Record cleaning based on science

[guest110]

I was asked to post my vinyl record cleaning method but the document was too large so I put it on a web page. Hopefully this link works.

sites.google.com/site/vincesaudiofiles/

I had originally written up a protocol and solution recipes for a commercial endeavor. We parted ways so I adapted it for friends. Hope you find the info useful.

 

[dcmfan]

Enzymes...

So the enzyme is just a dietary supplement diluted in distilled water? Is this the stuff?

Thanks for posting this - an easy read and makes sense.

 

[onwardjames]

A wonderful writeup, very good stuff.

I use first a Dawn scrubbing with a paint pad, then a coating of scrubbing bubbles for about 5 minutes, and a heavy rinse.

Then I do the Titebond II woodglue method, sometimes twice. The second gluing restored a beat to crap Johnny Rodriguez to very good that the first gluing did not.

This usually makes the album as good as its going to get.

Then into a MoFi sleeve.

 

[wualta]

Thanks! If you have any recommendations concerning online sources for the chemicals, particularly ones that accept small orders, please let us know.

 

[guest110]

Yes dcmfan, that is the stuff, but there are many, many others that are suitable. I started using purified enzymes but that became very expensive and the dietary supplement market is flooded with products. Just be sure to discard the capsule...it is made of sticky cellulose!

Waulta- everything I listed is available on Amazon. I tried to find commonly available compounds for reagents used in the lab.

onwardjames- the soap you are using is mostly SDS, but has a variety of other ingredients you don't necessarily need, just like shampoos. It's OK though as you are using a diltute amount and washing immediately. The glue on the other hand is something I am chemically uncomfortable with in terms of long-term effects on the vinyl. It certainly rips out debris from the grooves though. I have experimented with it. Enzymes do the same job safely and much quicker!

 

[onwardjames]

The glue on the other hand is something I am chemically uncomfortable with in terms of long-term effects on the vinyl. It certainly rips out debris from the grooves though. I have experimented with it.

I certainly defer to your knowledge about such matters, but it was my understanding that wood glue and records were made out of pretty much the same stuff, pva's. ??

I have records that the glue was the only option, as I buy 99c records all the time, cheap and exposes me to new stuff.

What if I glued, then did a SpinClean? In your estimation, would this help?

Or perhaps a splash of distilled water after glue is peeled off?

I must admit, I haven't found ANYTHING that works like the glue method, and I've tried every crazy thing except ultrasonic.

 

[onwardjames]

 

[guest110]

What does amylase do? That is for starch only - where would starch come from?

The pH optimums of amylases (around pH 4.5 to 5.5), proteases (can be pH 5.0 to pH 8.0 depending on source) and lipases (8.0 to 11.0) can be quite different. Amylase are not active at all at pH 8.0, especially the commercially available amylases.

If you are worried about fungi, only Chitanases will break them up. None of the enzymes listed will do this. Also, if dealing with bacterial spores, none of these will break them. (I have a PhD in fungal biochemisty BTW).

I think your whole system could be done with your detergent and EDTA (being careful not to take out the plasticizers that do have metal ions chelated in them). I would also use DI water and not tap water - there are too many other chemicals that can cause issues, like Chloride, Fluoride, etc.

Ozone is not a good cleaning idea for record covers. Why? Since ozone is used as a bleaching chemical in the pulp and paper industry, you can actually cause damage to the paper structure making it brittle. Same can be said for a vinyl record - Ozone is highly reactive and will degrade the plasticizers in the PVC.

