How much isopropanol is effective but safe for viny?

Follow up...

I only use tap water for the first wash prior to cleaning. It’s distilled water after that.

If you’re really OCD about cleaning, look up the record cleaning method used by the Smithsonian Museum. They use lab-grade distilled water and a surfactant called Tergitol.

Here’s a little info on Tergitol:

Tergitol surfactants from TALAS (talasonline.com). Put 10-20 drops per each into a gallon of distilled water to form solution. Use as desired, by hand, in a RCM, etc. I use a full dunk in baking tins with a MOFI brush by hand, then distilled water rinse tub and air dry. Works great!

Reducing the static charge on your records will quiet them down and keep them cleaner. I am experimenting with an old bulk (Reel to Reel) tape eraser to completely discharge them on the cheap.

Obviousely, don’t put a cleaned record back into an old paper sleeve. Use the nice MOFI ones. I also think pulling records in and out of paper sleeves charges them with static...just a hypothesis right now. I will eventually confirm it.

Caution- keep the tape eraser away from digital hard drives....

What’s in the grooves?

Could be anything. My hunch is mostly sleeve dust and household dust. Older records from the 50’s and 60’s could have higher amounts of nicotine and cooking oils. 

Early Beatles records could have pizza sauce or Bonamo Turkish Taffy....;)

I have some records that refuse to quiet down, even after having them ultrasonically cleaned. In older records it could be the playing surface has just dried out and become brittle. I also read that the friction of the tip in the groove causes enough heat to temporarily soften the groove wall. If this is true then some of the accumulated crud in the grooves could become physically bonded to the groove wall making it impossible to remove.

Just a hunch. 

@invictus005 - Wow...  Maybe you just don't know what you're trying to clean.   

I mistakenly called a degreaser like Dawn or Tergitol a surfactent when it is a detergent. A surfactant, like Photoflow, is a wetting agent- reducing the surface tension of water allowing it to penetrate deeper into the grooves.

My apologies.

voiceofvinyl....Congrats for clearing up your statements about what chemical is a degreaser and which is a surfactant. In my earlier post I tried to explain how Photo Flo is used in the final rinse of photographic and xray films to eliminate drying spots. As others have mentioned, a very small amount of surfactant is needed to perform it's job. As a final rinse it is added to a large volume of distilled water.I know very little about wet cleaning of vinyl. I only know that the purpose used on films is to eliminate drying spots. If it could enhance the effectiveness if the detergent/degreaser during the actual cleaning process due to the "wetting" properties...I don't know. Perhaps others may be interested enough to conduct their own experiments.I'm not a chemist. I mentioned in my earlier post that some of the more popular dishwasher detergents include a wetting agent in their product to minimize drying spots on dishes. Whether that addition of the wetting agent also helps in the actual cleaning process...again I don't know.Sounds like an ambitious person may be curious to experiment.