Herman eats crow, RRL record cleaning fluids work

I recently answered a post on
distilled water saying that using deionized water was a bunch of bunk. Several people folowed up basically calling me an idiot and singing the praises of RRL fluids. I responded I didn't believe that these fluids could possibly live up to the hype accorded them. I then received an offer from a fellow member offering to send me some of these mystical fluids free of charge to try for myself. I accepted his challenge.

I just returned from Japan where I purchased some used vinyl including what appeared to be a mint Japanese pressing of Art Pepper "Live in Tokyo 79," one of my favorites. The RRL fluids were also awaiting in the mail.

I put the record on straight away and was greeted by quite a bit of surface noise so I decided it was time to give the RRL a trial on my VPI 17. I first applied about 10 drops of the deep cleaner and worked it in with my Audioquest carbon fiber brush turning the record several times in both directions and then vacuumed it off. I follwed with the same amount of vinyl wash using the same regime.

A massive transformation in background noise! I went from a used record that I was dissapointed in due to surface noise to a record that was dead quiet using barely enough fluid to even dampen the record. I am used to using a large volume of Disc Doctor fluid folowed by a lot of rinse water because if you leave any of the DD fluid on the record it will dry up and leave a residue.

I can't say for sure the DD routine would not have yielded the same results, but the RRL fluids were so much easier to use and so much quicker due to the tiny amount required that I am getting ready to order a big bottle of everything they have to offer.

A big thanks to 4yanx for sharing his fluids (record cleaning that is) with me.