E/M : The idea that you propose is "Very Interesting" to steal a tag line from a 1960's TV show. The interesting thing about vinyl is that the compounds used for pressing may or may not be organic in nature. Most in the industry here and across the pond just will not tell.
A few years ago I spent an interesting ( there's that word again) evening drinking Calfornia wine with a henna streaked/ravin haired, blue eyed German beauty, Martina, who had been doing research for years into the origins of LP vinyl compounds. What she didn't know about the materials , chemicals and one little known secret -- Almost to a person the LP compound developers kept the formula's in their heads not on paper. One thing besides ... that she left me with was a fact she learned --Many vinyl compounds suceed keeping LPs flexable for years by entraping small amounts of H20 in the vinyl and pressing compounds. She suspected that rehydrating vinyl was a key to keeping the groves alive with music while at the same time sluffing off old degraded pressing muck so that what the listener hears is the actual vinyl not stuff entrapped by the manufacturing process or time. So, if the cleaning process triggers the release of micro-amounts of H2O from the LP that maybe not such a good idea. But you will not know for sure unless you experiment. E/M ,stop-bye the steam cleaning thread maybe we have an idea or two to complement yours.
A few years ago I spent an interesting ( there's that word again) evening drinking Calfornia wine with a henna streaked/ravin haired, blue eyed German beauty, Martina, who had been doing research for years into the origins of LP vinyl compounds. What she didn't know about the materials , chemicals and one little known secret -- Almost to a person the LP compound developers kept the formula's in their heads not on paper. One thing besides ... that she left me with was a fact she learned --Many vinyl compounds suceed keeping LPs flexable for years by entraping small amounts of H20 in the vinyl and pressing compounds. She suspected that rehydrating vinyl was a key to keeping the groves alive with music while at the same time sluffing off old degraded pressing muck so that what the listener hears is the actual vinyl not stuff entrapped by the manufacturing process or time. So, if the cleaning process triggers the release of micro-amounts of H2O from the LP that maybe not such a good idea. But you will not know for sure unless you experiment. E/M ,stop-bye the steam cleaning thread maybe we have an idea or two to complement yours.
