[SOUNDSTYLE]

I wish to make my own cleaning solution for use in a Knosti record cleaning machine, and need to get some distilled water.

I prefer to get some double distilled water if possible but can't seem to find any.

Yes, I've done the google search but I didn't come up with anything useful, as far as I could see.

Thanks

[Dave]

You can make your own, it's not that hard.

Certainly easier in my eyes than dragging my lazy backside out of the house when I can have a couple of hours fun turning the kitchen in to a laboratory.

[Iccz]

Originally Posted by Dave

You can make your own, it's not that hard.

Certainly easier in my eyes than dragging my lazy backside out of the house when I can have a couple of hours fun turning the kitchen in to a laboratory.

Maybe you should change your avatar to be the professor?
Though if you did that i'd be reading every post you made in his voice, probably a good idea to stay as Fry

[Mr Incredible]

Halfords?

Halfords Battery Top Up Water 1Ltr from Halfords Price £1.59

Not sure if its "double" distilled or not.

[alexs2]

Moving to Hifi section

[BlueWizard]

Try checking at the local Pharmacy, or at the local hospital. But, I really don't think you need Double Distilled.

Try an experiment, find a flat bottom clear drinking glass and tip it upside down, then put a few drops of common grocery store distilled water on the bottom of the glass, and let it evaporate. You could probably do the same thing with a clean mirror. Any residue??? I didn't think so.

Unless you store and play your records in a sealed completely dust free Clean Room, the virtually non-existent microscopic residue that common distilled water will leave is insignificant compared to the dust that is floating around in the air in your house.

Still, the heart wants what the heart wants.

If you insist on Double Distilled, I think the only places are chemical supply, hospital supply, or industrial supply sources. Then ask yourself this, what is it going to cost to ship £1 worth of water halfway across the country? Is it really worth that money for something that you could pick up next time you go to the grocery store?

While we are on the subject, go to various grocery stores, and similar, find out what Brand of distilled water they have, and contact those companies to see if they also supply Double Distilled water to hospitals and other locations. It seem likely anyone who makes single distilled, likely also makes double distilled.

Just one man's opinion.

Steve/bluewizard

[bxd]

Hi,

I'd agree with Steve.

Your main concern is not to use "hard" water otherwise you could end up with some residue (Calcium Carbonate/Chalk) on your discs.

However, you probably don't need to go as far as double distillation.

You'll find that most processes for high purity water probably don't use double distillation. Lot's of water is "de-ionised (or de-mineralised) using a reverse osmosis principle. Further purification can be done using a water polisher which pumps the water around an ion exchange resin before use.

You should be OK with battery top up water. I also suspect that regular bottled water from the supermarket is fine as well_ water supplied from soft water areas (e.g. Highland/Scottish water) might be slightly better for residues. If you want to treat it a bit more get one of those filter jugs and run it through there. Filter jugs usually contain ion exchange beads but are mainly made up of carbon granules so just make sure that you rinse the filter through a couple of times to get rid of any carbon dust.

I also have a DiscoAntistat unit so I'd be very interested in your recipe.

If you are really stuck and really want to try this I do have access to ultra pure water and could supply you with a couple of litres if you wished. Do a google search on Millipore or Milli-Q and you'll get some details of high purity waters.

Brian

[SOUNDSTYLE]

Thanks for your replies.
I have decided to go for Halfords distilled water after the above comments.
I thought double distilled water would be needed if cleaning records.

[KelvinS1965]

I'd just like to add that you shouldn't use bottled drinking water as it contains various minerals that will leave deposits. As Halfords distilled water is easy enough to obtain, it's probably the best option. Unless you know anyone that works in a lab that could get some 'Ultra Pure' water, which should measure (at point of use) 18.2mohm. However as soon as you put it into a container it will absorb CO2 from the air and the resistivity will quickly fall. Pure water is actually quite unstable and will try to 'draw' any contaminants back into it (which is also the reason you should never drink it).

[BlueWizard]

I clean my records by hand, so I use common soft water from the tap for the cleaning process, but I use an alcohol rinse for the second to last rinse, and distilled water for the final rinse. These are simply in spray bottles that I mist onto the records.

If you have a record cleaning machine, it might be different. It is possible the distilled water is require so you don't leave contaminating residue in the cleaning machine.

But, I think you will be safe with common grocery store distilled water. But, make sure it is distilled water, and not filtered water. Filtering reduces, but doesn't not eliminate residue.

As simple test, as suggested before, is to place a few drops on a mirror and let it evaporate. If residue is left behind, it is probably not a good source. Though do remember, that to a very limited degree, the water will attracked dust out of the air as it evaporates.

As a side note, I though I would try common drinkable alcohol are a cleaning agent (vodka) on the assumption that it was nothing but alcohol and water. I was wrong, of all the things I tried Vodke (cheap stuff) left the most residue, and it was very sticky and syrupy. I think they added glycerin or something to improve the drinking texture of the Vodka.

Now, it may be that if you can get high proof grain alcohol or similar, and better quality than the cheap stuff, you might not have this residue problem.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard