DYI Record Cleaning Fluid - Where to buy

thsmith

Anyone know where to buy Triton X-114 from Rohm-Haas and Monolan 2000 from Diamond Shamrock in small amounts or if you have some and willing to sell an ounce ?

Thanks,

sdcfan18

thsmith wrote: »

Anyone know where to buy Triton X-114 from Rohm-Haas and Monolan 2000 from Diamond Shamrock in small amounts or if you have some and willing to sell an ounce ?

Thanks,

Count me in too...impossible to find in my area.

george daniel

Not familar with Triton,(may be the same) as Tergitol, which is what I use,, thanks to a member,(who's name I forget) that put together a group buy here.I have enough to last for years. Maybe post a Group buy FYI and you'll get more responses--good luck.:)

dkg999

Not sure if you want the S-3 or the S-9 version, but you can order it here:

http://apps.webcreate.com/ecom/catalog/product_specific.cfm?ClientID=15&ProductID=17376

Polkersince85

+1.........The S-9 is water soluble

This may help also:

http://www.loc.gov/preserv/care/record.html

dkg999

It looks like Tergitol S-7 has been replaced by the S-9, which is the water soluable version.

davidfmartin

I went this same route and gave up. Here is my recipe:

2 parts lab grade isopropyl alcohol %99 pure (got a gallon at a janitor supply house)
1 part distilled water
1-2 drops cascade crystal clear (acts as the surfactant, like triton)

Put it in a 4oz bottle. Works great.

If I have a REALLY dirty LP I just clean with warm water mixed with a few drops of dish soap and cloth baby diapers keeping care not to get the label wet.

thsmith

Thanks guys, looks like this site has a pint of Triton X-114 and at $11 I will order this.

http://stores.homestead.com/conservemp/Detail.bok?no=519

I think it is a last part I need to use Laura Dearbon's formula from her book "Good Sound".

A friend and I are close to having a DIY RCM. Tested it this morning with one of my albums that is close to being unusable, Eagles - Hotel California. Yesterday I tried several approaches including high preasure sprayer in the sink.

There was a marked improvement but was still pretty bad.

Bought a $24 shop vac from Target and modified the crevace tool and used it this morning.

ALbum is a close to anything I have that is in great condition. I think the solution and vac is key. I just need the final formula.

Thanks again.

rapjp

thsmith wrote: »

Thanks guys, looks like this site has a pint of Triton X-114 and at $11 I will order this.

http://stores.homestead.com/conservemp/Detail.bok?no=519

I think it is a last part I need to use Laura Dearbon's formula from her book "Good Sound".

A friend and I are close to having a DIY RCM. Tested it this morning with one of my albums that is close to being unusable, Eagles - Hotel California. Yesterday I tried several approaches including high preasure sprayer in the sink.

There was a marked improvement but was still pretty bad.

Bought a $24 shop vac from Target and modified the crevace tool and used it this morning.

ALbum is a close to anything I have that is in great condition. I think the solution and vac is key. I just need the final formula.

Thanks again.

Thsmith,

Can you please contact me offline as I also live in Plano and have been trying to figure out where to get materials to make this record cleaning solution. You living in Plano can perhaps guide me to local places where I can find the ingredients. I also wanted to see what kind of success you have had with this mixture.

I had no way of contacting you offline so figured I would send you an email here...please drop me an offline email at rapjp2001 AT yahoo.com

Thanks

thsmith

Ok, here is what I use. the link above is where to get surfactant. I use 4 drops. I have viewed the cartridge under a microscope to ensure there is no residue.

Here is a great link. http://www.teresaudio.com/haven/cleaner/cleaner.html


Cleaning Fluid

For the record cleaning fluid I use Laura Dearbon's formula from her book "Good Sound". There are a number of other formulas that could also be used. The following is quoted from Laura's book (without permission, of course).

The safe formula is the same as archival commercial preparations, except that you are mixing it yourself and therefore it costs you a fraction of the price of ready mixed. It can be used for both hand and vacuum cleaning. It is a 25 percent solution of isopropyl alcohol in water, with a drop of surfacant. Ethyl alcohol, sometimes applied to records in the form of vodka is more damaging to vinyl than is isopropyl. Use it only in an absolute pinch.

Drugstore isopropyl contains too many impurities to qualify it for record cleaning. Use technical or lab-grade isopropyl, which is extremely pure. Reagent grade is unnecessary and far more expensive. Water should be steam distilled, triple de-ionized. Both of these are readily available at a chemical supply house, which should sell them to you in pint and gallon sizes.

