Homemade cleaning fluid for Knosti record cleaner

stevebrock

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Got myself one now along with some Nagaoka Anti-Static Sleeves.

Been cleaning a few records now with quite good results, however the fluid had been used up!

Anybody got any good homemade recipes?
 

DIB

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When I had a Knosti I mixed up a solution of 1 part Isopropyl Alcohol with 4 parts distilled water, and a few drops of dishwasher rinseaid.

Did the trick, and works out considerably cheaper than buying Knosti's own solution.

I'm sure there is an old thread from last year on the same subject.

.
 

John Duncan

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80/20 distilled water-Isopropyl alcohol with a few mills of ilfotol (photographic wetting agent) which is a bit like rinse aid but without the colouring gunk in it. Designed to make sure that water coagulates and falls off the record after washing.
 

DIB

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stevebrock said:
Excellent thats the recipe I was after!

Is the Alcohol just a drying agent?

What purpose does the rinse aid serve?

Not certain about the rinseaid, it's been a while. I think it was something to stop streaks when you leave the LPs to drain.

Either way, whenever I'd cleaned up an LP I used to give it a good buffing up with a cloth to finish it off. I also invested in a batch of anti-static inner sleeves, and would put the clean LP into one if that album didn't already have one (which was the case in the majority of cases). Once I'd cleaned an LP I never felt the need to clean them again, just a quick once over with a microfibre antistatic brush each time I played it again. I find these days I look after my LPs 1000% better than I ever did as a lad BITD
smiley-laughing.gif


.
 

stevebrock

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Yes Im using some Nagaoka Anti Static sleeves so have been going through my records, repairing the sleeves covers with a Pritt Stick then cleaned record into a new sleeve......and yes the Anti Stat sleeves work well!

Can you get distilled water from supermarket? Chemist for the Isoporpyl?

Cheers
 

stevebrock

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Yes Im using some Nagaoka Anti Static sleeves so have been going through my records, repairing the sleeves covers with a Pritt Stick then cleaned record into a new sleeve......and yes the Anti Stat sleeves work well!

Can you get distilled water from supermarket? Chemist for the Isoporpyl?

Cheers
 
B

BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW

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John Duncan said:
80/20 distilled water-Isopropyl alcohol with a few mills of ilfotol (photographic wetting agent) which is a bit like rinse aid but without the colouring gunk in it. Designed to make sure that water coagulates and falls off the record after washing.

I use the same as John, and does the job wonderfully.
 

drummerman

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I dont have a cleaning machine.

I brush a mixture of fresh lime/lemon juice and bicarbonate of soda using a new, good quality soft bristled paint brush into the grooves for a deep, active clean. Leave to work for a minute, brush once more and rinse.

Following that I use a fresh washing up cloth wrapped tightly around the nozzle of a hoover (on low power setting) and simply hoover the water off.

Using a good quality sheet of kitchen roll, the thick type, almost yields the same result as hoovering but I figure if I go to the trouble of washing a record I may just as well finish it properly.

After that, its a new inner sleeve. I dont have many records yet (only just started collecting) but am thinking about writing the cleaning date on a piece of paper. - I can't imagine needing to wash a record more than once every few years, depending on usage so the time taken here is minimal considering.

regards
 

The_Lhc

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stevebrock said:
Can you get distilled water from supermarket? Chemist for the Isoporpyl?

You'll be lucky, I tried several local chemists a few weeks ago trying to get isopropyl alcohol (for cleaning a tape deck but I'd have used it for cleaning records as well), none of them could even order it in. They can get the water though, although most of them had to order it. Never used to be like that, I used to buy the water from my local chemist for cleaning contact lenses.
 

drummerman

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stevebrock said:
Think I may of clogged my stylus up with the Knosti fluid!

I've heard that a few times, not just with that particular 'cleaning' fluid. Kind of defeats wet cleaning. My version leaves no residue on the stylus whatsoever.

I guess it also depends on what stylus is used ie. conical or a fine line which really digs deep into the grooves.

As regards to buying isoprop from Maplins, I find they are very expensive!.

Whilst not the cheapest option (but still cheaper than Maplins) I've ordered the following of Amazon;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000WGTZ6M/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I dont use Alcohol on my records but for many other applications, the spray form is convenient and saves waste.

regards
 

Milo_Myage

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Finding distilled water or IPA in a shop is a ballache and a half, I've had plenty of funny looks just asking about them. Is distilled water really necessary? Deionized water is readily available, is it that different?
 

nima

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I don't have trouble buying isopropyl alcohol in my country - in every Bauhaus (DIY, home, workshop, garden) type of store in the paints section or in every paints store. It's cheap and you can also use it from time to time to clean bicycle disk brakes or rims if you're breaking the old fashioned way. I’m using IPA since the days of cassette decks.

Some say that IPA is not to be used for cleaning records though, that you should use ethanol. Bioethanol is now available in some places. Some prefer 1:1 ratio of ethanol:water.

Distilled water you can buy everywhere - people use it for ironing. I have no idea what deionized water is.

Also Kodak Foto-Flo should do the same job as Ilfotol.

If not available in local stores, you can find the stuff on ebay.
 

thescarletpronster

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I use distilled water with a spoonful of white vinegar and a few drops of dishwasher rinse-aid (used washing-up liquid originally until someone told me it contains salt, which is corrosive, oops). It works really well, but I haven't compared it with the isopropyl mixture as that's hard to get hold of nowadays.

When I first investigated the Knosti, I read that the solution supplied actually leaves a residue which can build up on the stylus, so I definitely wouldn't recommend getting hold of more of it now it's been used up.
 

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