is it safe to clean records with isopropanol ?

My fear would be loosing bonding agents in the vinyl and rendering it more brittle. Just my first response, no science at work here.

Elizabeth is right. But many online formulas call for only 1 or 2 parts isopropanol(90%) added to distilled water. I found these recipes interesting...
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/fluids.html

There are no "plastic stabilizers" (I presume you mean plasticizers) added to the "vinyl" used for LPs. There are no "bonding agents" whatever they may be. The idea that an aqueous solution containing no more than 25% isopropanol in contact with a record for a few minutes at ambient temperature would damage the record is chemically preposterous.

No, just steam, steam and more steam.

TechSpray is 99% pure isopropyl. It indicates it is safe on
plastics(whether they're in lp records or not), non
corrosive and rapidly evaporating. I've never noticed any
ill effects on the sound of lp records using a mix
containing 25% TechSpray and 75% distilled, triple deionized
lab water. After applying the mixture, I use the VPI 16.5
to clean and vacuum.

I'm not sure what chemicals are in my Spin Clean fluid, but I can say it makes a terrible margarita.

I use what Opus uses, except I add a few drops of a non-ionized detergent per liter, Triton X100 is one example. I can say I have had no issues, but how would one know, unless the damage was rapid and gross? One is hardly doing a controlled study of record cleaners. Safe to say that the LP does not dissolve before my eyes.

I did once compare the above solution to the enzyme-based cleaners sold by Walker, which of course involve no alcohol. I cleaned side A of one of my favorite LPs with the Walker Audio stuff and side B with my standard solution (using a VPI HW17 machine). The results were very very slightly in favor of the Walker enzymes, but I concluded that my standard solution was faster and simpler. So I stuck with the latter, but the results suggest that there was no gross damage done by either method. That's the limited evidence I have to go on.

"I can say I have had no issues, but how would one know, unless the damage was rapid and gross?" True...and I agree with you, Lew. The way I see it, as an approximately 70 year old fart, my hearing is a fair cry from what it used to be, though I'm still enjoying what I AM hearing, and as long as that's so, I'm good. Best wishes with the hope you're enjoying the music too!

I started to clean stubborn dirty LPs with a 9.6 % ammonia solution. A bit inconvenient to apply so a careful procedure is required, but the cleaning results are amazing.

I put it directly on the vinyl, brush the discs for about five minutes, then vacuum it off. Final cleaning with my standard solution, vacuuming, and that's it.

Reduction off crackle could be dramatic.

So what does isopropyl alcohol do that a mild soap / detergent solution doesn't? When I want to remove grease, dirt, slime, residues and other contaminants, I use soap and water and rinse with clean water. What does alcohol do better.

"So what does isopropyl alcohol do that a mild soap / detergent solution doesn't? When I want to remove grease, dirt, slime, residues and other contaminants, I use soap and water and rinse with clean water. What does alcohol do better?"

That's a very good question Bpoletti-the answer to which, I believe, is nothing.

I keep a bit of isopropyl around and might use it to clean maybe one in maybe 50 or 60 records at most, mainly those that have something very sticky on them. Apart from that, my view on isopropyl is that it is simply not very good at cleaning records and doesn't contribute much to the process at all. It is not a very effective cleaning agent.

There's quite a bit of difference between what alcohols do and what mild detergents do, and fortunately for us, the thread that best described the differential effects of the various potential components of a record cleaning solution seems to be "alive" again. Look down the Analog Discussion page and find the thread on record cleaning solutions. The first post is a very useful summary of good research on the subject by a guy who obviously knows some chemistry.

The heading for the thread: "A very long primer on record cleaning fluids"

I have records that were cleaned cleaned with alcohol many times that I bought when I was seventeen years old. I am almost sixty-two now, and they still play perfectly.

You can look forward to a sixty second birthday. An entire minute.

I wonder why it is always Isopropyl Alchol and never Ethanol. You can obtain fairly high purity Ethanol 91% at almost any drugstore. I realize this is off topic but may in fact be relevant.
Some very fancy Vodka type cleaning solution bottles may be next ridiculous big thing in High End audio. I can envision it, look at what we pay for the premade and kit cleaning solutions we use now. Imagine it for a second Grey Goose record cleaning solution LOL.

If you regularly imbibe your alcohol-based record cleaner, you will not live to own your LPs as long as Mosin, or I. Alcohols with longer aliphatic side chains, like isopropanol (vs ethanol or methanol), will be more or less hydrophobic and have different properties as a solvent therefore, I think. Isopropanol, for example, may be better at removing fatty deposits from finger-prints, compared to Grey Goose.

Actually, the long-chain soaps and detergents that are also surfactants would do a better job of removing the longer chain oil-based contaminants. Further, those same surfactants are more highly soluble and should rinse at least as well if not better than alcohol. Mechanics don't use alcohol to remove oil from their hands after working, they use soap.

Besides, why waste good ethanol-based fluids on records. Better to consume while playing rather than pitch down the drain after using. Wait.... That happens in either case.

I use Vodka. My favorite Brand for cleaning is Smirnoff.

I used to use vodka for cleaning, but I always woke up in a fog. What went into my mouth as a clear liquid came out of my eyes with a distinctive red tint.

NO DUDE!!

Mechans wonders why isopropanol is regularly used in preference to ethanol. The principal reason is that ethanol has a higher vapour pressure (and lower boiling point) than isopropanol so it will evaporate faster from the record surface, perhaps leaving behind all of the gunk it originally dissolved.

After reading "a very long primer on record..." I still question why isopropyl alcohol is used at all to clean records. Seems like the more effective process is to use a soap and water solution followed by a good rinse with high-purity distilled water. It also appears that the mechanical act of scrubbing takes care of much of the contaminants and dirt, especially on used records.

So a good old scrubbing with soap and water followed by a good rinse seems to be the best solution for cleaning records or your hands. :)

Am I reading this right?