Hi. I too have a doctorate and have taught microbiology, though I am a molecular biochemist. Please pay attention: There is no buffer in the enzyme mix. The Amylase is indeed active in water as I have measured it, and there is cellulase, Glucoamylase, Beta-glucanase, Pectinase, Xylanase, Hemicellulase, Galactosidase, and Lactase in the recommended mix, though some clearly not needed. The proteases are also active, mostly papain and related and are commonly used in all kinds of harsh cleaning solutions (including laundry detergent). The detergent wash is what is at pH 8 and this is AFTER the enzymatic reactions. Not sure which fungi you studied, but attachment to vinyl requires modified proteins and there are several proteases in the mix that digest them. None of the reagent are meant to break open spores, just release them.
BTW, this is not new: check out Walker Audio Prelude, a highly regarded record cleaning system that also uses a mix of protease, amylase, and lipase. They charge $215 for their similar solutions. Mine are pennies/gallon
Again, please pay attention: I was very clear about not using ozone on vinyl. As for the papers, ozone is widely used in the document preservation field, look it up. You are correct it can be very damaging, but It takes way more exposure that I use to destroy pulp fibers. Simple UV exposure in sunlight for 1 hour likely causes more harm. That said, I would not treat extremely rare covers this way as there may be slight color fading, just as there is with liquid cleaners. My method is for those smelly oldies found in thrift shops, etc.

 

[guest110]

I certainly defer to your knowledge about such matters, but it was my understanding that wood glue and records were made out of pretty much the same stuff, pva's. ??

I have records that the glue was the only option, as I buy 99c records all the time, cheap and exposes me to new stuff.

What if I glued, then did a SpinClean? In your estimation, would this help?

Or perhaps a splash of distilled water after glue is peeled off?

I must admit, I haven't found ANYTHING that works like the glue method, and I've tried every crazy thing except ultrasonic.

Not exactly the same, but there are similarities. That said, remember the saying "like dissolves like"? The same stuff is bad in this case, as you are trying NOT to extract plasticizers.

 

[mkane]

I was asked to post my vinyl record cleaning method but the document was too large so I put it on a web page. Hopefully this link works.

sites.google.com/site/vincesaudiofiles/

I had originally written up a protocol and solution recipes for a commercial endeavor. We parted ways so I adapted it for friends. Hope you find the info useful.

How come that link doesn't work for me?

 

[darth]

This is interesting stuff...please tell us how WE can clean THE right way.

 

[quantum 3]

confused with the recipe

Great information, thank you!

What I cannot get from this write-up is the amounts / ratio of Triton X-100 and EDTA?

Triton is very viscous and difficult to work with. I recommend starting with a 10% stock solution for making your cleaner (this stock will be further diluted 1:50 in the cleaner).

and

I use the detergent Triton X-100 (at 0.2%) in TBE buffer (TRIS-Borate and EDTA at pH 8.0). A 10X stock solution of TBE can be purchased inexpensively on-line and I dilute this 20-fold in the cleaner.

So, do you dilute the Triton X-100 20 times, turn 100ml into 2 liters, making it “at 0.2%”?

And then use 1:50 with EDTA? Because EDTA is not that cheap!

I’m confused??

 

[jhtstone]

Try this...

https://sites.google.com/site/vincesaudiofiles/

 

[cdk99]

Here's a pdf version, testing testing...

 

[guest110]

Great information, thank you!
What I cannot get from this write-up is the amounts / ratio of Triton X-100 and EDTA?
So, do you dilute the Triton X-100 20 times, turn 100ml into 2 liters, making it “at 0.2%”?

And then use 1:50 with EDTA? Because EDTA is not that cheap!

I’m confused??

Sorry for the confusion, I tried to use easily available reagents and work with dilutions as most people typically do not have microscales and lab equipment. The homemade detergent solution is 0.2% TritonX in 50mM Tris-Borate, 0.5mM EDTA, pH8.
I only suggest the TBE buffer as it is easy to find and you get the EDTA in it (it is used widely in electrophoresis so even Amazon has it). In the lab, I alternatively use MOPS buffer at a more neutral pH and add much more EDTA (5mM). It really doesn't matter too much, you just want something to keep conditions from being extremely acidic or highly basic along with a chelator to help remove divalent cations. So if you buy 10x TBE you dilute it 20 fold to get 0.5x. If you buy 1M Tris-HCL instead, dilute that 20 fold to get 50mM and add EDTA to between 0.5 and 5 mM. If you cant get either, just leave this out. The detergent is more important.
Any mild detergent will do. The Triton is sold as a liquid that is super viscous. It is considered to be 100% in this form and is difficult to work with so I suggest making a 10% stock solution (in distilled water) of this to keep on your shelf. This stock is added to the buffer mix so as to dilute it to 0.2% final concentration. You can also use SDS at the same concentration. Or use your favorite detergent based record cleaning solution. The point is the steps: 1. A Prewash to remove debris, 2. An enzymatic treatment to loosen bound contaminants, 3. A detergent wash to remove contaminants, and 4. A final distilled water wash. There are commercial kits that incorporate these steps, but they are hugely expensive. My feeling is that money is better spent on buying more records!

