How much isopropanol is effective but safe for viny?

What’s in the grooves?

Could be anything. My hunch is mostly sleeve dust and household dust. Older records from the 50’s and 60’s could have higher amounts of nicotine and cooking oils. 

Early Beatles records could have pizza sauce or Bonamo Turkish Taffy....;)

I have some records that refuse to quiet down, even after having them ultrasonically cleaned. In older records it could be the playing surface has just dried out and become brittle. I also read that the friction of the tip in the groove causes enough heat to temporarily soften the groove wall. If this is true then some of the accumulated crud in the grooves could become physically bonded to the groove wall making it impossible to remove.

Just a hunch. 

I’ve been using my own mix for years. I have talked to some chemist friends and they advised against using IPA. They claim that the alcohol will leach out the plasticizers that keep the vinyl surface pliable and make the playing surface more brittle leading to greater surface noise. 

Dawn is a sufficient surfactant (degreaser) for most contaminents. I have at times used a little IPA, locally, to remove stubborn fingerprints.

I do use a few drops of a wetting agent like Photoflow to break the surface tension of the distilled water allowing it to get deeper into the grooves.

I do not reccomend microfiber cloths for wiping a record. I have discovered the fibers break off and lock into in the grooves. I discovered this when I kept finding small balls of whitish fuzz on my stylis after washing.

finally, for really dirty records I have a second TT set aside for the first play after cleaning. While the record is still damp (not wet) I play the record once. This digs out the soft gunk. The play quality improvement is dramatic.

Follow up...

I only use tap water for the first wash prior to cleaning. It’s distilled water after that.

If you’re really OCD about cleaning, look up the record cleaning method used by the Smithsonian Museum. They use lab-grade distilled water and a surfactant called Tergitol.

Here’s a little info on Tergitol:

Tergitol surfactants from TALAS (talasonline.com). Put 10-20 drops per each into a gallon of distilled water to form solution. Use as desired, by hand, in a RCM, etc. I use a full dunk in baking tins with a MOFI brush by hand, then distilled water rinse tub and air dry. Works great!

Reducing the static charge on your records will quiet them down and keep them cleaner. I am experimenting with an old bulk (Reel to Reel) tape eraser to completely discharge them on the cheap.

Obviousely, don’t put a cleaned record back into an old paper sleeve. Use the nice MOFI ones. I also think pulling records in and out of paper sleeves charges them with static...just a hypothesis right now. I will eventually confirm it.

Caution- keep the tape eraser away from digital hard drives....

I mistakenly called a degreaser like Dawn or Tergitol a surfactent when it is a detergent. A surfactant, like Photoflow, is a wetting agent- reducing the surface tension of water allowing it to penetrate deeper into the grooves.

My apologies.