Best Record Cleaning Fluid

I use Record Doctor cleaning fluid.  You can buy the concentrated variety and mix it with distilled water.  This is one of the few cleaning fluids that doesn’t bead on the record surface

I have been buying records since 1970, and as was typical, used a Discwasher.  In the early 1980s, I bought a used VPI, and converted it to the 16.5.  Mostly, I have used distilled water with about 20% isopropanol, and a couple of drops of Kodak Photo-Flo, a mild detergent used when processing film.  I spreads out well on the records, and there is occasionally enough vacuum to cause some bubbles as the fluid is sucked off by the (be still, my heart) velvet lips.  I have never noted any residue.  Then (not to open up another can of worms), I use LAST on each side.  Since it bonds to the vinyl irreversibly, it sometimes can pick up dust that the machine didn't get the first time.  Then, I can clean it again...I am not a fan of the MOFI fluids, if only because they don't really wet the record, seemingly just blobbing above the grooves due to its very high surface tension.  
     There is absolutely no question that the ultrasonic cleaners work better (just ask your dentist), but they do come with a pretty steep toll if you want it automated;  If you don't, you can probably buy a large enough one on ebay, and fabricate something to  hold the records solidly while they spin in the water bath.  Then, they have to dry, so the money you save is more than taken up in the time it takes to clean them.

On my VPI 16.5 of 17 years I've settled on MoFi Super Record Wash with the MoFi brush. On used or soiled records I start with MoFi Super Deep Cleaner. The vinyl sparkles and the sound is enhanced. I had used Disc Doctor's Miracle Record Cleaner with a water rinse for years, though never noticed a Heightening of the sonics. Before that a home brew of water, alcohol and Photo-Flo, which I determined was not as good.

mijostyn - The bit about heated PVC making HCL is the funniest part.

The kinetics and mechanism of dehydrohalogenation of PVC is well documented in the scientific literature. I had the opportunity to study the surface chemistry of UV induced dehydrohalogenation of PVC many years ago using photoelectron spectroscopy. The dehydrohalogenation process can be induced thermally or via UV exposure and does produce HCl. That is one reason stabilizers are used in PVC.

Many years ago people observed their Monster Speaker Cable turning green through the clear PVC jacket. This was due to dehydrohalogenation of the PVC jacket producing HCl which reacted with the copper conductor forming copper chloride.

ljgerens

Many years ago people observed their Monster Speaker Cable turning green through the clear PVC jacket. This was due to dehydrohalogenation of the PVC jacket producing HCl which reacted with the copper conductor forming copper chloride.

W-o-w! I never knew that! I used the original Monster Cable speaker cable in a biamplified Infinity 2.5 speaker system back in the very early '80s, so I had a lot of the stuff. It was a great sounding system but that is exactly what happened to the cable - I'd never seen anything like it before or since. The green color actually creeped me out a little and I threw the cable in the garbage.