Wash with distilled or HPLC water and then vacuum at the last step regardless of what cleaning fluid you use.
Why I Am Cautious About Using Record Cleaning Fluids.
Most commercial record cleaning fluids do not reveal their compositions. Why I understand the manufacturers reasons, as a consumer I am reluctant to use these fluids on my LPs because of their unknown effect on vinyl, the manufacturers claims and other audiophiles testimony notwithstanding. This is a little off the topic and I hope that Garakawa forgives me for this intrusion.
My cautious attitude is rooted in my work in Interfacial Phenomena better known as Surface Chemistry. Most fluids (not just alcohols) applied on the vinyl surface will leave behind a thin film of only a few molecules thick. This physically adsorbed film (by electrostatic attraction or hydrogen binding) may or may not be easily removable unless we know its composition. Finally, as some have already stated, highly polar solvents such as alcohols or other organic solvent may also dissolve (leach out) the plasticizer (probably a phthalate compound) in the vinyl which may render the vinyl brittle in the long run.
How Contaminants Are Removed From Vinyl Surface
The vinyl surface may contain a variety of undesirable contaminants: mold release, dust, finger prints (oil), cigarette smoke, at other compounds of surprising origins. It takes water and several organic fluids of different polarity to dissolve (solubilize) and displace all of these contaminants. Unfortunately, many polar organic fluids (e.g., strong alcohols) by themselves will definitely harm the vinyl; others may harm the environment (fluoro-, chloro-ethane). One solutionreally a compromiseis a mixture of small quantities of one or several polar organic compounds with water, which form what some have called a broad spectrum fluid. Another solution is to use a surface-active agent to reduce the interfacial tension sufficiently 1) to allow the fluid to penetrate into the nooks and crannies where the contaminants reside and 2) to facilitate the removal of contaminants by solubilization and flotation. A third solution is the combination of the previous two.
How Cleaning Fluid Constituents Remain On Vinyl Surface
By their nature, all surface-active agents and organic materials will adsorb onto the vinyl surface (or any solid surface for that matter) via either electrostatic attraction and/or hydrogen bonding onto specific sites on the vinyl surface. Thus, a surface-active agent/organic solvent in the cleaning fluid will generally remain adsorbed as a thin molecular film on the vinyl surface even after vacuuming.
If this adsorbed material is a volatile liquid such as IPAthis alcohol is a weak surface-active agentthen it will eventually evaporate off the surface through its vapor pressure, though it may have time to leach out some plasticizer. But if this material is a higher molecular-weight (liquid or solid) compound or a detergentthis latter is the best reducer of surface tensionthen it will remain molecularly adsorbed on the vinyl surface for a very long time.
I just do not believe that any fluid can have a positive preservative effect for vinyl. Vinyl is an extremely inert material that does not need to be preserved. Its mostly dead already and is not going anywhere. The adsorbed film of preservative or lubrication left in the grooves cannot be good for the record in the long run. The electrostatic attraction or hydrogen bonding is not strong enough to survive the stress of the needle against the grooves: the adsorbed film (a few molecules thick) will be quickly torn up and become chemical contaminants in the grooves. The best treatment for vinyl is simply to clean it and leave nothing behind. Note: if memory serves, EDTA is usually used as a chelating agent to prevent solid precipitation (Ca, Mg compounds, etc.) in a complex mixture such as hand lotion, hair shampoo, toothpaste, etc. It may be called a preservative only in this sense; it is not a good biocide or oxygen scavenger.
The Last Cleaning Step
My recommendation is whatever fluid you use, wash the vinyl generously with distilled water and vacuum as the last step to remove the last remnants of the cleaning fluids. I am fortunate that I have access to HPLC grade water (and IPA) with exceedingly low residuethey are called nano-pure solventsso I know that these solvents will leave virtually no residue. But you can do pretty well with store-bought distilled water. Just make sure it is fresh to minimize the amount of organic materials leached out of the plastic bottles and store it glass bottles if possible.
