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Steam Cleaning - RCM or not?

I posted a couple of times yesterday about this over at AudioKarma, but thought I would ask here as well since Audiogon seems to be at the center of the steam cleaning information.

I tried steaming in earnest a few nights ago; I did an LP I've had for years that had had some minor mold on it, which I removed a long time ago with my RCM, but the spore pattern remained. It was gone in a minute with the steam, which I somewhat expected. What I didn't expect was how lifelike this 3rd pressing, orange-label Dynaflex LP suddenly sounded. Amazing!

My question is this; I'm really drawn to the idea of not using my 20+ year old RCM at all because of the noise, which I'm getting tired of hearing after all these years. I'd really like to be just steaming, lint-brushing with my home-made fluid I've been using a while, steaming again and wiping with a couple of microfiber cloths. That seems to work very well, except that I seem to be getting some gunk on my stylus now and again which may be lint from the cloths.

Is this a concern? I actually did this routine a couple of times to one side of an LP and then did the same thing but RCM'd and not microfibered the other side, and I would swear the non-RCM's side sounded slightly more real in each case. Sonically I'm completely okay with the cloths only, but am a little concerned about possible residue and whatever that is showing up on my needle—although my ears are telling me this is the way to go. Anybody else come to this conclusion?
vanmeter
vanmeter OP
33 posts
 
Any more thoguhts on the Pledge wipes mentioned above? I have tried them...and they seem to work well, but I too wonder if anything is left behind. In the evening, if I shine a flashlight at about a 45 degree angle on a record that has been RCMd after steaming, there's little visible dust or lint. With just the microfiber cloth and no RCM, there's a ton of dust and lint. One pass under the pledge removes everything visible - literally one turn of the record.
crem1
672 posts
 
Vanmeter : I haven't yet purchased Spray & Wash or the Pledge Wipes, I will buy both soon. It is my guess w/o actual experience these cleaners should be used extreme cases. That is an opinion reasoned by use of other detergent-types cleaners but not the ones you suggest. I would try them & then reclean each LP with the prospect of removing all traces of household powerhouse-type detergents w/record cleaning fluid, several steams & the use a RCM to suck off whatevers left. I am concerned that the detergent residues could loosen the diamond tip by disolving the cement .Its known that some detergents can do that , I do not know exactly which ones. Should all residue be steamed off,I reason, no harm to the diamond's glue. That's my view , subject to revision.
sabocat59
98 posts
 
Good forum and good info.I use the walgeens steamer and it works well. But my cleaning process is a hybrid. I use the steamer in cojunction with the GEM dandy eaner and high pressure water hose. I steam, spray on the cleaner, apply the hose and finish with a steam. Then I wipe with microfiber and let dry. Works great for me. The hydraulic pressure removes any remaing crud left in the grooves and the final steam removes water residue
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Sabocat, this sounds pretty wet and messy. I am going to retry steam cleaning soon using the VPI 16.5 with the Walker vacuum tube.
vanmeter OP
33 posts
 
Crem (and others) one question - how long do you let the record dry before playing? Mine look dry right after wiping with a microfiber cloth, but I wonder if there's an ideal amount of time - 10 minutes? 5 minutes? An hour? Not at all? - that needs to pass before there's no chance of essentially wet playing deep in the groove. Or is the cloth getting every bit of moisture out? Just something I've been wondering about...your thoughts?
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