L'Art du Son record cleaning fluid - Should you add surfactant - and rinse afterwards - and what type of water?

I would follow L'Art du Son's instructions and dilute the concentrate 50:1 with distilled water.  Medical grade distilled water can be bought mail order from the usual places. I use APC Pure.

Thanks Richard. Do you vacuum it off then rinse in water - or have a machine that does that?

I use it and have never rinsed with clean water. Absolutely no problems at all. 

I don’t use L’Art du Son myself. I am currently using Project Wash It alcohol free concentrate fluid diluted with distilled water. I usually wash each LP side twice and then vacuum off each time. Excellent results.

I’ve been using l’Art du Son for a few years and am very happy with it. I use Audio Intelligent Ultra-Pure Water for both the dilution and the rinse. No surfactant, or other ingredients. Over the course of much trial and error over 15 years, I’ve found that the quality of both the cleaning solution and the water you use are crucial to the outcome, as is a near-obsessive focus on cleanliness and avoidance of cross contamination. I use a VPI 16.5 for the rinse.

The process I’ve arrived at gets great results, but is very tedious and time consuming. As a result, I can only be bothered to clean records that are important to me and are promising candidates for cleaning (i.e. scruffy looking, but without obvious damage).

One of the challenges is getting the correct 50:1 dilution in small batches. My solution is to repurpose a tiny 1ml syringe formerly used for kitty medication in tandem with a 100ml plastic bottle. l'Art du Son is reputed to go off over time, the indication being the presence of deposited particles, but I’ve never had that problem.

Great - thanks all. Corry, do you keep the L'Art du Son in the fridge, or just in a cool dark place (like a garage)?

Except when the garage is literally freezing or very hot!

I keep it in a low cupboard in our basement, which stays cool year round.

Does anyone know whether distilled water is better than deionized water? And why?

JimDog posted:

Does anyone know whether distilled water is better than deionized water? And why?

Good question - They both achieve the same result (ie purifying / removing minerals,salts) from water but are manufactured by different processes. How that affects the record cleaning ?

As it's easier to buy, I tried deionised water (spell check thinks this should be "demonised" water...) some years back, but was getting poor results.  As soon as I switched back to medical grade distilled water, the same LPs came out with much less groove noise.  So on that basis, in my opinion medical grade distilled water works better  than deionised water.

ps APC water is better value from their own site than from the bay

Yes, APC are where I source my distilled water - very happy with them.

thanks Richard - that is a decisive empirical result...

I just ordered 5 litres of APC distilled water, plus some 500ml oil drizzle type bottles to spray it onto the records with

Deionised water is not as pure as distilled. APC seems very cheap and the site doesn't give detailed specs on the water. Sends alarm bells to me, if I wanted pure water. I buy from thedistilledwatercompany. They are twice the price, but give very detailed specs on their water.

When using/storing the water, the container should have a sealed tap-lid, so every time you use it, it doesn't unnecessarily let in contaminated air. Pure water absorbs minerals from ambient air rapidly apparently.

Unsurprisingly I have my own weird routine 

I use warm tap water ( I have a very powerful water softener) with photo wetting agent and about 10% isopropyl alcohol added... This all goes in my DIY ultrasonic record cleaner with heater set at 30c

I then give the dirty record a good wash under the tap ( with watertight center label guard ), with a cotton wool ball . To get the worst of the grime off ( second hand records)

Then into the ultrasonic cleaner for a good wash

When finished I then spin the record at 300rpm on a motor spindle to get the water thrown off it

Then an hour at room temperature to make sure completely dry.. then into new anti-static jacket.. and done

This has given me excellent results in the 5 years I've used it ...and costs next to nothing per record and less than £200 for the whole setup

As you can guess ...I'm firmly in the ultrasonic is best camp... And no ..I don't believe it damages the vinyl ... Or so my tests have lead me to believe.

Tim - how do you create that watertight seal around the centre label?

I purchased some Knosti disco record clamps

Easier than trying to cobble something together yourself

I found using cheap distilled or deionised water increased surface noise. Richard advised the medical grade stuff and I have not looked back since. I like the idea of washing twice per side too and will give it a go.

Stu

Other than it is either distilled water or not... if genuine distilled water by definition it will be identical to other distilled water, nothing to do with price.. just whether it’s genuine pure water or water with impurities. Deionised water is not the same as pure (distilled water)

As a qualified lab technician and having worked with and serviced both water stills and deioniser plants I'm happy to make the compromise of using my softened water

The important bit for me is spinning 98% of it off at the end of the wash cycle... And as mentioned..good results achieved for minimum outlay

I have bought a Vinyl Vac from the US and am going to to try it with a homemade lazy susan and Karcher wet/dry vac at Xmas while the kids are away for a couple of days.

Japtimscarlet posted:

As a qualified lab technician and having worked with and serviced both water stills and deioniser plants I'm happy to make the compromise of using my softened water

The important bit for me is spinning 98% of it off at the end of the wash cycle... And as mentioned..good results achieved for minimum outlay

Whilst deionised and distilled water are soft, softened water - as in hard water that has been passed through an ion exchange water softener, such as those you regenerate yourself using sodium chloride (salt) - can contain high levels of solids. It simply depends how hard the water was that has been softened, as it is softened by exchanging calcium and magnesium ions for sodium. No problem using it for washing, but it may be unwise to use it for final rinsing (I know that is not what you say you do, this in case others aren’t aware of the difference).

Similarly tap water for final rinsing may be unwise, as although some places have naturally low dissolved solids in the mains water supply, others can be high (and low doesn’t usually mean none, unless perhaps you live somewhere where the water supply is desalinated seawater that has not been partially remineralised). Best bet for final water rinsing is water with the lowest possible dissolved solids, such as good quality distilled or deionised water (freshly prepared or stored in a manner to prenpvent contamination and algal growth). And for final rinse purposes the quantity used need not be large.

I am very meticulous with my cleaning and aim to do it only once.  I use Art du Son with my Okki Nokki in the suggested dilution.  After "scrubbing" lightly and vacuuming off, I go for a rinse round and do the same with a separate goat hair brush using de-ionised water (Sainsbury's sell it cheap) only and vacuum that off.  Repeat for other side.  Then use Milty anti-static gun on both sides before putting LP into new poly lined sleeves.  I now do not even use the carbon fibre brush as dust does not stick.  Only occasional re-Squirt with Milty gun.  My VP Dustbuster is rarely used now as no gunk in grooves (unless playing uncleaned record).  Wash your brand new records first also.