Steam cleaning records 2

The primary point that Charlie was trying to make is that steaming is effective as a part of the cleaning process and experience has show us who have been steaming for a while has little or no impact on record quality. There are a lot of reasons why steaming is effective but as many have said, your ears will tell you whether it is effective in your case. Also, can steaming hurt your records, most definitely yes especially if you get the vinyl too hot. as for removing the various components in vinyl, I can not say whether it will or will not for certain, but a one or two steam application to clean a record in my experience has been a significant improvement in listening quality. Vinyl is a pretty tough material and as some of the older records we all have will testify, it can last for many decades without significant deteriotion.

axel
cavitation actually is the sudden vaporization of a fluid that is being pumped. It is due usually to the suction pressure of the liquid at the eye of the impeller being lower than the vapor pressure of the liquid being pumped. It is very true this action can be very destructive on the pump material. However, cavitation is not occurring on the record or groove. It is possible that the steam will suddenly evaporate some of the alcohol in your cleaning mix but i would not expect a similar violent action similar to cavitation. The primary action that steam promotes is the heating of the cleaning fluid which enhances its ability to dissolve or suspend material on the vinyl. As with many things, too much or too high of temperature can and will damage the vinyl. But used in a controlled manner is very effective at cleaning

I steam cleaning as a part of a cleaning regime i use once. Since I buy used records from a variety of places and many times the records are pretty grundgy, i find the cleaning regime works well to consistently clean records. I have used traditional regimes including DIY formulations to commercial cleaners(disk doctor, etc). Steaming vs nonsteam cleaning regimes works well imo for most common cleaning applications. I believe the quality of the rinse water is critical as is the quality of water used in the steaming process. Again, I clean once (whether steaming or not), then rely on quick brush (microfiber) prior to playing. As far as steaming vs nonsteaming, some records i have cleaned via typical methods just did not get the groove 100% cleaned the first time. It was not every record, but those that needed extra attention. (Most of us have brought one or two in this type of condition). anyway, since i have included steaming as part of my cleaning regime, i have not had any that i thought about recleaning. Again, this is my experience only.

I have not had problems with impacting labels unless i have a lot of cleaning fluid or rinse water on the record when i steam. The plume of the steam should be controlled to avoid hitting the label. Takes a little practice but worked well. I spin with one hand and direct the steam with another(i have a manual TT platform that I use to clean and steam on)

the other possibility is using tap water in your steamer. It can through salts on the record. Been there done that. The best water is ro or double distilled. Less solids and less contamination