Cleaning Records With Lighter Fluid

[steephill]

Will this damage the vinyl? Not an economic method perhaps,but will it clean especially dirty or greasy records without any problems?

[Peter99]

Will this damage the vinyl? Not an economic method perhaps,but will it clean especially dirty or greasy records without any problems?

Hi mate

 

There are a couple of good record cleaning threads on the board - here's the first and I'll go and get another one in a minute.

 

 

Here's another

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Peter

 

Edited July 12, 2013 by Peter99

[steephill]

Thanks!

[Liamgp]

A good reason to quit smoking if nothing else...

[steephill]

Yes,better use of lighter fluid making your records clean than lighting up cigarettes I guess:)

The reason I'm asking this btw,is that after cleaning a couple of 45s using a cotton ball and lighter fluid I noticed static in the right channel when playing them.This happened on two different records with similar static on both 45s.Sadly I didn't play these records before cleaning them though,so I can't know for sure if the static was there already or caused by me...

[Kev John]

Lighter fluid is only good for getting stickers of labels !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

NOT for cleaning vinyl 

Edited July 14, 2013 by DjAKA

[dthedrug]

 HI ALL...As a record collector when cleaning my records, I have always used Meth's spirit, lighter fuel, & mild soapy water, as , lighter fuel is ideal for removing sticker & also hard snot from the groves, warn mild soapy water will remove 90% of crap, & meth's will finish the job, a anti static spray will finish the job, and while you are cleaning your 45's don't forget your deck needs cleaning as this is  always  attacks dust, so anti static polish is a recommendation as it's a neglected part of the cleaning proses always use lint free rags & cloths.

 DAVE K

[Guest Ivor Jones]

I Wouldnt use lighter fluid to clean records under any circumstances now, only sparingly as stated earlier to remove stickers or sticker residue but not on the vinyl itself.

I once ruined a couple of records using lighter fluid to clean them.... They may have been styrene but I wouldn't swear to it, (it was a long time back ),but it left a very unsightly stain on the vinyl which ruined the visual appearance of the records

To clean the vinyl I always just use warm water and a soft flannel, concentrating more on problem areas of the vinyl. Dry off immediately. Try not to get on the paper labels if possible.

Play through with your stylus twice, the first time you'll notice more static sounds ,but ,after the second play, under normal circumstances, that's about as good as you'll get it. I've never used anything else, certainly no special cleaning potions or anything.....

No lighter fluid then.

Best, Ivor

[Britmusicsoulfan]

For LPs, I use my VPI record cleaning machine with a bottle of liquid I bought when I bought the 45 RPM kit for it.  I put it a smaller amount of the fluid into a water bottle and haven't filled it and have plenty of fluid.

 

For 45s, I have a container of water that I add washing-up liquid into.  I have soft car-cleaning cloths.  I have one that I put into the water and squeeze off the excess and have one to dry off the water.  They really get into the grooves and don't leave behind anything, and I just throw them in the washing machine after they're dirty.  

 

For any labels on 45s, I've tried UnDu, which is a glue used for scrapbooking.  It didn't work as well as I would have liked, so I stuck it back on the shelf.

[steephill]

Thanks for good advise guys! And just to make clear,I do not normally clean records with lighter fluid,only tested this on two records (and made them very clean),but still wondering if there is any evidence of lighter fluid causing damage to vinyl?

[Jules]

which ever way you decide to use when cleaning records, always , for the final rinse, use deionised water.

[Davenpete]

Always used lighter fluid - back in the day when we still did graphic design on drawing boards it was the universal degreaser and glue remover (also good for doing tricks when doing magic marker visuals). 

 

Never had any problem with lighter fluid on vinyl - EXCEPT on emidiscs. Do also be aware that lighter fluid won't work for removing water marks etc - only spirit based glues and grease/fingers marks.

 

Dx

Edited July 15, 2013 by DaveNPete