Deep Cleaning Records With Steam?


It has happened again. Major tweak and record provider has available a steam cleaner made especially for records. Anybody try steam for cleaning lp’s? What were your results? Since a unit can be had for about $20 at Target, 15% of what the tweak provider is charging, is it worth a try?.
tiger
FYI for those interested in buying the "Perfection Steamer" from Walgreen's. You have until March 29 to purchase this unit and receive the $10 rebate. I picked one up yesterday and began steam cleaning some LPs, and I have to say I'm very impressed with the results. I'm hearing a lot more clarity in the higher frequencies, and certain nuances within the music are more pronounced. I "paint" a solution on the record before steaming, consisting of 1 part distilled water, 1 part rubbing alcohol (70%), and a few drops of dish washing detergent. After applying the solution, I let it soak for 2-3 minutes, then blast it with steam, starting on the inside of the record and working my way out to the edge. I then put the record into my Spin-Clean unit, give it a few turns to remove any excess dirt, then flip and repeat. I then put the LP on a dish drying rack to allow it to air dry. I think in the future I am going to perfect this method by modifying a shop vac so that I can vacuum off the LP instead of letting it air dry. Once I begin doing that, I believe my results will be even better.
Does anyone know of the equivalent steamers in the UK? I have searched through those available in this country and although they look similar there are no steamers that look exactly the same as the SteamFast - I would order from the States but shipping / fitting a 240/120 V transformer are holding me back! I already have a VPI HW16 which I will use and some Disc Doctor brushes /fluid - all I need is a steamer. Any help would be appreciated.
Alan
This steamer is also not available where I live. I ended up purchasing another hand held unit that was available locally.

I would suggest looking for one that has a right angle adaptor so you can direct the stream of steam down toward the LP if you plan on steaming on the RCM. Mine came with a 70 degree angle adaptor and I steam the LP on my HW 16.5.
Sondale, I have taken the oppertunity to contact the Steamfast manufacturer and will share the response as soon as possible. Take Care , Charlie
Charlie, thanks for that - I am surprised that no-one in the UK seems to be steaming! I may end up doing a survey of those available over here as I have about three thousand records a lot of which I do not play because of the amount of dirt / gunge in the bottom of the grooves - this despite cleaning them. This got worse when I started using a MusicMaker cartridge which apart from being very good at playing music is very good at reaching into the bottom of the grooves and extracting all the rubbish! Possibly a reason to go back to spherical diamonds??. Alan