- Fri Jun 05, 2015 4:59 am
#67350
Texasvinyl's recipe is probably the most well know DIY mixture, and it works well. I don't always have those ingredients though, so have experimented with various other mixtures.
My favorite for ingredients availability and effectiveness is distilled water with some "St Marc", originally a degreasing product for cleaning surfaces before painting, but can also be used as a more common household cleaner.
I just use enough to break the surface tension of the water, the stuff is green, and I use so little you barely see the color of the water change.
(one third bottlecap in .25 liter of water probably, it's been a while since I made some, most of the records I bought recently did not require cleaning.)
It cleans well, leaves no residue and is dirt cheap. (I mop my floor with the stuff, when you only use it to clean records, a single .75 liter bottle will last a lifetime)
Don't know about availability in other countries, but similar stuff is pobably readily available, I believe its active ingredients are called "sugar soap": Sodium carbonide and sodium Hydroxide. I have not used the more powerful powdered versions, but use a bottled, ready to use version.
Some words of caution:
I use it with a vaccuum record cleaner (KAB , based on Nitty gritty), I do not know how it will work without vacuum cleaning, air drying might leave a residue.
Other brands of sugar soap might use different coloring agents, perfumes and other additives, so again, might leave a residue.
Try on some old records first.