Water/alcohol would be a physical removal without a chemical reaction. Either can work, though a chemical removal can be more effective if the stuff is really stuck in the grooves.
Not scared of NaCl and CaCO3. It is a hard heart that kills. You must harness this at the moment of truth, if you expect to survive in combat
To avoid removing heat stabilisers from the vinyl, which would have an ageing effect, it is best to avoid acidic cleaners such as vinegar.
It is for the same reason that acid-free record sleeves are recommended.
Nice to see there are some reasonable posts.
Everybody getting scared about calcium carbonate deposits on their vinyl...
Everybody getting scared about calcium carbonate deposits on their vinyl...
That all depends on the chemical nature of the stabilizers. Does anyone know what they consist of? I don't, but I can't imagine that they are very polar since they have to mix with PVC.
Maybe not "scared", but just in search of that last little tweak that will send one off into audio nirvana.
I agree - acidic removal probably should be a last resort. Limited exposure to dilute acid probably won't have much of an effect on vinyl but there's a lot of unknowns here.
I looked up "CLR" and its active ingredients are lactic acid and gluconic acid, which are weak organic acids like acetic acid in vinegar, and are very similar to citric acid. For this application I think they would function much like vinegar.
I also looked up PVC heat stabilizers, and found that "Heat stabilizers trap the hydrogen chloride that is generated when PVC decomposes at high temperatures and prevent discoloration and degradation" among other things, so seeing as how they are reactive to acids, chemical cleaning probably isn't such a good idea. The things you learn.....
The stabilisers are organometallic compounds.
They are essentially the compounds that form soap scum in your bathtub and which you remove with acidic cleaning agents.
P.S. Diatomaceous earth is another filler used in vinyl records. This is composed of 80%-90% silica.
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Yeah, they seem to be metal salts of organic acids, and since the anions are reasonably basic they'll neutralize the HCl produced by the degradation of PVC. Strictly speaking you could call them "organometallic" I suppose, though in my experience that term is usually reserved for things like methyllithium or methymagnesium bromide, which would not survive the manufacturing process! They would be danged good at trapping HCl though.
There is a very informative post on The Vinyl Engine titled Composition of vinyl records. I learned that vinegar, household detergents and even alcohol can be harmful at cleaning records. A lot of new information, at least for me.
I used to think that but then it was pointed out to me that migration from vinyl happened over a period of many hours and the few minutes of a wet cleaning really isn't going to cause any problems.
I wouldn't get anal over it either!
A good old Watts Manual Parastat has kept my vinyl records in great condition for half a century!
A good old Watts Manual Parastat has kept my vinyl records in great condition for half a century!
I've used a lot of record cleaners, even built one. I've also heard the before and after cleaning recordings. The results are never as good as I would hope, often not much of an improvement. Finding something that will really get the grunge out of old LPs would be nice.