budget cleaning ideas for garage sale records?

Which commercial cleaners had you tried? I've found a few 1500 series Blue Notes that were junk (VG condition) when purchased, but cleaned up fine with safe commercial cleaners. That said, maybe we came to the same final results, just from a different approach. Mine is safe though.

You may wish to use only deionized water to wash your old discwasher brushes, as the denatured water will also break down the adhesives that hold the velvet on your Discwasher brush, which will most likely contaminate the record surface that you are attempting to clean with the solvent/adhesive slurry. And, with added pressure, you could be doing more harm than good. It sounds like this wasn't the case, the records cleaned up well.

I'm happy that you are attempting to salvage what may be deemed unplayable records. I applaud your efforts.

By the way, I believe that you meant to say that you'd," ...rather have melted discs in the attempted process of clean-up, than by contaminating my stylus". Or that you'd risk melted discs, rather than contaminate your stylus. There are stylus cleaners that work well, should this happen.

Best wishes,
Jack

So the Library of Congress is the final word on record cleaning? Do they have better hearing than any of us here? Should we always blindly trust Government Agencies?

The fact is that most record vinyl contains plasticizers that make the vinyl more pliable, to aid the stamping process. The plasticizer of choice is diocytl phthalate, a dibasic fatty acid, which is IPA (ISO-Propyl alcohol) soluable. (It will disolve with IPA). Will you see it with the naked eye? No. The time of contact will determine the ammount that disolves, as well as the solution concentration. I realise the time of contact is short, (less thn 1 minute) and most use a concentration that is less than 50%, however, there is still loss.

I've tried DIY cleaning solutions made of dishwashing soaps, all which left behind a film which caused loss of detail, loss of high frequencies, and dynamics. Granted, this is to my hearing and with my system. Results may vary ...

In my opinion, there are many commercial cleaners that work well, are IPA free, and cost less than 5 cents per record cleaned. Turomat TM/7 and Record Research come to mind. Disc Doctor is also alcohol free, but requires a rinse cycle, so it leaves a film behind. (And also is more labor intensive). With the Disc Doctor, you should also have another wand for your VPI machine so as to prevent cross contamination with the rinse cycle. It shouldn't harm your records though.

My point; the "expensive" cleaners cost pennies per use and won't harm your records. Is it logical to spend a few pennies on your vinyl?