budget cleaning ideas for garage sale records?

jacks,

I tried the Nitty Gritty cleaner (which I do not like) and the Disc Dr., both to no avail. The cleaning process I used for the old Discwasher brushes was a deionized water (actually the water I use comes from a computer chip manufacturer locally and is laboratory grade) soak, followed by a quick denatured alcohol bath, another h20 rinse and blow dry with compressed air. My compressor is set up for paint booth use and has an oil trap/filter and water trap/filter.

Denatured alcohol does not contain lanolin. It does contain some types of additives commonly found in gasoline. Yeah, I know, sounds spooky but rubbing alcohol contains all the above. I also added Kodak photo-flo to the 50/50 solution. I was shocked at the outcome because I felt that there should have been some kind of leaching of chemistry from the vinyl and maybe there was, but I certainly can't hear any degradation of sound. The vinyl remains very black and very shiny.

My TT is a Linn LP12/Valhalla/Nirvana/Ittok/Asaka. As difficult as this stuff was to remove from the LP I was really concerned about contaminating the stylus. It is difficult to describe how much elbow grease went into cleaning these records; it took an entire afternoon non-stop. Since the commercial cleaning materials I used failed to clean the vinyl I had serious concerns about commercial cleaners successfully cleaning the stylus.

PLEASE keep in mind that these aren't my regular cleaning habits. Most of my vinyl library was purchased new beginning in 1962. (I still have that first album by The Fleetwoods and it sounds as good as the day I bought it) I have spend thousands of dollars since that time buying just about every cleaning device I could find. In 1982 I contracted having my entire library professionally cleaned using the Keith Monks machine. It is only within the last six months that I purchased a machine for myself.

With over 3500 LP's in my collection I don't measure my life by time but rather by music. To all that are getting into analog, please set aside some money for a modest vacuum cleaning machine.

Happy listening,
Patrick

Patrick, want to thank you again here for communicating with me to set up the tonearm!

You're hell of an effort guy! I confess that I wouldn't ever launder vinyls so heavy -- slight damages maybe or I won't place them under my Lyra Helikon. I believe that paying more money for the same good condition record is much cheaper but say thanks to addiction!

I like the Nitty Gritty cleaner followed by a treatment of
Gruv-Glide. This process really helps the sound of old used records.

Guycom: You can make a simple cleaning mixture/solution using 91% Azeotropic Isopropyl alcohol and water.

I use 9 parts distilled water to 1 part alcohal, but some prefer using twice this amount (20% alcohal in the solution). Other things can be added such as a few drops of Kodack Photo Flow (helps the liquid to reach the bottom of the groove) and/or a drop of mild detergent. I do not find the Photo Flow/detergent necessary, but I also completely submerge LP's (in the solution) when cleaning and use a long bristled brush.

There are different types of Isopropyl/Isopropanol alcohal and the 91% Azeotropic is the one to use (check your local drug and grocery stores for it). Run a search of "azeotropic" @ the audioasylum.com Vinyl Forum for more info.

Other than the cleaning fluid, I would suggest picking up a Groovmaster Label Saver (approx. $30 on Ebay). This item seals off the label portion of an LP with "O" rings so that it may be dipped in liquid, sprayed with liquid, etc., without damage. The Groovmaster also comes with a long bristle brush for wet cleaning.

You might also pick up a carbon fiber brush (for dry cleaning) and a soft brush (for wet/dry daily use). Philips has a carbon fiber brush for $10-$12, but they seem to vary in quality/hardness. I have heard from other owners that their brushes are hard/stiff and scratch vinyl (I own two which are both soft). Maybe research these before buying one as it might be better to spend $25 on a good one than to go through a reject or two @ $10 a pop? I have never had much luck with the Discwasher brush (the nap does not extend far enough into the grooves), but maybe they have changed the design since I used/tried one? My favorite wet/dry brushes are the old style "tube" shaped ones, with long nap, which were popular in the 60's 70's 80's. Pickwick among others manufactured these (I just found a NIB Pickwick on Ebay for $5).

The only other thing that I use is a Water Pik (to sometimes pre-blast LP's and hopefully remove any hard grit). For this I use filtered tap water (guess this choice would depend on how effective the filter is). I also use the Pik to final rinse better LP's, though use double distilled water for this. The Pik is kind of nuts, but we had one on hand that was not getting any use and it does work quite well (just hold it close and @ an angle to the LP and it's not too messy).

If you want to use a warm soapy water solution, try to use the foam that is floating on the top of the water and not the water itself to scrub with. Not only does this have the most cleaning power, it leaves the least residue behind. Keep in mind that the hotter the water is, the better it will clean. Every increase of 15* appr doubles the cleansing / penetration power of water until you reach the point of boiling ( 212* ). At this point, you will be producing steam. Anything above that is overkill and may actually damage your vinyl if you concentrate on one area for any extended amount of time. Obviously, some type of clean water rinse is recommended when using any type of detergent. Sean
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