Vinyl Cleaning

I make my own cleaning solution. Get a 1 gallon jug of distilled water, and drain off 1 pint of the water. Then add 1 pint of 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol to the distilled water, plus 1/4 teaspoon of a good surfactant (a high quality liquid detergent will work, but I usually buy a chemical surfactant from a chemical supply house). Shake the gallon jug of solution to distribute the surfactant. You can store the solution in the jug or a glass container (such as several quart Mason jars).

I use this solution with my Nitty Gritty cleaning machine. Apply a fairly liberal amount of the liquid to the surface of the LP, work it around the surface of the record with a gentle brush, or an applicator such as the one that comes with LAST record preservative. Then vacuum off the solution.

I've been using this solution and method for more than 20 years and have been very pleased with the results.

Actually, Jim, I buy 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol in a local drug store. It may not be widely available, but it's not that hard to find. Your point is valid about not leaving the cleaning solution on for an extended time, but the 30-45 seconds or so between application and vacuuming it off has not caused any damage to any of my LP's. As I said in my post, I've been using this solution with good results for more than 20 years, and have cleaned some 2500 LP's with it. I have no hesitancy recommending it -- but if you want to cut down on the alcohol percent to err on the more cautious side, that's fine too.

Jimbo3: the 99.9% pure refers, as far as I know, to the ratio of alcohol to water. It is essentially impossible to distill 100% alcohol, since alcohol will pick up water vapor from the air. The 99.9% stuff I buy, however, is also pure with regard to other agents that are sometimes found in alcohol. The one cautionary note for anyone planning to make their own cleaning solution is DO NOT use rubbing alcohol. It often has often ingredients that are intended for use on human skin, and these substances are NOT good for vinyl LP's.

Rushton: good to know someone else uses essentially the same solution. The formula I use was provided to me by a now deceased friend, who made a part-time living buying estate collections of LP's and re-selling them -- mainly to the Japanese collector market. My friend David probably cleaned 30,000 LP's over a 15-year period using the formula I recommend, and he never had any problems with it. Furthermore, this solution tastes GREAT -- and, it's less filling!