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, 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. 
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.
I use audio intelligent one-step to clean manually with microfiber clothes. I’ve been very happy with the results. Best wishes!
Many years ago I had the opportunity to evaluate record fluids and brushes. I found little to no differences in the cleaning effects of the 6 fluids I checked. Methodology - I sectioned a dirty record, cleaned them with commercial record cleaners borrowed from a nearby audio dealer and then evaluated the number of particulates per unit of area with a SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope).
Be careful with Alconox, especially solid Alconox as it is very concentrated and will need extensive dilution or rinsing to eliminate the possibility of leaving a residue. And yes, I am a chemist.
Nothing like having an SEM at your disposal. scott69 how were you cleaning the records? A lot of people are going to say if you did it one way or another you would not have gotten the same results particularly the ultrasonic people. Since you are a chemist do you have any comments to make about PVC and "plastasizers?" My understanding is that PVC is very inert stuff. I find it hard to believe that there is anything that could somehow change the molecular characteristics of PVC to say make it more durable under the 4000 lbs per square inch that it is subjected to every time a stylus passes over it.