"Cleaning" Vinyl Makes It Worse Not Better!

@lewm If you were a smoker in the 1950's (I wasn't) you filled the room with cigarette smoke. Have you ever seen the windows of a smokers car and the stench that it produces. That stench doesn't go away. The same thing happens in a smoke filled room, it eventually smells like an ashtray. I ask you where do you think that smoke goes while playing a record?

My father and mother were both heavy smokers. Our whole house smelled like an ashtray. He would sit 10 feet from his record player and smoke like a chimney. You don't think he tainted his records? You obviously haven't been around much.

@antinn I’m not going to argue with you about chemicals and processes. As I have said repeatedly that your system must work for a few records at a time. You yourself have stated that. It’s when you try to scale that to 20 or more records it becomes a formidable task, even when using US. In the research I did, reading the multitude to threads as I am sure did as well, I was trying to overcome the fear of ruining a record while having the desire to eliminate the noise I had from smoke and other dirt. You were probably still scrapping crud off of submarine oxygen tubes at that time.

I know that you are the de-facto resident expert, as no one has challenged you. But you’re just a guy like me trying to enjoy his records. I’ve written and published technical guides and manuals that were distributed world-wide by The Coca-Cola Company. I have enough humility to not think that is a big deal.

My cartridge, a Sound-Smith Heliios, is a very sensitive and linear device. I went through many different systems and chemicals for cleaning with poor results until I started using the Walker 4-step, then the Rush Paul system. I don’t hear any noise from the older used records. The blacks are blacker and deep. That was my goal and objective. When I used your chemicals either manually or in the US I did not get the same results. Also, I did.not need special assistance amounting to hours to get it right.

I am not criticizing your system. It simply does not work for me. Don’t be so sensitive, show some humility and accept that this boy ain’t gonna buy it.

A good wire brush with acetone. The record won't sound very good if it plays at all, but it will be clean.

@antinn Heliios [sic]?  Have you moved on from the Sussurro Gold?

@tuberculin,

I am not criticizing your system. It simply does not work for me. Don’t be so sensitive, show some humility and accept that this boy ain’t gonna buy it.

Your prior statement is obviously very critical of items that I may have never said in the past.  Unfortunately, the VPI Forum is long gone and all we have left is the published book.

So far Triton-X100, which Neil said was being taken off the market years ago, is still available and all of the other ingredients are easily obtainable, even the 200 proof ethyl alcohol, which Neil said is not available. That has fueled my skepticism.

As far as my chemicals did not work - the list of chemicals that are now in the book are quite extensive:

• Alconox Liquinox - general detergent for precleaning.
• Alconox Citranox - weak acid for precleaning
• Distilled White Vinegar with Nonionic Surfactant as a lower cost alternative to Citranox.
• Enzymes are discussed in Chapter 8
• Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is discussed at length in Chapter 8 along with blending with the final cleaner nonionic surfactant
• Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) such as HEPASTAT-256 and BAK50 (available EU) that some people use for anti-static coatings is addressed in Chapter 8.
• Rush Paul cleaning solution is addressed in Chapter 8.
• Nonionic Surfactants include Tergitol 15-S-9, Polysorbate-20, Triton X100, Surfonic™ JL-80X, DEHYPON LS 54 (available UK), ILFORD Ilfotol, and Tergikleen.

There are a host of chemicals that I address and many different processes.  Ultrasonic cleaning is addressed ad-nauseum in Chapter XIV detailing the effects of kHz, power, how many records at a time, spinner speed, etc,.  But depending on where you live, what equipment you have, and your own goals, the book is a handbook that can guide in any direction you want to go. 

Essentially, I have no fixed system.  My first recommendation is the basic standard chemicals Liquinox, Citranox and Tergitol 15-S-9.  If they work great, if not, and if I work with you, the hours I addressed above are my time - not yours, and I will adjust as necessary to hopefully match a chemistry and process that works for you.

And as the book says in the Forward,  All methods/procedures specified here present opportunity for experimenting with different cleaning agents, different cleaning brushes, different drying cloths, and different cleaning equipment....If you proceed down the path of experimentation, the information provided by this book can guide you to informed decisions...

Otherwise, like your selection of cartridge, I have four Soundsmith cartridges that I rotate among a two-arm table, Sussurro Gold Limited Edition, Paua, Boheme, and Carmen.   Always have one back at Soundsmith for rebuild.  

Take care,