Record Cleaning: Developing the Best Possible Methods

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I'm receiving my bottle of Triton today and can't wait to see how my washing system works. I made my own vac wand, bought the cheapest ($30) wet vac (Home Depot--Stinger),got some MobFi sleeves (I checked them for residue--none). All I need now is the Triton. I have read that mixing it into alcohol before the water is the best way to get it to mix. Yet I see in this thread, that someone says not to do that. Could I have a few more opinions on that, please? I plan on storing the unused portion of the mixture in the fridge to avoid mold.

Another thing is proportions. I've read that we should use just 8 drops to 16oz (actually, I think it's per litre) Someone here says 1:5. that sounds wrong to me...
 
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I have found that if you have the time let it dissolve in water preferably overnight. If I'm less patient I have had success dissolving in alch(I use 99% if that makes any difference). Previously it has been stated that it did not mix well with the alch,not sure why but it works for me.
 
I mix mine into a concentrate with the hepastat and have not had any problems so far getting it to mix into my final wash solution. No IPA involved.
 
I read thru a bunch of posts re triton. I'm confused about the ".5%" of triton in the mix, as that is 47 drops per 16 oz, yet I see other mention of 8 drops per 16 oz of mixture.
 
Some of my records were treated with Last,back in the 1980's. Will the Triton/Iso/water mix be adequate for cleaning those records?
 
I have a gram scale I could use for getting the mixture accurate, but I'm still confused between the recommendations: should Triton be .5% or .05% of the total mixture? My eyes are going crossed reading so many posts with varying ideas on this subject.

I haven't seen anyone suggest heating water in order to get Triton to mix quicker. Does that not help?
 
I'm using a modified version of Rushton's formula at double strength because I don't have an ultrasound.

~.26% Triton, ~.2% Hepastat. 2.5mM EDTA.
 
Drops are a pretty inaccurate way to measure, especially with a fluid as viscous as Triton.
Most pharmacies give oral syringes away for free and can measure as low as .10 of a ML. I have small one that goes to 4ML by tenths and a larger that goes to 10ML by quarters. Both were free.

I use 1:1000 tergitol in US and 1:400 for hand wash.
 
Most pharmacies give oral syringes away for free and can measure as low as .10 of a ML. I have small one that goes to 4ML by tenths and a larger that goes to 10ML by quarters. Both were free.

I use 1:1000 tergitol in US and 1:400 for hand wash.

1:400 is about .25% so that sounds about right.

How do droppers compensate for viscosity changes?
 
Just got the X100. I mixed 2.5 ml of X100 with 100 ml of Iso. Shook it up a number of times and it looked very clear and no bubbles. Then I added 400 ml of distilled H20, shook it up (in a 32 oz bottle, so 1/2 full of liquid now) and all of the air space got full of bubbles like it was detergent. After sitting still, the bubbles have reduced to just a tiny bit on top of the mixture.

My question is: should I be shaking this each time I use it, or not?
 
I give mine a little shake before I use it.

Your mix is 20% iso which is quite high. I'd probably have started with 50ml of iso if I was going to use any at all.
 
So here are my issues after cleaning a few records:

1. The ~30 year old Discwasher brush (it looks like microfiber? with a wooden handle that can store a small bottle of D fluid) is bleeding black when I blot it or set it dripping wet on the counter. It is coming either from the backing or the fabric.

2. The vac wand I made is working great and all the water comes off (visibly) by the second pass. However, after cleaning and rinsing (ie, vacuuming two separate times) 8 records, the wet/dry vac is totally dry inside (a Stinger).

3. Sometimes the labels are getting wet. The red Columbia label on Mr. Tambourine Man got wet around the edges and when I blotted it, lots of red came off. Not sure why some folks don't worry about getting the labels wet, but I need something that works better than slightly clamping down on a metal disc with a foam (it's an exterior round junction box cover for electrical) pad glued to it.

4. Even after washing some of that easy-grip shelf liner, it still leaves a very noticeable and hard-to-remove dull pattern of itself onto the record. I had to remove it and place the records directly onto the smooth plastic surface of the lazy susan.

Recap: I need a better applicator (I feel the foam brush for rinsing is far to wimpy to do a good job washing) for applying the cleaning solution, I need to protect the labels better, and I need a cheap (<$10) pad for the lazy susan.
 
So here are my issues after cleaning a few records:

4. Even after washing some of that easy-grip shelf liner, it still leaves a very noticeable and hard-to-remove dull pattern of itself onto the record. I had to remove it and place the records directly onto the smooth plastic surface of the lazy susan.

I wouldn't use that no slip liner for anything vinyl or plastic based. I lined a coffee table shelf with it and it reacted with a TV remote and Playstation 3 controller that were being stored there in less than a month. It was fused to the PS3 controller and left permanent marks where I had to peel it off.
 
I wouldn't use that no slip liner for anything vinyl or plastic based. I lined a coffee table shelf with it and it reacted with a TV remote and Playstation 3 controller that were being stored there in less than a month. It was fused to the PS3 controller and left permanent marks where I had to peel it off.
I warned about this phenomenon here at AK over 10 years ago. Unless one has an item they want permanently stuck to shelf liner, it is best avoided.
 
Sometimes the labels are getting wet. The red Columbia label on Mr. Tambourine Man got wet around the edges and when I blotted it, lots of red came off. Not sure why some folks don't worry about getting the labels wet, but I need something that works better than slightly clamping down on a metal disc with a foam (it's an exterior round junction box cover for electrical) pad glued to it.

Same experience I had with the electrical cover and foam protector.

The dent pullers did a good job, but were cumbersome, and more a pita than anything else.


This solved that problem for me.
 

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