What is the best way to clean Vinyl?

@odysseas_gr, 

Yes, you can first rinse the Tergikleen with tap water and then immediately follow with DIW rinse and vacuum, but here is an alternative.  When using tap water, the key is not to allow it to dry.

First, make sure you are using the Tergikleen at the manufacturer's recommended concentration which is 12-20 drops to a gallon (3.8 litres) of distilled water or 3-5 drops to a quart (.95 litre) of distilled water.

After cleaning, perform two rinse/vacuum cycles.  For the 1st rinse cycle, do not fully dry the record.  For each rinse, apply about 10-ml of distilled water to the record.  When applying the DIW, you only need to brush lightly.  Note:  I am not saying to measure out the rinse DIW each time.  But you should measure it out once to eyeball what 10-ml of distilled water looks like on the record.  Many people do not use enough rinse water with vacuum-RCMs.

FYI - the above was developed recently with someone in the UK, and we spiked a cleaning solution of known ingredients and concentration with a high-performance UV fluorescent dye.  What the dye showed is that when using blower-style vacuum-RCMs (like the Project), not all fluid is sucked off the surface. Some fluid is evaporated in-place (20-30%), leaving behind cleaner residue.  Two rinse cycles (with 10-ml DIW) were needed fully remove the cleaner (and whatever it removed from the record).  Also, for the cleaning step, 6-ml was used; any more and rapid agitation with the brush (necessary for best results) would fling cleaner from the surface.  Many people do not use enough cleaner on the record to get good cleaning with vacuum-RCM.

If you are using the same brush throughout, after cleaning with Tergikleen and the first rinse, rinse the brush with DIW spray into a sink or bucket.  

Note that as an alternative to Tergitol 15-S-9 you can substitute Polysorbate-20 which is a concentrated water-soluble nonionic surfactant that is similar and is common in cosmetics and generally readily available worldwide.  It's not as good as Tergitol 15-S-9, but it is good enough.    Details on use of Polysorbate 20 are addressed in the free book - Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records-3rd Edition - The Vinyl Press

Take care,

@antinn thank you for your reply! Very helpful and precious information!

Very good to know the exact amount to use for both the solution and the rinse cycels!

I'm not using the same brush throughout, I have a goat hair brush for applying the solution and a make-up brush to apply the DIW

Polysorbate-20 is indeed available and very cheap too! 

As it is not as good as Tergitol 15-S-9, might a small amount of IPA help to make it more effective?

@odysseas_gr, 

The difference between Tergitol 15-S-9 and Polysorbate 20 is mostly surface tension.  It's up to you if you want to want to play around with IPA.  If you do decide to mix in IPA, fix mix in the Polysorbate 20 then add the IPA or the Polysorbate 20 will not dissolve very quickly.  Because of liability (flammability & toxicity), I never recommend more than 2.5% IPA.  But note that at 10% IPA, the fluid is classified in the US as flammable - see the book Chapter VIII for details.  Also, be careful of what IPA you use.  Use 91% pharmaceutical or better - the book Chapter VIII has the details.