Cleaning vinyl records - video

I, like a fool, have spent the last 60 plus years avoiding getting finger prints on my LPs, only to learn that it's OK to wash LPs in tap water if followed up with a good schmear
of WD40.

There is much written on the internet about record cleaning. Using water seems to be universally accepted. Using soap and tap water has been questioned. Using WD40 has gotten a great big...NO!

Most of the commercially available record cleaning systems specify distilled water. That makes sense as there are no minerals in it. and it is cheap. Soap could also leave a residue but it you rinse it well it probably is not an issue. The big issue is the WD40. It will leave a residue that may harden or react with the vinyl over time. If you wash your records regularly it is doubtful any residue would be a problem. The longer you leave the residue to contact your records the more of an issue this could be.

I use the Spin Clean product with distilled water and a capful of denatured alcohol. No WD40 follow up. Wash the records after a few playings. It seems to work great and is easy to do. I just feel better about not having residue on the vinyl when I put them away. I can not say that the records sound as good or better than the records treated with WD40.

For this discussion, it would be useful to understand what WD-40 is, and also what it is not.

https://www.wd40.com/files/pdf/msds-wd482671453.pdf  

Is what it is.

What it is not:
a) A lubricant. Its lubricating properties are brief as it is 100% volatile.
b) Persistent. It is 100% volatile. This bears repeating! Eventually, depending on external conditions, within hours or days, it will ALL go away.
c) If it combines with any other materials during application, that material will be left behind, often evenly distributed.
d) For this reason, WD-40 is often accused of leaving a "gummy mess" behind. No, it ain't nohow the WD-40, it is whatever materials it picked up left behind by the evaporation process - much as water leaves any dissolved minerals behind when it evaporates.

WD-40 contains a surfactant - this combines with residual water, and helps remove it. Hence the name: W-ater D-isplacement, 40th Try. I need to repeat: WD-40 is not, never was, nor is it meant to be a lubricant.

Guys and gals, and with all due respect to all sides of this story, I would not let WD-40 anywhere near my vinyl records, and for a number of reasons, mostly having to do with protecting the stylus.

EXACTLY! Protecting the stylus.

For what it's worth...

I use an Okki Nokki vacuum record washer.
In a one liter bottle I mix half distilled water, half isopropyl alcohol (the no additive kind) and 2-3 drops of dishwashing liquid as a surfactant.
For the rinse rotation I have a spray bottle of distilled water.
I'm not saying it's the best or perfect but it works and it's inexpensive.

My recipe is 4 parts distilled water to 1 part lab grade isopropyl alcohol and a few drops surfactant to break the surface tension of the water.

I cannot type NOPE enough times.

There Are Many ways to clean vinyl.
I use an ultrasonic machine.

You know someone will try this!

My wife has a small collection of vintage "i.e., as old as I am" dolls, some of which really need a trip to the beauty parlor.  Researching doll collecting websites, I found (in more than one place), WD-40 is a great doll hair cleaner. Who wudda known?
RE: its use as a record cleaner- If it is gone in a day, how could it affect your stylus?  Or is the implication that you wont wait for it to totally evaporate?
I'm toying with the idea of buying a JICO SAS stylus for my V15-III, and I'd hate to see that money go down the toilet due to WD-40 buildup.

Did you notice in the picture in the first post, the guy has his thumb and palm resting on the record's playing surface? Do not take record cleaning advice from anyone who would do that.
I have managed to handle thousands of LPs for the last 60 years without getting finger prints on the playing surface, so I know even an idiot can do it.
Forget WD40 and get a decent record cleaning machine.

scrotuss wrote:
I'm toying with the idea of buying a JICO SAS stylus for my V15-III, and I'd hate to see that money go down the toilet due to WD-40 buildup.

SAS + V15-III is my combo.  Do it, do it, do it!  (The SAS, not WD40)  I love that stylus.  Are you going to order straight from Japan?  Was significantly cheaper when I got mine several years back.

+1 on the SAS.  I have a JICO SAS with a boron cantilever that I purchased for my M97xE two years ago and have not looked back.  Made a world of difference in the performance of the cartridge.  I also have a JICO VN35HE stylus on my V15III which is similar to the original stylus. Works for me. Again the performance is right up there.  So I have no reservations in recommending the SAS.