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In Reply to: RE: Record cleaning fluid controversies posted by magiccarpetride on March 30, 2017 at 10:33:52
Pick out a method that seems to do something good to the LP, and go with it. And stop reading posts about record cleaning. Nirvana lies in that direction.
Only, if you use alcohol, use only pure alcohol, not "rubbing alcohol" or the like, because those preparations do contain additives that could harm the LP. And don't use methanol; it's dangerous to the user. (You probably read this, which was a mistake.)
Follow Ups:
Lew
Not picking on you just clearing the air as it were.
There are basically three types of alcohol available to the consumer. Rubbing alcohol better known as isopropyl is made by combining polypropylene and water. It comes in the familiar concentrations at 91% and 70% mixed with processed (clean,lab grade) water.
Methanol or wood alcohol is primarily a solvent derived from formaldehyde, a strong one at that.
Ethyl is what we commonly imbibe to feel good (or not the next morning).
I think you really do want to be using "rubbing alcohol" to clean records.
Edits: 03/30/17
You can pick on me all you want, because perhaps I came across as a bit snotty, in order to be funny.Alcohols are named according to how many carbon atoms are attached to the carbon atom that anchors the "alcohol" part of the molecule, which is always: CHOH, where C is carbon, H is hydrogen, and O is oxygen. Thus, methanol or methyl alcohol is the name for one-carbon alcohol: CH3CH0H. Methanol is inherently toxic to humans, can kill you or blind you if not kill you. Down on their luck alcoholics have been known to drink methanol-containing stuff, with bad outcomes. Even if it were good for cleaning LPs, I would stay away from using it. Ethanol or Ethyl Alcohol has 2 carbon atoms preceding the alcohol group: CH3CH2CHOH. It's what we drink to get blotto. Propanol or Propyl alcohol is the 3-carbon version, but once you get to 3 carbons there are two possible chemical structures, so we can have propyl or "isopropyl".
So, yes, "rubbing alcohol" is basically propanol (not "propylene", which is an entirely different compound, not an alcohol at all). According to Google, this is rubbing alcohol:
"Isopropyl alcohol (C3H8O), also known as rubbing alcohol, is an alcoholic mixture intended for external use as an antiseptic; it usually contains 70% by volume of absolute alcohol or isopropyl alcohol; the remainder consists of water, denaturants, and perfume oils; used as a rubefacient for muscle and joint aches and ..."It's those denaturants and perfume oils that can be bad for LPs. The fact that propanol is usually "dilute", meaning not 100% propanol but some combination of it plus water, has nothing to do with the definition of "rubbing alcohol". I have laboratory grade pure as possible to buy propanol, and it's 98% pure, only. You could use a more dilute but pure propanol, if you just account for its water content in calculating the final percentage of propanol you want in your LP cleaner.
The only viable candidate alcohols for cleaning LPs are ethanol and propanol. These have slightly different properties because of the different number of carbon atoms in each molecule. I've always used lab grade propanol, about 25% of my final solution, which is otherwise water (75%) and drop or two of non-ionic detergent. I read once there is something not desirable about "photo-flo" as a detergent for LP cleaning, so I don't use it. But I have forgotten why.
EDIT. I got all the formulae wrong. Subtract one carbon from each alcohol formula. Methanol is CH30H. Ethanol is CH3CH2OH. Propanol is CH3CH3CH20H. The carbon atom to which the OH is attached should have been counted in naming the alcohols. My only excuse: it's been a while since I thought about it.
Edits: 03/31/17 03/31/17
Thanks for the thorough explanation, especially the part about rubbing alcohol containing perfumes. However, I can't understand why Photo-Flo, which is OK for photographic film emulsions, can be harmful to vinyl, especially when used in such small concentrations.
When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.- Ronald Reagan
remember what's wrong with Photo-flo for LPs, but it was easy for me to get some Triton X100 or Tween20 to use in lieu of Photo-flo, so I did.
I don't remember why you don't use it either. :) But I don't use it because it contains propylene glycol which can remain as a residue (film) on the LP even after vacuuming. I've been using Triton X quite happily myself, with a small amount of Hepastat 256 (a disinfectant) added to the solution which not only kills any living organisms that may exist on the LP (think mold), it helps with static.
Although painfully long, a great thread about cleaning solutions in the link below.
Propylene Glycol. BAD.
One for me, one for LP, one for me, one for LP, two for me.....
Isopropyl alcohol is commonly available over the counter in 2 varieties: rubbing alcohol, which is typically ~70% alcohol with the remainder consisting of water and lanolin (or similar skin conditioners) to keep the skin from drying out when applied for its' intended use. Regular (or non-rubbing isopropyl alcohol) is typically 90% or higher in alcohol content, with the remainder being just water. The big difference is the skin conditioners in isopropyl labeled as rubbing alcohol -- not what you want on your LPs. So if using isopropyl alcohol, better to get the non-rubbing variety.
Edits: 03/30/17
nt
Has anyone ever tried using steam cleaning on there records such as a hot shot steamer or some such device ?
Kindablue
it works well. if you steam too long, the record will temporarily warp as cook the record.
Pretty thoroughly discredited at it's heyday about 10 years ago. Drugstore steamers are meant for fabric and just spritz and sputter warm water on vinyl.
Spend big money on an RCM or a few bucks on a Shop-Vac to vacuum your way to happiness.
So 29 you have tried the hot shot steamer cleaning before?
Kindablue
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