You also need to add a drop of surfacant, or wetting agent, to reduce the surface tension of the water so the formula can penetrate down into the grooves. Very high frequency grooves, in the range of 15 kHz, can be as small as four millionths of an inch, according to Wald Davies of LAST. Though alcohol itself helps somewhat, you still need a wetting agent. Two excellent and safe choices are Triton X-114 from Rohm-Haas and Monolan 2000 from Diamond Shamrock. Both of these are nontoxic - but don't take them internally - and biodegradable. Very importantly, they leave behind no residue on the record. They are harmless in these small amounts to record vinyl and, as far as is known, to any of the conceivable by-products and impurities likely to be found in record vinyl.

Kodak's Kodaflow is sometimes recommended as a wetting agent. Do *not* use this as it contains chemicals in addition to surfacants that would leave behind residues bad for both record and stylus. Kodak recommends against this application.

schwarcw

george daniel wrote: »

Not familar with Triton,(may be the same) as Tergitol, which is what I use,, thanks to a member,(who's name I forget) that put together a group buy here.I have enough to last for years. Maybe post a Group buy FYI and you'll get more responses--good luck.:)

Larry (Analog97) coordinated the group buy. Great product! Two part mix of Tergitol S-3 and S-9, 1.75 ml of each in 1 liter of water.

TSWisla

Just buy some MoFi fluid from Music Direct, save yourself the trouble and save your records. Ask for Bes.

dainapoo

thsmith wrote: »

Ok, here is what I use. the link above is where to get surfactant. I use 4 drops. I have viewed the cartridge under a microscope to ensure there is no residue.

Here is a great link. http://www.teresaudio.com/haven/cleaner/cleaner.html


Cleaning Fluid

For the record cleaning fluid I use Laura Dearbon's formula from her book "Good Sound". There are a number of other formulas that could also be used. The following is quoted from Laura's book (without permission, of course).

The safe formula is the same as archival commercial preparations, except that you are mixing it yourself and therefore it costs you a fraction of the price of ready mixed. It can be used for both hand and vacuum cleaning. It is a 25 percent solution of isopropyl alcohol in water, with a drop of surfacant. Ethyl alcohol, sometimes applied to records in the form of vodka is more damaging to vinyl than is isopropyl. Use it only in an absolute pinch.

Drugstore isopropyl contains too many impurities to qualify it for record cleaning. Use technical or lab-grade isopropyl, which is extremely pure. Reagent grade is unnecessary and far more expensive. Water should be steam distilled, triple de-ionized. Both of these are readily available at a chemical supply house, which should sell them to you in pint and gallon sizes.

You also need to add a drop of surfacant, or wetting agent, to reduce the surface tension of the water so the formula can penetrate down into the grooves. Very high frequency grooves, in the range of 15 kHz, can be as small as four millionths of an inch, according to Wald Davies of LAST. Though alcohol itself helps somewhat, you still need a wetting agent. Two excellent and safe choices are Triton X-114 from Rohm-Haas and Monolan 2000 from Diamond Shamrock. Both of these are nontoxic - but don't take them internally - and biodegradable. Very importantly, they leave behind no residue on the record. They are harmless in these small amounts to record vinyl and, as far as is known, to any of the conceivable by-products and impurities likely to be found in record vinyl.

Kodak's Kodaflow is sometimes recommended as a wetting agent. Do *not* use this as it contains chemicals in addition to surfacants that would leave behind residues bad for both record and stylus. Kodak recommends against this application.

Hey Guys,

I've been running all over the internet trying to find X-114 or Tergitol because I had read this link about NOT using Kodak Photo Flo (not Kodaflow), which I had already purchased for $9.95 for a 16 oz bottle from my local camera shop, and I stopped for a moment and read the technical data on it and it says Triton X-114 is also known as:

octylphenoxypoly (ethoxyethanol). It says it's CAS No. is 9036-19-5.

Then I read the back of the bottle of Kodak Photo Flo 200. It says, and I quote:

Contents: octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol (9036-19-5).

Same stuff. There are no additional chemicals in the product. You can look this up too. But I'm keeping the Photo Flo. I don't think there is any more confusion at least over these products. Not sure why someone is posting erroneous information about Photo Flo, but I don't think this leaves any doubt.

Thanks!

Daina

[Deleted User]

Hello,
You can order Tergitol from here: http://www.talasonline.com/
Regards, Ken