Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records

Neil,

This is an amazing piece of work. I've just read the 3rd Edition and it was so enlightening! I would like to plan a procedure to clean my vinyl collection, which has mostly been unplayed for 30 years since I adopted CDs. I think a certain amount of mould has developed; I've test played a few titles and, besides the surface noise, I found the stylus picks up a lot of debris, and soon it's not riding in the groove and the record sounds very distorted.

Anyhow, since I'm based in the UK, the info you have added on alternatives to your preferred cleaning products is very useful indeed. The Alconox products are difficult to obtain here but it looks like I could get BASF Dehypon LS54 easily and inexpensively. My question: Is there any reason Dehypon could not be used both for the pre-clean, and the final wash stages (at different dilutions)? I note in chapter XIV on UCM you allude to using Dehypon for pre-clean at 0.025 - 0.05%, but I don't recall seeing that option mentioned for your manual procedure.

Thanks for your help
Rob

@robjordan,

Rob,

Dehypon LS54 is a just a pure nonionic surfactant, and relatively mild.  For pre-clean you want a more aggressive cleaner.  See what is written Table II.  A top quality liquid, machine clothes detergent that is not colored (no dyes), unscented (no fragrance) and contains no anti-bacterial agents can be a very effective pre-cleaner, but you want to buy the best you can get since the cheaper versions have a lot of fillers and other junk.  Prepare as specified Chapter III - there is a specific section of III.AU/EU/UK Prepare the CLEANER Spray (or Wash) Bottles:

Good Luck,

Neil

Thanks, I read your suggestion of laundry detergent, but my difficulty is that it leaves a lot to interpretation, especially as someone who is not au fait with the ingredients. Ecover Zero appears to meet your description, and it does state a list of ingredients. I wonder if you could have a look and see if you think it would be suitable?

https://www.ecover.com/products/zero/zero-laundry-liquid/

Ingredients:

Aqua, Sodium lauryl sulfate, Laureth-7, Alcohol denat., Potassium oleate, Sodium citrate, Tetrasodium glutamate diacetate, Bio poly ethyleneglycol propyleneglycol oligo ester, Citric acid, Sodium hydroxide

@robjordan,

Rob, 

The Ecover Zero Non Bio is a good product.  I was able to locate this SDS Ecover-Laundry-Liquid-Zero-Non-Bio-Laundry-Liquid-COSSH-Sheet.pdf and it mostly supports what their site is listing for ingredients.  

Essentially as a cleaner it's a combination of non-ionic and anionic surfactants and the combination non-ionic and anionic surfactants are what it is doing the cleaning.  They are using environmentally safe and biodegradable surfactants.   Once diluted in use the ethanol (denatured alcohol likely with isopropanol) does not do much; its often added to help with solubilizing other ingredients in concentrates. There is a chelating agent that all basic detergents have to allow use with hard-water.  Otherwise, the citric acid and sodium hydroxide are used to adjust the pH, and the SDS shows pH = 8.6 which is near neutral and in-use will be very near neutral pH.

Based on the concentrations specified in the SDS, when using the product for manual cleaning dilute 10-mL/L.  

Note:  For those in the US, Ecover sells a ZERO Laundry Detergent but it is a very different product - Ecover Laundry_93oz_Zero_CA Disclosure_012220 (netdna-ssl.com) with upwards of 28 ingredients.  

Good Luck,

Neil

Neil

Thanks for looking at the Ecover Zero Non bio. It's very reassuring to have your thumbs up.

Now for the acid stage, I see that  - in the absence of Citranox - you suggest supermarket distilled vinegar diluted 50/50 or 75/25 with distilled water, with an additional few drops of wetting agent. Is the Dehypon ok to use as wetting agent in this mix?

As an alternative to vinegar, is worth considering a solution made up from pure citric acid crystals which are easily obtained here?

Thank you,

Rob