 

[Gibsonian]

onwardjames,

thanks for the laugh, quite clever!

 

[ripblade]

I was asked to post my vinyl record cleaning method but the document was too large so I put it on a web page. Hopefully this link works.

sites.google.com/site/vincesaudiofiles/

I had originally written up a protocol and solution recipes for a commercial endeavor. We parted ways so I adapted it for friends. Hope you find the info useful.

Thanks for posting this...it is very informative. I especially appreciate the tip regarding the enzymes in the form of a dietary supplement as I had assumed these would not be suitable for vinyl owing to the additional ingredients, some of which may be abrasive. I have tried the Sporicidin enzymes and found it was not totally effective in removing old fingerprints, so your point about sourcing enzymes in dry form resonates true in my mind.

I would however make a slight change to your protocol with respect to blasting the record under the faucet to remove loose particles. It is my believe that any prior moisture on the record would retard the absorption of the moisture containing the enzymes, slowing the breakdown of organic matter, or possibly rendering it incomplete. To this end, I would simply dry brush the record (or use a sticky roller), then spray the enzyme solution onto the dry record, then blast the solution off with the tap water after it has reached the designated soaking time.

Apart from this, I'm curious to know what you think of the Library of Congress's suggestion of using Tergitol 15-S-7 in a 0.05% solution in distilled water as a cleaning agent. It's a far simpler solution and is suggested by a reliable source. What benefits do the added ingredients in your solution bring to the cleaning process over and above the LoC solution?

TIA!

 

[Mark B]

Thanks for sharing your formula Dr. Vince. :thmbsp:

I've been mixing my own record cleaning solution for years. I hope this takes it's effectiveness to a new level. Supplies ordered.

 

[guest110]

Apart from this, I'm curious to know what you think of the Library of Congress's suggestion of using Tergitol 15-S-7 in a 0.05% solution in distilled water as a cleaning agent. It's a far simpler solution and is suggested by a reliable source. What benefits do the added ingredients in your solution bring to the cleaning process over and above the LoC solution?
TIA!

Good question. The Tergitols are very closely related to Tritons. It depends on which company patented them, but they are all related non-ionic detergents (the NP40 I mentioned in the paper is actually known as "Tergitol NP-40"). Hence, it is great for the detergent wash step. But it is not strong enough to pull out all bound contaminants, especially when used at only 0.05%. That's a good daily cleaner though and no different than the Triton solution at equivalent % dilution. The enzymes are the key to digesting away organic matter on very dirty records. They loosen things up so the detergent can wash it away sort of speak. The buffer helps maintain a balanced pH during the wash, but it isn't mandatory. The EDTA helps remove calcium and magnesium ions. Again, not totally necessary. The final distilled water wash is, in my opinion, very important, though a little residual detergent if just using the LOC wash probably doesn't cause too much harm.

With regards to the digestive enzymes, they are actually pretty good quality, you just need to completely dissolve them before use. The liquids like Sporadicin are strange to me. They are very high in proteases, which digest proteins. What are enzymes?....yup, proteins. So the other enzymes in the mix can be broken down by the broad spectrum proteases often used in these mixes. Hence, they have a short half life. That's why starting with dry is preferred.

 

[onwardjames]

Gibsonian, thou art welcome.

As you can tell, I'm a peace-loving guy.

I wonder if Vince can put this formula in laymen's amounts?

I'm the type to end up in the hospital trying to mix this stuff up.