Quick review: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab One Record Cleaning Solution

To be fair, it really does "remove a veil" and increase the dynamics of records, but takes AGES to dry off by itself.

 

Can someone explain the directions in detail?
I just bought this and while the record now looks clean...it still crackles and pops more than ever.

I applied the solution liberally to a small unused soft painters roller brush and did the circular motions suggested.
After about a minute I wiped off the beads with a lint free auto cloth.
Then after another minute I buffed with a velvet cloth.

I hope I did this wrong since I feel ripped off at the moment.

 

I just received a bottle of this stuff and tested it on about 10 used records. My method was: Lay the record on a clean towel, spritz the entire surface liberally with the fluid and scrub in a circular motion in both directions.

First observation - this stuff does NOT dry "in seconds" or whatever the claim is. 5+ minutes later and there is still a lot of it. So, I grabbed some Viva paper towels and dried it in a clockwise only motion. Second observation - it makes the record look super shiny, I can see myself! Next, I placed it on the platter and dust brushed it. I can say for certain, the cleaning did not add any additional noise like some other methods are prone to, but I honestly can't say if this cleaning method helps to reduce surface noise.

I will probably only use this when I get impatient and want to hear a dirty used record immediately. This way I don't have to worry about my stylus and can give it a proper cleaning later.

Another tool in the tool kit.

 

I finally broke down and bought a MOFI brush. Great brush, it really gets into groove and saves fluid, too. Personally, I apply liberally, let it sit a few minutes, and the use two discwasher brushes to get rid of the excess fluid. The first brush gets rid of the worst moisture and the second brush basically takes the record to near dry and the point where the fluid will evaporate in a minute or so. That's my drying method. I sometimes will do a second cleaning if it's a really dirty record, but for a normal record, just one cleaning. I think the best use for this fluid is for those inbetween cleaning, the same way you used to use a Discwasher brush and fluid, a light application for fluid and brushing to clean things up.

 

You really can't lay the fluid on thick and then let it dry off by itself. I found the key, as I described above, is to lay it on heavy, then take off almost ALL the fluid with brushes, leaving the record just moist enough for the fluid to evaporate within a minute. If you put it on heavy and let the puddle dry on it's own, you've just raised the grime higher up out of the grooves.Think about what happens if you wash a car and don't dry it off with a towel, you get a spotty finish.

 

I have a MoFi record brush but I like the Disc Doctor ones better. The reason is the MoFi brush is flat on the bottom with sharper edges and even feels a bit concave. The DD brush has a small convex curve to it. I just like the feel of them on the record better but they are almost identical.
Talking about taking forever my first record cleaner was a bath type Spin Clean with water soluble fluid that took a long time to dry so you wipe the fluid off with cotton diaper material first. I see the MoFi stuff is alcohol based to help it dry off.
Now I have a VPI vacuum cleaner. Whatever you use wet cleaning is definitely the way to go IMHO.

 

Yeah, I'm still waiting for a really nice, compact record vac. Even a handheld one should be better than none. I just don't have the loot for a full sized one and I once made a shop vac model and that was just clumsy to use.

 

I've been using the MoFi brushes to manually clean my records with their one step cleaning solution since before MoFi put their name on them and I've never had a problem with scratches. Was your scratch from a dry brushing or wet? Was it the brush without cleaning fluids?

I put my cleaner in a spray bottle so I can apply the fluid with more control. I don't try to drown the record in fluid, I give it short bursts as I go around the lp, using a beer coaster to cover the record label. The time I wait before cleaning depends on how dirty the record appears or sounds. I clean with a back and forth motion in the direction of the grooves, about 1/3 of the record surface at a time. After that I use a diaper (100% cotton) rolled up in a tube shape and carefully go around the lp slowly, a few inches before turning the cloth a little to keep relatively clean cloth on the surface until the record surface is dry. It's not a vacuum system but
I believe the cotton is able to draw out most of the moisture with this process. This works for over 90% of my used records. There are some stubborn ones and I'll wash the record a second time or repeat with their stronger cleaner if I feel it is warranted. I would never leave the cleaning fluid on the record to dry. That doesn't make any sense at all.

 

He said he used it at an angle - the brush is to be used flat and with the grooves of the record. Always.

I'm wondering about using the mofi enzyme fluid with the spin clean. Will it run all over the labels?

 

Enzyme cleaner, if it is any good, is strong mojo and not something I'd recommend using with a Spin Clean or similar bath/dip method of cleaning. You really need to ensure ALL the enzyme cleaner gets rinsed off thoroughly and you can't really do that with the Spin Clean, even if you have two of them. I'd wait on trying an enzyme cleaner until you get some type of vac-based RCM.

 

Thank you for the advice!