BillB brings up a good point. He writes:
Stephen, if I read that right, the PURE Rinse is just water, correct? Very pure water, but still... If I've got that right, the Rinse would not tempt me, at $1 per ounce.
Bill's comment led me to revisit the price of the Mobile Fidelity PURE Record Rinse, and it's a good thing Bill wrote because I had mistakenly reported the price to be $25 for a 30-oz bottle. I am very sorry about the error. The correct price is $25 for a 32-oz bottle, which comes out to be about $0.78 per ounce. And, yes, as far as I can tell, the PURE Rinse is nothing more than very, very pure water. When you think about it, $0.78 for an ounce of pure water does seem expensive. I mean, you can get an 11-oz bottle of Poland Spring from the nearest bodega for about a buck—or
for free if you buy two slices of pizza. Now, that's a real deal.
You don't get
any pizza with the MoFi fluid! What the heck, man?
Gatorade makes a new low-calorie electrolyte beverage which comes in three simple, but tasty, flavors: Grape, Orange, and Fruit Punch. I don't recommend cleaning your records with it. However, an 8-oz serving provides 110mg sodium and 30mg potassium and promotes hydration, helps maintain electrolyte balance, and even reduces urine production! A 32-oz bottle of this enchanted potion will only run you around a dollar seventy-five. That's nearly 15 times less expensive than the MoFi fluid, which you can't even drink. Nevertheless, I prefer Glaceau's refreshing Fruit Water beverages. These come in four delightful flavors (raspberry, grape, peach, and lime) and present a wonderfully smooth and soft mouthfeel (and blend nicely with a variety of vodkas), quite possibly making them the perfect summertime rejuvenator. A 20-oz bottle goes for about a buck fifty in Jersey City ($2 in Manhattan) or somewhere between seven and ten cents per ounce—an undeniable bargain.
So what's up with the MoFi fluid costing nearly 80 cents per ounce? Huh?
MoFi markets their PURE Rinse as the perfect final step in your record-cleaning process. After you've scrubbed and vacuumed your dirty records with, presumably, MoFi's Record Wash or Enzyme Cleaner (but, really, you can use whatever cleaning fluid you prefer, including your own homemade brew), the PURE Rinse would do the job of removing any mild detergent, dirt, or other particles that remain, thus leaving your vinyl as clean as can possibly be.
Many vinyl enthusiasts, including our own Michael Fremer, recommend using a rinse after every cleaning. While I have no doubt regarding the efficacy of such treatment, it does seem a bit superfluous, especially if you're already employing the Record Wash which uses PURE as its base. If, however, you're using any of the several other cleaners available, the PURE Rinse may make sense for you. For now, I will go without it. I am satisfied with the results presented by MoFi's Deep Cleaner and Record Wash, and I am equally satisfied with VPI's standard record cleaning fluid. When I am done vacuuming my records, they are remarkably clean with a dazzling, silky sheen; surface noise is lessened considerably, if not altogether; and I even get the feeling that the records themselves are happier. While I agree that $25 for a 32-oz bottle of record cleaning fluid seems expensive, when confronted with the results they provide, I am happy to spend the money. Really! In partnership with the VPI HW-16.5 record cleaning machine, these cleaning fluids have given my records new life which, in turn, has provided me with great pleasure. I can't complain. It would be nice, however, if they came with pizza.
Rosario's on the corner of Orchard and Stanton would be my first choice. And I'd rinse it down, so to speak, with a bottle of grape-flavored Fruit Water. Mmm…
All that said, I am very curious about the many recipes for record-cleaning fluids that are floating around out there. I may, one day soon, concoct my very own record-cleaning moonshine. I will call it SM's Super MoFo So Fresh and So Clean Clean Jiggy Juice. Or something like that. It will come in three great flavors, and you'll, obviously, also be able to drink it. It will provide wondrous restorative properties—not only for your records, but also for you.
Speaking of alcohol: While some vinyl enthusiasts swear off the stuff, saying that alcohol can be harmful to the records, there are many others who say just the opposite. Wouldn't you know it?! One alternative to the many pure water-based solutions is VPI's fluid concentrate. One single ounce of this concentrated formula costs $19.95, but, when combined with distilled water, makes an entire gallon of cleaning fluid. VPI recommends the addition of 10 ounces of alcohol per gallon to counteract beading. On the other hand, MoFi argues that most distilled waters—as well as bottled waters, for that matter—contain additives or contaminants which can degrade your cleaning fluid's potency and even seep into the grooves of your vinyl. And you don't want that.
So, choose your poison. Or make your own. I'll let you know how mine turns out.
