Is this the stuff? https://www.amazon.com/Surfactant-Nonionic-Laboratory-Cleaning-Detergent/dp/B07SGY8LRC Edit - I saw this in the Q&A section of Amazon for this product: "You only need to add about four or five drops of this to 32 oz of distilled water, 4 oz of 91% isopropyl achohol, and perhaps a little enzyme cleaner (solutions vary depending on who you talk to of course). But yes, the whole purpose of using Triton X-100 is that it breaks the surface tension of water and makes it wetter than wet, meaning it will get down deep into the grooves of your records." Does this sound about right?
That's it. I bought a gallon of 100% about three years ago and have well over half of it left. The best way to use it is to break it down to 10%. Simply get a gallon of distilled water and remove 13 oz. Pour in 13 oz of the Triton and allow it to mix with the water over a couple of days. Do that by occasionally turning the jug over, don't shake it, just flip it back and forth maybe 5 or 10 times, several times in a day. It will eventually totally mix with the water. So you get about 10 gallons of 10% Triton out of that 1 gallon you start with. If you use 5 oz in every gallon of record cleaning solution you'll have 25 gallons. So that's 250 gallons of record cleaning solution from that one gallon. ( To make the record cleaning solution I take out 21 oz from a gallon of distilled water, and replace it with 5 oz of triton, and 16 oz of iso alcohol)
This will work with my VPI 16.5 correct? I bought a 500ml bottle which is roughly 17 fl ounces. Could you break this down for me to make one quart of cleaner? I also have a few ounces of AI enzymatic cleaner, should I add some of that to the solution? Thanks.
Sorry about that, I was trying to respond to the OP. I am familiar with your cleaning agent and overall its a good combination. The 10% IPA drops the surface tension of the water to ~40 dynes/cm; the Triton X100 drops it further and they are complimentary. The only item to note is that the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the Triton X10o is 189 ppm (0.02%) so at 0.04% its only 2X CMC. At the CMC the Triton X100 reaches its lowest surface tension ~33 dynes/cm. The added concentration builds micelles that get the detergency. You may want to increase the Triton X100 to 0.05% to get closer to 2.5X CMC. You do not want to add too much more Triton X100 otherwise as you have probably found it gets hard to rinse. Neil
This is a lot to digest so I'll need a minute but I wanted to say thank you for the very detailed response. Regarding "vacuum but do not fully dry" would that mean just one rotation on the VPI 16.5? One rotation on mine seems to leave very little moisture.
You cannot do less than 1 rotation -so just use 1 rotation. If the record is mostly dry after 1 rotation there is no harm when going from the preclean Liquinox/rinse step to the final clean Tergitol/rinse step. FWIW - Tergitol 15-S-9 is a replacement for Triton X100. Triton X100 is a 50-yr old chemical and no longer sold in the EU/UK. Tergitol 15-S-9 dissolves much easier/faster, rinses easier; has a slightly lower surface tension and at 0.05% has much more detergency than Triton X100 at the same concentration. Note if preparing quart containers assume 1L and mix the Liquinox and Tergitol as I said above. Using these plastic disposable pipettes makes chemical transfer much easier - 100 Pcs 5ML Plastic Transfer Pipettes for Essential Oils,Liquids,Graduated: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific. Good Luck, Neil
I'm assuming the 500ml bottle you bought is 100% Triton X-100. If so you could make a quart of 10% Triton X-100 by pouring into a quart container 28.5 oz of distilled water and 3.5 oz of your Triton. Then you can make a quart of cleaner by taking another quart container and reducing the gallon recipe to 1/4. Pour in 26.75 oz of distilled water, 4 oz of iso alcohol, and 1.25 oz of the 10% Triton X-100 you just made up. It doesn't have to be exact, just generally that ratio. If you do this that quart of 10 % Triton you made will in turn make 25 quarts of cleaner and that 500ML bottle 100% will last a long long time! I don't know about the AI enzymatic cleaner, perhaps some others can weigh in of the pros and cons?
Great Neil!!! Thanks a lot for that info. I've tried increasing the Triton a little bit. Sometimes I might end up adding 6 or 7 oz instead of 5. My trusty solar powered calculator tells me the 6.4 oz of the 10% triton added to the mixture would get me to 0.05 % and the 2.5X CMC. So taking your suggestion I'll start taking out 22.5 oz from the gallon of distilled water and replacing it with 16 oz of iso and 6.5 oz of triton!
