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Best Record Cleaning Fluid

Greetings All,

I’ve spend the last few days searching and reading about record cleaning fluids for my cleaning machine (Okki Nikki).  Wow - there are a lot of options out there.  Many more than I originally thought.  Some real esoteric stuff that costs a pretty penny.  I’m currently going through my entire collection, cleaning it, listening to it and adding it to a Discogs DB.  Want to finally know how many I have and have a list of them.  But doing this has resulted in me going through cleaning fluid rather quickly.

So many options, so many perspectives on what are the best fluids.  What do you all say.  I understand that alcohol is a no-no for fluids, but I can’t find out if some of them include alcohol or not.  Currently using up the fluid that came with the machine, but no where can I read it if has bad ingredients.

The 2-stage or 3-stage cleaning systems are not going to happen.  I did get a bottle of Revolv that I was told was good, and use if for new high quality pressings (as opposed to those I bought in high school).

Anyway, would appreciate some perspectives on good quality record cleaning fluids that don’t bust the bank.  Thanks for keeping the sarcasm in check.

Happy Listening,

pgaulke60
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,487 posts
 

In the late 70's-early 80's, Los Angeles resident, chemical engineer, and audiophile Toy Shigekawa developed his Torumat TM-7 Record Cleaning Fluid, and sold it though audiophile hi-fi shops until his death in the 90's. He was a regular at Brooks Berdan Ltd. in Monrovia, California, where I often saw him. Brooks sold Torumat, and used it in the shops' VPI, Nitty Gritty, and Keith Monks Vacuum machines, all of which he sold. Brooks also used it at home, on his legendary, insane LP collection, the largest I have even seen in the flesh. It made my 5,000 LP collection look pathetic!

After Brooks passing, shop employee Joe Knight and Brooks' widow (and now shop manager) Sheila Berdan arranged with Toy's estate to put the solution back into production, and formed Groovy Hi-Fi Solutions to do just that. Joe is himself an engineer (as well as a vintage tube expert, collector, and dealer), and he developed a slightly updated version of the alcohol-free Torumat, new model designation TM-8. Great stuff, the best I've used in my own VPI HW-17F RCM. I also have gallon jugs of Last, Nitty Gritty, and VPI RCM fluids, all of which are very good.

tatyana69
269 posts
 
Quite a few responses about home made stuff. but not relative opinion on off the shelf purchases - maybe 2 recommendations? For a simple person like me I can only glean one or two options, when the original poster though there were many off the shelf options, but needed relative comments. I have an Okki Nokki too and notice different effectiveness from each different one I try, but by the time I finish the bottle I cannot remember the name of the one I preferred maybe 2 bottles back! I seem to remember the original fluid was one of the most effective for me (a concentrate then doing  a simple add distilled water) but cannot remember if that was an Okko Nokki version or something that I picked up at the time. 
If someone says I should take detailed notes of each ... I would say I don't have the obsession needed for that to take place.
I ask my dealer and he says try them and see what you think. Fair enough but the old memory box is a bit deficient to monitor all the nuances of each product over many years
audiosaurusrex's avatar
audiosaurusrex
320 posts
 
I don’t have a fancy cleaning machine but I use 
Lasermedia VNC-8 Professional Vinyl Record Cleaning Fluid 8 Oz Spray Bottle by TME https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017U7LK40/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_rAxqDb8SJYTS2 
For $19 and some microfiber cloths like koala cloths it has been the best solution for me.
No residue, and makes my vinyl audibly sparkle.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
bdp24, I beg to differ. The only pathetic vinyl collection is no collection.
I have stated my position that the best way to keep clean records is don't let them get dirty in the first place. It is an approach that has worked perfectly for myself and several acquaintances for decades with the caveat of used records and the rare occasional salsa food fight.  
Having said this the single most important characteristic in any cleaning fluid is that it leave absolutely no residue. Distilled water, no residue. Isopropyl alcholol, no residue except when cleeds uses it because it causes him to melt into the record. Oh by the way cleeds there is a difference between a study where you are looking for an effect in a cohort and a simple experiment where you are trying to prove or disprove a simple hypothesis like does isopropyl alcohol damage records. The study needs controls. The simple experiment does not.
Right, no residue. A modern stylus can pick up an irregularity in the vinyl down to 0.1 microns. It is hard to do that if your stylus is piled up with gunk. Clean your stylus well with whatever you favorite stylus cleaning stuff is. I use 50/50 distilled water and 91% isopropyl. Isopropyl will not at all harm cured epoxy or any of the modern UV cured adhesives. ( If it did all of cleeds teeth would fall out every time he had a scotch and soda.) Works great, dries fast. Play a record and look at the stylus under magnification. There should be very little if anything on there after just one side. If you have a glob on there you have a problem be it with just goopy records from exposure to smoke or cooking fumes or the stuff left behind by your record cleaner. 
There is very little magic to cleaners and solvents. It seems to me all these "magic" formulas for cleaning records (Have you noticed how no one wants to tell you what is in there?) are just another audiophile scam.
If I were up for a record cleaner I would go for one of those distilled water only ultrasonic guys. 
Tatyana69, get off the train. Mix 3/4 cup distilled water with 1/4 cup 91% isopropyl alcohol from CVS, Rite Aid or whatever pharmacy you use. Clean an old record with it and see what you think. Let us know. 
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Voiceofvinyl, plasticizer molecules? Another myth. You can take brake cleaning fluid and spray it all over a record and rub the crap out of it with a white cotton cloth and you will not see any residue on the cloth (assuming the record was clean) and there will be absolutely no damage to the record. I know that for a fact because I am listening to the one I just did that too!! Damn clean to but the stuff stinks. No residue!! That is it! The best record cleaning is Brake cleaning fluid. Dirt cheap, just spray it on and blast it off with a little compressed air. Do wear a mask.
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