Why I Am Cautious About Using Record Cleaning Fluids.
Most commercial record cleaning fluids do not reveal their compositions. Why I understand the manufacturers reasons, as a consumer I am reluctant to use these fluids on my LPs because of their unknown effect on vinyl, the manufacturers claims and other audiophiles testimony notwithstanding. This is a little off the topic and I hope that Garakawa forgives me for this intrusion.
My cautious attitude is rooted in my work in Interfacial Phenomena better known as Surface Chemistry. Most fluids (not just alcohols) applied on the vinyl surface will leave behind a thin film of only a few molecules thick. This physically adsorbed film (by electrostatic attraction or hydrogen binding) may or may not be easily removable unless we know its composition. Finally, as some have already stated, highly polar solvents such as alcohols or other organic solvent may also dissolve (leach out) the plasticizer (probably a phthalate compound) in the vinyl which may render the vinyl brittle in the long run.
How Contaminants Are Removed From Vinyl Surface
The vinyl surface may contain a variety of undesirable contaminants: mold release, dust, finger prints (oil), cigarette smoke, at other compounds of surprising origins. It takes water and several organic fluids of different polarity to dissolve (solubilize) and displace all of these contaminants. Unfortunately, many polar organic fluids (e.g., strong alcohols) by themselves will definitely harm the vinyl; others may harm the environment (fluoro-, chloro-ethane). One solutionreally a compromiseis a mixture of small quantities of one or several polar organic compounds with water, which form what some have called a broad spectrum fluid. Another solution is to use a surface-active agent to reduce the interfacial tension sufficiently 1) to allow the fluid to penetrate into the nooks and crannies where the contaminants reside and 2) to facilitate the removal of contaminants by solubilization and flotation. A third solution is the combination of the previous two.
How Cleaning Fluid Constituents Remain On Vinyl Surface
By their nature, all surface-active agents and organic materials will adsorb onto the vinyl surface (or any solid surface for that matter) via either electrostatic attraction and/or hydrogen bonding onto specific sites on the vinyl surface. Thus, a surface-active agent/organic solvent in the cleaning fluid will generally remain adsorbed as a thin molecular film on the vinyl surface even after vacuuming.
If this adsorbed material is a volatile liquid such as IPAthis alcohol is a weak surface-active agentthen it will eventually evaporate off the surface through its vapor pressure, though it may have time to leach out some plasticizer. But if this material is a higher molecular-weight (liquid or solid) compound or a detergentthis latter is the best reducer of surface tensionthen it will remain molecularly adsorbed on the vinyl surface for a very long time.
I just do not believe that any fluid can have a positive preservative effect for vinyl. Vinyl is an extremely inert material that does not need to be preserved. Its mostly dead already and is not going anywhere. The adsorbed film of preservative or lubrication left in the grooves cannot be good for the record in the long run. The electrostatic attraction or hydrogen bonding is not strong enough to survive the stress of the needle against the grooves: the adsorbed film (a few molecules thick) will be quickly torn up and become chemical contaminants in the grooves. The best treatment for vinyl is simply to clean it and leave nothing behind. Note: if memory serves, EDTA is usually used as a chelating agent to prevent solid precipitation (Ca, Mg compounds, etc.) in a complex mixture such as hand lotion, hair shampoo, toothpaste, etc. It may be called a preservative only in this sense; it is not a good biocide or oxygen scavenger.
The Last Cleaning Step
My recommendation is whatever fluid you use, wash the vinyl generously with distilled water and vacuum as the last step to remove the last remnants of the cleaning fluids. I am fortunate that I have access to HPLC grade water (and IPA) with exceedingly low residuethey are called nano-pure solventsso I know that these solvents will leave virtually no residue. But you can do pretty well with store-bought distilled water. Just make sure it is fresh to minimize the amount of organic materials leached out of the plastic bottles and store it glass bottles if possible.