-45 seconds or so between application and vacuuming it off has not caused any damage to any of my LP's. As I said in my post, I've been using this solution with good results for more than 20 years, and have cleaned some 2500 LP's with it. I have no hesitancy recommending it -- but if you want to cut down on the alcohol percent to err on the more cautious side, that's fine too.