James.
In article <3g5e24$spb@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>, cmh@eng.cam.ac.uk (C.M. Hicks)
wrote:
> gabe@panix.com (Gabe Wiener) writes:
>
> >In article <3g3v72$5vf@neon.house.gov>, <hcs@hsan.loc.gov> wrote:
>
> >> I wash them in warm water, no warmer than I'd bathe in. First
> >>rinse the disc to remove any large crud. Then put some Ivory soap
> >>on a soft cloth (I use a piece torn from an old undershirt--I
> >>warned you this was low-tech!) and wipe in the direction of the
> >>grooves. When you have one side soaped up well, rinse it off and
> >>repeat with the other side. Dry by blotting between Turkish
> >>towels.
>
> >I'll have to go along with this method. Ivory liquid is about as
> >strong a cleaner as you'd ever want to use on early records. The
> >only thing you might consider doing is adding a dab of photo-flo to
> >the last rince. This will prevent the water from streaking and
> >bubbling up as it dries.
>
> I would think that photo-flo, anti-static wetting agent, or any other
> silly name it is given would be about as ideal as you can get, just by
> itself. All this stuff is, is a very mild, very pure, very concen-
> trated detergent. I use the stuff all the time for cleaning all sorts
> of things (including film!).
>
> It is better than soap as it doesn't foam in soft water, and doesn't
> form scum in hard water. Contrary to all the kitchen-detergent com-
> mercials cleaning power has very little to do with the bubbles...
A little trick I learned from a very old radio engineer in New York was
this. After you do all the cleaning, (which by the way was 1 capful of
Kodak Photo Flo 400 to 1 pint of distilled water, apply to record let
sit for 5 minutes then wipe off with a lint free cloth, do this 4 or 5
times until clean.) Then when you do the recording you put a thin coat
of the photo flo/distilled water on the record as it is playing. Sounds
really weird but it cuts down on the static and little pops and clicks and
doesn't affect the response. Use sparingly.
Scott Fahy OMNI Productions