Generic Record Cleaning Solutions


I own an Orbitrac record cleaner and the fluid ran out. I was about to buy replacement fluid and got to thinking about generally available stuff, like generally available in a hardware store. I've got some trashed records I won't play due to clicks and pops, so I tried denatured alcohol. It dries quite quickly and without residue or water left behind. I could find no softening of the vinyl or other deterioration of the record surface. Has anyone tried out something similar? I'm now wondering about carbon tetrachloride, xylene, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, god knows what other carcinogenic fluids I can try.
rg500g

Showing 1 response by rg500g

Thanks everyone for the input. The MEK and other way aromatic hydrocarbon references were purely in jest. The denatured alcohol has worked remarkably well, and I'd use isopropyl alcohol if I could find some that did not have a good deal of water in it.

I do not have a vacuum removal system, and that is the missing link. I'm shopping around, but I'm whining about the cost of these units. I know, the record collection can cost 50X that of the cleaner, but I've probably got $700 total in a very modest collection. I'm working myself up to it, but it's a tough hurdle. Now, doing a RAM upgrade to my hca-2 amp, that's another matter...