Warmed cleaning fluids

Besides AIVS, steam, and the Premier cleaning fluid - have you tried anything else? Just wondering if a water/alcohol/detergent-based DIY cleaner (as others have posted here) might help. 7 parts distilled water + 1 part water IPA (not rubbing alcohol, however) by volume + 1 drop Dawn, in say 250 mls total volume is what I use in conjunction with AIVS and steam. I use the water/IPA/detergent followed by steam as pre-cleaning ahead of the AIVS.

No - I didn't mean paper from the sleeves they are stored in, although that's certainly possible that some has bonded to the vinyl depending on how they were stored; what I was talking about is bits of paper from labels that got mixed in with the recycled vinyl when the records were pressed.

I have found several examples with paper and cardboard bits actually embedded in the vinyl.

I have tried MINT lp cleaner , VPI cleaner and AUDIO TECHNA cleaner.I have not tried a home brew cleaner.

That is what i would call recycling if they threw paper in with the vinyl !
Todd

I use commercial and homebrew recipe cleaners and found the use of a steaming step helps the cleaning effect of the cleaner. My homebrew is distilled water, detergent (i have used dawn dishwashing detergent, commercial cleansers/degreasers, and recently enzyme based cleaner), and alcohol. I apply the solution cold to the record, use a brush to spread solution, then use the steamer to heat the liquid, followed by a good scrubbing with the brush. I vacuum that followed by a good rinse and vac. Sometimes, if the disk is pretty grungy, i will let the solution sit on the album for a few minutes before and after the steaming. Takes a little longer but sometimes the extra time helps remove more of the gunk. I think just as important as the cleaning is the rinse. I have found some of the white stuff you can find in the grooves is water scale from hard or impure water. Vacuuming actually can cause this if you evaporate the water versus "sucking" it up. Found this out the hard way early in my attempts to clean records.

Am in the process of reviewing a few cleaning fluids and asked Jim Pendleton the same question since enyzme activity is temperature, ionic strength, metal, cofactor, etc dependent. Jim said that the activity of the "industrial" enzymes used, at least in the one step cleaner, are temperature independent.

Myles Astor