RRL Cleaner, Vinyl Zyme, and Groove Glide

Shasta, you say that, "using a distilled water rinse *after using RRL is a distinct no-no" but say DD, which I use wins hands down. Do you mean I should not be rinsing after cleaning with DD?

Shasta: From what you stated, it would seem that you believe that the residue left behind by RRL's solvent is beneficial to the stylus / groove interface in terms of retrieving data and / or the life expectancy of both surfaces. What do you base this belief on? If i'm putting words in your mouth, please correct me, but that's how i interpreted your message.

Other than that, i do agree that giving a solvent time to penetrate and loosen imbedded particles is beneficial to its' effectiveness as a cleaner. This is akin to soaking an item in a solvent compared to simply rinsing it off quickly. A quick rinse will remove surface film, but is far less likely to achieve anything beyond that.

Then again, the more thoroughly that the solvent penetrates into the various "nooks & crannies", the more thorough one has to be in removal and rinsing. Otherwise, the cleaner itself will remain imbedded in the various "cul de sac's" of each groove. Over time, it will dry up and harden leaving a film and / or attract and hold other contaminants that it comes into contact with. Whether it becomes a dried film or retention pond for other contaminants would depend on the chemical make-up of the solvent(s) used and the long-term chemical reaction that takes place with the vinyl that they reside upon.

That brings me back to the original question: Why not rinse off any / all residue from the records? Sean
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Shasta and Sean, from my experince RRL Fluids do not leave behind any residue of any kind when used in conjunction with a vacumm cleaner - unlike MANY other fluids I've used. DD fluids do, even after rinsing with distilled water, again in my experience. The resaon that RRL recommends no rinse is that the fluid itself is more pure than the distilled water one would use for a rinse. If you are experiencing what you think is residue following RRL cleaning, I'm guessing process must have gone awry or your vacuum wand are dirty/contaminated. If you a hearing good result using it, it is not due to any reside left behind. It is because the fluid has held the crap from the grooves in suspension before you vacummed it away - what a cleaner should do.

As for price, you can get it from Galen Carol for $20 a bottle. I think people use way, way too much. I can do a shade over 180 LP's with 32 oz. At $20 a bottle, that is about 11 CENTS an LP. Cheap.

4yanx: If a solvent has some form of detergent action to it, it is not a neutral PH. Anything that isn't neutral will leave behind some type of residue that will have some form of interaction with the materials that it resides upon. On top of that, there's no way to avoid "smearing" contaminants back onto the record. That's because the brushes come into contact with the foreign materials on the record and have the "grunge" sucked up over and through them as it is recovered by the vacuum pump. One would literally have to clean the felt "lips" or brushes after each record to avoid this. Even then, whatever you used to wash them with will have left some form of residue on the lips. As such, i'd rather have distilled water left behind as a residue than anything else i can think of. Sean
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Okay, here's the deal guys. Tomorrow I'm going to immerse several records in an isopropyl alcohol bath, labels and all. I've got an import picked out, a generic pressing from the 70's, an early 60's jazz and my least favorite MFSL. So, here's the questions I have. How long should I soak them? What magnification should I be seeking in a microscope in order to see any changes? Do the members here trust my ears when reporting sonic changes or lack thereof? How long is sufficient, in your opinion, to wait for leeching to happen?

I'm also going to try and find residue from an evaporative process of the cleaners I have on hand. I'll be using alcohol in computer chip manufacturing multi-stage processed water and RRL cleaner and wash. How much of each type of fluid would be enough in your opinion? Would you prefer microscopic inspection, weighing or both?

Does anyone have any idea on how I can find fact about whether Gruv Glide interferes with the stylus interface in the groove? My ears do not confirm what Narrod claims and my vinyl has been played on some of the finest systems I've ever imagined. Input on this subject is really wanted.

Then, if I go through all of this trouble will anyone believe the results if I post them? I did this with the rice paper sleeve controversy and the same old claims pop up.

Anyone have access to an electron microscope?