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Should I still use this Disc Washer fluid?


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Could be just me, bad luck, or whatever, but I won't use the stuff at all anymore. I bought a large bottle way back in the late 70's and kept it for a number of years. It appears to have gone bad and ruined a couple of very fine discs. I really didn't believe it, bought another bottle, and a few years later the same thing happened. It appeared to somehow bond with the disc and would not come off. Made them noisy when they were fine moments before and even water/soap washing didn't help.

Again, I found this and continue to find it hard to believe, but there was nothing else involved and it happened to me twice. I now use Ivory liquid, distilled water for really dirty records and a swiffer for a simple wipe before play of clean ones.

Dave

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Isopropyl Alchohol is IPA use over 90 % pure.

SOme use Smirnoff 100 as a pure achohol.

The India Pale Ale is for then the records are clean.

VPI is a maker of fine turntables and record cleaner machines.

Could not find their concentrate on the web.

Disk Doctor fluid has been around a while.

http://www.needledoctor.com/Disk-Doctor-Cleaning-Fluid-Pint?sc=2&category=1178

Any carbon fiber brush eliminates static and dry cleans very well. I use Audio Quest but the others are OK I would think.

http://www.needledoctor.com/Online-Store/Carbon-Fiber-Brushes

Good Luck

Rick

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I'm thinking a 100:1 concentration of Krud Kutter in reverse osmosis water might be the cat's meow. KK's chemist didn't think it would harm the vinyl at 10:1. I saw no degredation at full strength, but I'm no chemist. Krud Kutter is my second or third favorite fluid in the world. At least it's my favorite cleaner...

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I'm thinking a 100:1 concentration of Krud Kutter in reverse osmosis water might be the cat's meow. KK's chemist didn't think it would harm the vinyl at 10:1. I saw no degredation at full strength, but I'm no chemist. Krud Kutter is my second or third favorite fluid in the world. At least it's my favorite cleaner...

Fini;

Are you serious this time?

For the first time? [;)]

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Rick, 100%:




------------------------------
------------------------------------------


----


From: Gregg Fautley



Fax:


Company: me


Subject: Krud Kutter for LPs?


I heard about you from: word of mouth


------------------------------------------------------------------------


----


Message:




First, let me say Krud Kutter is my cleaner of choice for most


everything. I go through a couple gallons a year at home.

As an avid collector of vinyl records, I'm always looking for good ways


to clean the LPs. There are motorized cleaners (VPI, Nitty Gritty to


name two), and many liquid concoctions on the market for this. A big


concern for enthusiasts is protecting the surface (grooves) of the


records, really on a microscopic level (which is, after all, the scale


of the stylus riding in the grooves). One poster on the online forum


Audio Asylum commented:




"There's probably nothing wrong with your use of an industrial


strength cleaner under those circumstances as long as it's "safe" for


plastics. Except "safe" usually just means it won't MELT the plastic!


What such cleaners WILL do, is leach any remaining vinyl solvents out of


the old record (if there are even any remaining!)"




So, my question to you (I guess to your chemists) is really, how safe is


Krud Kutter on vinyl (PVC) records? Would it affect the surface at all?


Also, how free-rinsing is Krud Kutter?




Thanks for the info,


Gregg Fautley
Gregg,






The chemist said he would not use 100%, but believes diluted 10:1



(water/product), it would work fine. Because this is something we have



not tested, I would try it on a non-important record first.






Have a great day!






Sales

Rick, you work in plastics, right? Can you test KK?
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I usually just steam records (check threads on Audiogon). If I have trouble I use a mixture of about 75% distilled water, 25% rubbing alcohol (make sure that it is just alcohol, this is usually about 75% / 25% distilled water so yoru final mixture is less than 20% alcohol) and 1 drop of dishwashing liquid per about 12 oz (this breaks the "skin" on the mixture so it gets into the grooves).

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Yeah if it is working for you don't worry. An old friend of mine back in our youth called the company in a veiled attempt to find out what was in the stuff. He claimed his brother had just swallowed a whole container of it. They said not to worry nothing to harm him and like colter said it's almost entirely just very clean water.

Dave, all I can think of is that what you used to apply it with must have become contaminated with something bad. Don't worry though because you probably breathed it in also as it settled onto the brush, and you seem to be in good enough health...

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"Again, I found this and continue to find it hard to believe, but
there was nothing else involved and it happened to me twice. I now use
Ivory liquid, distilled water for really dirty records and a swiffer
for a simple wipe before play of clean ones.

Dave"

I'm pretty much with Dave with a bit of a tweak. You can go to Walgreens or the local drugstore and buy isopropyl alcohol that is ~99.9 percent pure. The stuff on the shelf is usually around 90. Order it from the pharmacy for about 3 bucks a botter rather than regular at a buck. I mix it 50-60% with distilled water and a drop of fragrance free liquid dish soap. Evaporates very fast.

Regarding the water itself there are many choices. "Really pure" water would be of a lab grade that likely has gone through multiple distillations or resin beds with a corresponding price adjustment. Of the off shelf options distilled might be the lowest cost water which around me is priced equal to filtered. Deinonized might have fewer minerals, but unless you know about the resin base it's a variable. I bet with distilled or deionized you won't see gunk buildup. If I was to use vodka all my vinyl would have tongue marks or olive parts.

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Yeah, you can't drink the leftovers either. Vodka is looking better all the sudden.

You know, along the same lines, one could evenly spread the liquid normally drained off a can of tuna on the record surface, then let Snowball do her deep-groove cleaning.

cattongue.jpg

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