VPI Record Cleaning Solution Concentrate 1 oz. bottle

One Ounce That Makes a Gallon, Because Shipping Water Is Absurd

This is VPI's record cleaning concentrate in a 1-ounce bottle. Pour the whole thing into one gallon of pure water and you have a gallon of VPI's cleaning fluid. Harry Weisfeld developed it at VPI after the company grew tired of shipping gallon bottles around the world.

The reasoning is hard to argue with. A gallon of ready-mixed fluid is mostly water, and water is heavy, expensive to ship and available at the other end. Moving the concentrate and adding the water locally is simply the sensible arrangement.

What It Does, What It's Safe On, and How It Works

Chemistry and Compatibility

VPI does not publish the formulation. What is known is that the mixed result is the same fluid VPI supplies ready-made — the company's own cleaner, arriving without the water and without the shipping weight that goes with it.

Mix the full 1-ounce bottle into one gallon of pure water. The purity of that water is not a detail: minerals dissolved in tap water stay behind in the groove once the water evaporates, which undoes part of what you were trying to achieve.

A vacuum record cleaning machine is optional, not required. The fluid's job is to soften and lift what is stuck in the groove so a brush can carry it away; a machine simply removes the fluid and the loosened debris together, rather than leaving you to blot them off.

Who Is VPI's Concentrate Best For?

• You clean records by the crate — a gallon at a time is how a collection gets done
• You own a VPI machine — VPI's own fluid, in the form that costs least per record
• You have distilled water to hand — the concentrate assumes you can supply the pure water yourself
• You would rather not store gallon bottles — mix as you go and keep one small bottle on the shelf
• You want to start cleaning tonight — a ready-mixed bottle needs nothing but opening; see record cleaning solutions

How Do You Mix and Use It?

Pour the entire 1-ounce bottle into one gallon of pure water and mix. Apply the result to the record surface, avoiding the label, and work it into the grooves with a brush along the groove direction. Lift the fluid and the loosened debris off with a vacuum machine, or blot with a clean lint-free cloth.

Pairs Well With

What most owners of a cleaning fluid shop next.

• Record brushes — the fluid loosens the debris and the brush carries it away
• Record cleaning machines — optional, but it lifts the fluid and the debris off together
• Stylus cleaning — a clean record deserves a clean stylus
• Record cleaning accessories — sleeves, applicators and the rest of the kit

On Its Own, or as Part of a Program

Every fluid here works perfectly well used on its own, and most people start that way. For even better results they are designed to work as a sequence — a cleaner to lift the debris, then a rinse or a preservative to finish — and a record run through the full treatment program comes out quieter than one given a single pass. The full range is in record cleaning solutions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does one bottle make?

One gallon. The whole 1-ounce bottle goes into a gallon of pure water.

What water should I use?

Pure water — distilled or better. Tap water leaves dissolved minerals in the groove when it evaporates, which is the opposite of the point.

Does it contain alcohol?

VPI does not publish the formulation. The mixed fluid is the same cleaner VPI sells ready-made, supplied without the water.

Do I need a record cleaning machine?

A machine is optional. The fluid loosens the debris so a brush can carry it away; a vacuum machine lifts the fluid and the debris off together.

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