DIY Record Cleaning Solution

Why do it when you can have top quality cleaning solutions for 25 cents per record?

Buy a quality, purpose designed surfactant based cleaner such as MoFi Super Deep or AIVS that will clean a record for 15 or 20 cents and then buy the highest quality rinse/final wash available which is either reagent grade or ultrapure water which may cost another 5 cents a record if you're buying in bulk.

I'm always amazed at the number of audiophiles with megabuck collections and cartridges that want to skimp on cleaning solutions. Even those with budget setups will benefit.

Trying to DIY to save pennies is false economy after spending the amount of money you have on the VPI. Your ears, your records and your cartridge/stylus will all benefit from doing the right thing.

Jimateo, I gotta agree with Hdm.
I've tried to convince many in another forum, but with little luck, as many are very headstrong about thier (IMO garbage) DIY solutions of Dawn Dishwashing Fluid, Kodak Photo-Flo, 99% Alcohol, Distilled Water. Then to top it all off, throw all these makeshift chemicals into an inappropriate, unsuitable container.

All the products I mention above have no place on vinyl, but of course, there's the naysayers that the best products made on the market are nothing more than over-hyped snake oil. Trust me, they're only fooling themselves.

High quality cleaning products will insure a proper job is done, and no future damage.

There's tons of information right here in the archives, all you have to do, is a simple search on products like AIVS, Walker Prelude, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (Mo-Fi) L'Art Du Son, Buggtussle, etc.

Thanks to certain folks here, and one in particular, I have become a religious AIVS user (Thanks Doug D!) Once you use products like this, your worries, or concerns if you are using the proper products, and treating your vinyl as it should be treated will vanish, and your search for the very best cleaners will end.

I too, use a VPI RCM, and my only regrets were not doing this many years ago. Mark

Do any of you know what chemicals are actually in your expensive proprietary record cleaners? Of course not - the manufacturers aren't going to tell you because they know you'll go out and make up your own cleaning solutions for a fraction of the cost of their over-hyped products. It amuses me that virulent critics of DIY cleaning solutions happily spread expensive stuff all over their precious vinyl without having a clue as to what it is or what it does.

Hey, if Harry Weisfeld (head of VPI) recommends a home-brew cleaner of his own devising, it can't be that bad, can it? I'm a long-time AIVS user myself (was one of the original beta testers), and like it a lot, but if you want to make your own, it costs a bunch less than 25 cents a record and does a more than decent job. Weisfeld's recipe: Take a clean gallon jug, add 16 oz. of isopropyl (not rubbing) alcohol), fill it with distilled water, add 3-4 drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid as a surfactant. Then shake it and use it. I think you'll find that it works just fine with your new VPI RCM. Good luck, Dave

Agree with HDM, why screw around. Get best - Record Research/ MOFI Super Wash and Deep Cleaner.