Rcm cleaning with a moth - what bits are best?

[drSM]

Great tips here Thanks
I ve been what i ve been told is a chinese clone of the VPI RCM for a couple of years.
I ve been using detergents all this while but i ve assembled the stuff to make the proper stuff based on what i ve read in this great forum.

So I have the distilled water (from hospital lab, thanks v much) i have abt 2 L of rather expensive isopopyl alcohol ( made in the USA by Leica! for use in labs) and i ve got a bottle of Ilfotol off eBay.
Someone posted that they use ethanol instead of isopropyl (ispropanol)
Any theoretical difference ? if not would methylated spirit do ?

[struth]

no, use isopropyl. with 2 litres youve enough there to last you 10 years

[The Black Adder]

Don't use meths, it leave a powered residue.

[drSM]

no, use isopropyl. with 2 litres youve enough there to last you 10 years

Its true ! I ll use what i ve bought.
I am looking forward to trying this concoction.
I note that a few of you clean new vinyl before first play, as in Marco's post somewhere
That did puzzle me somewhat.

[struth]

no puzzle, they often still have some release compound on them from when they were in mould. a good wash and de static initially is a good idea. got one in this morning and although it looks perfect it will be cleaned. if i play test it first, it will be noisier... ive tested this before

[Macca]

Don't use meths, it leave a powered residue.

+1 - keep the meths for cleaning paintbrushes and the occasional wild party

[magiccarpetride]

Its true ! I ll use what i ve bought.
I am looking forward to trying this concoction.
I note that a few of you clean new vinyl before first play, as in Marco's post somewhere
That did puzzle me somewhat.

In a way, brand new sealed records can be even dirtier than old used records. At least with used records the stylus has gathered and collected all the debris that gets shipped with a new LP. So make sure you clean your stylus after playing a new LP (unless you've first cleaned the new LP).

[drSM]

Thanks for the explanations guys
Seems to me that the quality of some new vinyl leaves much to be desired both in the sound quality and gunk on them.
i ve been spinning LPs for decades - never ever cleaned new vinyl before.
Bought a RCM abt 3 years ago and always felt that it was to clean dirty old vinyl, besides fungus is an issue in the humid conditions here.

Turns out i have 3.8 L of isopropyl alcohol so I am set

[magiccarpetride]

Thanks for the explanations guys
Seems to me that the quality of some new vinyl leaves much to be desired both in the sound quality and gunk on them.
i ve been spinning LPs for decades - never ever cleaned new vinyl before.
Bought a RCM abt 3 years ago and always felt that it was to clean dirty old vinyl, besides fungus is an issue in the humid conditions here.

Turns out i have 3.8 L of isopropyl alcohol so I am set

I'm in the same boat -- never occurred to me that shrink-wrapped LPs would ever need cleaning. Until a friend explained to me that not only will new LPs sound much better after being cleaned, but the stylus will last longer etc.

When you think about it for a moment, record pressing plants are not exactly a surgically clean environment. There's lots of dust and other particles flying around, and any time you're handling vinyl, static builds up and attracts, like a magnet, those air borne particles. They then dive deep into the grooves, hence the sound on most brand new LPs is not always all it can be

[struth]

meant to put this in here too.... amazon us do a inner sleeve called diskeeper by sleeve city. these are superb and cost 20$ imported for 50.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

ps they fit into printed inners too