Do NOT try this at home!

[Rudy]

For the love of collecting, and the love of vinyl, please...

Do Not Read Unless You Want Better Records & Crazy Stylus Li - Vinyl Engine »

...do not try this!

Every so often, someone comes up with a quack idea. This one is to use 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner as a record cleaning formula. Trust me, if it were so miraculous, the Library of Congress would use it for cleaning and preserving historic records!

The very basic component of many real record cleaning formulas, as well as many of the soaps and detergents we buy, is a version of something called Tergitol, which is a surfactant and also creates the suds as a by-product. The problem with using something like the 2-in-1 is the additives. Especially, oils that could be in the conditioner. Shampoos and conditioners are filled with dyes, perfumes, and dozens of other chemicals including oils. We do not want these on our vinyl.

The LOC specifies using purified water and Tergitol (which can be purchased under names like Triton X-100). It is safe to add a small amount of isopropyl alcohol to your mix, as it is a dilute enough amount that will not harm the vinyl, but will help loosen oily residue like fingerprints.

 

[DeeInKY]

Oh, darn. I can't put argan oil on them to give a nice shine? Seriously, my first thought with the 2-in-1 shampoo was that the conditioner would gum up what you're trying to clean. (It still boggles my mind to realize that I can get them actually wet in cleaning.)

 

[Rudy]

Seriously, my first thought with the 2-in-1 shampoo was that the conditioner would gum up what you're trying to clean.

Even though you've probably never used a record vacuum or other machine of that nature, you know exactly what will happen! It doesn't take much to see through the flaw in their logic. But they explain that the additives are a form of lubrication that will dramatically improve stylus life. I think any person out there would think, "This can't be right."

Tell that 2-in-1 trick to someone who owns a $15,000 Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement phono cartridge, with the additives leeching straight up the cantilever into the cartridge body. Oops. Warranty won't cover that!

As for wet cleaning, let's go back to when I was maybe five or six years old. One of my kiddie records was a bit dirty. Mom took it to the sink and I freaked out as she "washed the grooves off"! No, no, the water just filled them, and they were right there once the record was rinsed off and dried.

I've owned a record vacuum since about 1994 or so. It involves using a wet cleaning solution, which is brushed onto the record then vacuumed off. Vacuum cleaning isn't perfect, but it certainly will get out that loose crud from used records that acts as an abrasive on the stylus. But even new records can benefit, as the record presses use a mold release compound to help the vinyl release from the stampers, and that can have a bit of residue.

I'm going the ultrasonic route in a couple of months. There are some cleaners out there that do this, but they are way too expensive. There are some DIY versions out there that clean just as well, if not a little better, due to using a tank with a higher ultrasonic frequency, and spinning the records slower (like 1/12 RPM, or five revolutions per hour).


BTW, Clearaudio does have more affordable cartridges than the Goldfinger Statement...

 

[DeeInKY]

That Goldfinger is amazing.

 

[Rudy]

That Goldfinger is amazing.

Maybe I'll get to hear one at AXPONA and see if it sounds amazing.

Clearaudio is a German company and makes some nice gear, but not inexpensive. I like the Ovation turntable but I need a new car first.

Moving coil cartridges like this one are largely handmade, the coils using wire finer than a human hair being hand-wound (among other things).

 

[DeeInKY]

It would have to be really excellent for that price.

Apparently, the folks who came up with that 2-in-1 shampoo cleaning method have never worn any jewelry containing gemstones. Aside from having product residue possibly travel up into the electronics of the cartridge, the diamond stylus would get filmy and start collecting all types of crud. (At least it seems so to me with my vast jewelry collection. )

 

[Rudy]

I still remember my ex and the hair spray--there was a whole large crusty area on the carpet that would crunch around the makeup table. Both problems were, of course, dispensed with over a dozen years ago.

Exactly right on the residue. Anything even the least bit oily will attract dirt, not to mention get all over the innersleeves of the records.

I have been doing a lot of reading on record cleaning in general, and ultrasonic cleaning in particular, and came across a discussion on the VPI forum (VPI is a turntable and record vacuum manufacturer). The owner Harry Weisfeld has been doing a regimen of cleaning the records ultrasonically first, then using a rinse of purified water using the Cyclone record cleaning machine. (There were rumors of VPI making a cleaner that used ultrasonics and vacuum cleaning all in one unit, but Weisfeld has said that using the DIY ultrasonic cleaner with the Vinyl Stack accessory from eBay, plus a vacuum cleaning, works fine and it wasn't worth pursuing as an all-in-one unit.) At the most, we'd only add a surfactant (which reduces the surface tension of water) and isopropyl alcohol to the cleaning solution in the ultrasonic tank. Some have added dishwashing detergent (Dawn, or similar) but even there, you have all those additives. Tergitol is pretty much a detergent as it is, and a surfactant, so it works best to keep things pure.

I do tend to read a lot, but mainly so I don't buy the wrong product.