I went through 2 pumps in my Nitty Gritty 1.5fi. Both pumps started leaking at the seams and the tube joints and most certainly was as a result of the alcohol as I started using my own home brews with generous mix ratios of iso but never had the issue for 10 years of use before while I was buying MOFI & Nitty Pure 2. Cautionary tale for those who lean towards full strength iso alcohol in an RCM with a fluid storage tank or pump.
Well as great a cautionary tale as that may be, the better one would be that... High concentrations of alcohol, and vacuum extraction, do not mix. You could start yourself or your home on fire. DO NOT use lots of alcohol with your RCM.
Isopropyl alcohol catching fire in an RCM? Have you heard of this actually happening? But more importantly, does this mean I can't drink during record cleaning anymore? I will still take some measure of comfort in heeding your cautionary tale by knowing Canadian Nitty Gritty machines must meet CSA approval and as such, are the only machines they make with an inline fused motor.
To answer ur original question. Yes u can, but I would not recommend doing so. I have tried straight, uncut 91% ISO on some filthy albums I bought used. I poured the ISO over the vinyl than used a camel hair brush to scrub. Next I rinsed under the kitchen faucet with a lot of pressure. Next a rinse with distilled water. The record was clean, but in playing my stylus began to pick up a sticky substance. I had to clean the stylus several times per side. I don’t know anything about that sticky substance. I thought it might be dirt, or residue from the ISO. I cleaned the album with different cleaners and rinsed a lot under the kitchen faucet using warm water and then rinsed with distilled water. After a while I got rid of that gung. And the record sounds fine. So, yes u can, but I would not recommend doing so.
It depends on what you mean. If you're talking about the iso alcohol strength you're buying to mix with distilled water and a detergent it is fine. Most over the counter iso sold here in the states is either 91 or 70%. All that means is that there's either 9 or 30% distilled water in the bottle. So if you're buying a 16 oz bottle of 91% at the grocery store you're getting 14.5 oz of alcohol, and if it's 70% it's 11 oz. Now if you mean a cleaning mixture of 8% distilled water and 92% alcohol then I'd say you're in danger of harming the vinyl, and/or, catching your house on fire. (see warnings in this thread)
I've cleaned lots of records with 91%. I don't rinse either, as alcohol should leave no residue. Heck I've even submerged many albums in 91% using a basin cleaner, with no sticky result.
I often use 99% lab grade IPA mixed down to about 80% as a pre clean on used records. It evaporates off within 30 seconds. It is a valuable tool before RCM and degritter cleaning. I am of the camp that the limited exposure does not make the records sound brittle or rolled off or whatever. They sound amazing.
Veech, if it really worries you, take heart - I have it on good authority that a blowtorch will safely destroy 100% of the particulates that can get trapped within record grooves. Give 'er a shot!
Then, that residue was probably dirt, dust, etc. that was broken loose by the 91% ISO, and left behind after my sink/faucet rinse. Next, it mixed with the distilled water rinse resulting in a muddy sludge that settled at the bottom of the grove. If that’s the case, after my first attempt at cleaning with ISO, I needed a better or longer rinse. As it cleared up after further significant rinsing something was left behind. I can see how that might occur The next really dirty record I come across I might just do the 91% ISO followed by a long hot rinse. I’d love to see the results. I appreciate all those who warn against using ISO to clean vinyl. However, I like to experiment. Perhaps the problem I had was due to rinsing. Who knows? I enjoy finding out.
Good wash with Palmolive dish soap and cold works for me. I've never seen records not warp under hot or warm water. Labels also do not do well with hot water. Cold is much better.
I've seen plenty of records warp slightly under just warm water. They snap right back into shape the moment they cool down. As we're all sharing our cleaning routine I might as well add mine. It works very well but I still ended up buying a SugarCube... I have two Knosti baths, one with the Knosti liquid and the other with 50/50 distilled water and 99% iso. I run the record through both, but during the rinse I also have a pressurised spray bottle (same mix as the rinse bath) and I give the grooves a good blast. Without the spray bottle I noticed one or two small oily looking spots. Afterwards I let the records air dry for an hour or two, then load them on the turntable and give them a few spins with a AT-6012 pad dampened with a 70% iso/30% water mix. As you can see there is a fair amount of isopropyl alcohol in my routine. So far I've not heard any ill effects but I'll get back to you in 40 years
I am having a really tough time getting any type of surfactant. The online order I placed three days ago keeps getting delayed. Could a few drops of something like this be used instead? https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/farmworks-80-20-surfactant-1-gal
