It has been more than twenty years since I took my deep dive into record cleaning… and it was pretty deep. I do remember that alcohol is a real no no, not because of a residue, but it hardens or damages the vinyl in some way. My research included how the Smithsonian cleaned and preserved records as well as some lengthy scientific publications. Too long ago for me to remember the details… but no alcohol.
Record cleaning and realistic expectations
I recently purchased some Audio Intelligence solution #15 enzymatic pre clean to use on my VPI 16.5 prior to my usual cleaning with Disc Doctor cleaning solution followed by 3 distilled water rinses. I picked a record that came from a collection in a particularly moldy house.The record had faint white splotchy marks all over that I assumed were mold. Pretreated with AI #15 for 5 min per AI’s instructions. After cleaning and drying, the record was cleaner, but the splotches remained. Did I do something wrong? Could the splotches be something else?
A second record had inner runout marks I assumed were from the old plastic inner sleeve, but going thru the same process these as well did not clean up as well...Hmmm?
Would an US RCM like a Degritter do a better job?
Thanks for any assistance on this.