Lower concentrations of alcohol, like rubbing alcohol (70% IPA), are a false economy when you can but the pure stuff, cheaply and reliably on line, with no added ingredients to make it smell nice or colour co-ordinate with your room decor. UK high street chemists Boots charge three times the commercial price of isopropanol, making it more costly than a good single malt whisky. High Street pharmacies are not a good source – they seem to treat anyone wanting to buy pure alcohol with suspicion, some refuse to sell it, or price it prohibitively to discourage misuse. Health warning: IPA is a poisonous alcohol, unlike its chemical relative used in some record cleaning recipes – Ethanol , though even that is treated to prevent human consumption – and avoid taxation of alcoholic beverages. One litre costs about $10, and diluted with pure distilled water, it will make five litres of record cleaning fluid, which should keep you going for a year or two. It is readily available from chemical suppliers at 99.9% purity – the highest laboratory-grade commercially available. The main active cleaning ingredient is the well known and commonly used Isopropanol, known as Isopropyl AlcohoI or lPA for short . ![]() The purpose of cleaning is to ensure naked contact between the stylus and the information encoded into the grooves, and nothing between the two, hence the use of alcohol to dissolve any surface contaminants (cigarette smoke, skin oils, mould-release, airborne matter) which are then vacuumed away. Use only the purest ingredients, purchased online from reputable chemical suppliers, and store final mix in clean glass or plastic bottle suitable for containing alcohol. THE LJC FORMULA, TRIED AND TESTED, SAVES TIME, NO WORRIES ….3-4 drops per gallon Kodak Photoflo ….a few drops of Ilfotrol (sic) photographic wetting agent.” few drops of dish washing soap without lubricants. 10 drops of Kodak Photo-Flo and 10 drops of Lysol Antibacterial All-Purpose Cleaner….Dawn Dishwashing Fluid,…. 7-8 drops dishwashing detergent without additives …. 10 drops Photo-Flo + 10 drops “Direct” tile cleaner …. … just a drop of washing up liquid as a wetting agent …. “A few drops of photographic wetting agent.“Those of you that use Isopropyl you must be careful: Isoproply will harden vinyl.”.“90% Isopropyl Alcohol, 5% – Anti-Microbial soap 5% – de-ionized water”.“I use roughly 1 part Isopropyl to two parts purified water ….”.“We’re talking about ‘safe for human consumption’ tap water here, isn’t this preoccupation with absolutely pure water a little anally retentive?”.“I’ve used the melted ice from my freezer (filtered), as my physics lecturer andĪudiophile friend says this is as good as any other.”.The lighter fluid will evaporate, so the record doesn’t need to be rinsed.” “Squirt lighter fluid on a clean, soft cloth and gently wipe the record surface.“400ml water, 2 drops of household washing up liquid and a cap of malt vinegar”.“I took the LP to the sink, gave it a good dousing of Windex and wiped ‘er down with a fresh J-Cloth….Store bought ingredients simply can’t match the purity of commercial formulations.” “I caution against home brew concoctions.Here are some examples of bad advice found on the Internet: A legacy of potty training, or perhaps a memory of spoiling something by applying too much force, gets projected on to the process. Let Me Google That For You: lots of bad advice freely availableĪ quick internet search on how to make record cleaner fluid will give you assorted home-made recipes and much poor quality advice – superstition, myth, contradictory claims, and in some cases, dangerous advice, however well-intentioned. I suspect there is something rooted in our childhood to do with cleaning that triggers feelings and emotions. I don’t recommend the fluid simply for “washing” and drying through evaporation because that simply leaves dissolved contaminants in place. It is intended for use with a record cleaning machine which vacuums off the fluid. ![]() My recipe works out a third of the cost and is based on a commercial formula. Tired of paying £20 for a litre for record cleaning fluid for your Moth, VPI or other vacuum machine and waiting weeks for the postman to call each time you run out? In a recent conversation with the manufacturer of one record cleaning machine, a Director confided “I don’t know why people just don’t make their own, it’s very simple, but as long as they want to pay me for it, I’ll make it”.
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