For manual cleaning or for use with Record Cleaning Machines. Melody Mate Premium Vinyl Record Cleaning Solution contains only the purest Australian sourced ingredients, Our solution is made in a lab grade, controlled environment in small batches to guarantee integrity. The result of years of research, development and passion we are proud to present to you what we truly believe is the best record cleaning solution on the market.

Just to give you all an insight as to who is behind the brand Melody Mate I thought I would introduce myself. My name is Nigel and I am a vinyl addict. My obsession for all things vinyl started at the ripe old age of 7 when I got my first record (which happened to be a compilation) "82 out of the blue". From there, ten years after that I started working at the iconic Melbourne record store Record Collectors Corner (working for the industry consumer advocate Peter Snow (who at the time was fighting for consumer freedom to import and therefore lower prices of CD's), then for ABC as a television hard rock music host (Countdown Revolution) and following that owning my own mail order record store Heaven Sent Music as advertised in In-Press and Beat magazines.

Then the vinyl bubble burst and I had to find a real job.

I chose the food manufacturing and technology industry. We have very high QA standards in the food industry. The food company I worked for drove innovation, focussed on R&D and valued quality control. I worked in the supply chain and QA lab and I brought this experience and drive to Melody Mate Solutions. What does that mean? We innovated and created elements of the solution from scratch, it means that all gear made to use the solutions are sterilised before use, flushed out between uses and our quality control is second to none. It means that we test the solution with a series of controls (against some pretty strict specs) before releasing batches and triple filtered. It means that only the best ingredients are used and no compromises are made.

 

We understand that our solution is being used on records that can be valued in the thousands of dollars. We understand that your records even when not expensive hold sentimental value. We are paranoid about ensuring our solution does not have a detrimental effect on your precious discs. That paranoia is something that keeps us on our toes and is something that we see as an asset not a disorder.

So what makes a good solution? Well it's really very simple (spoiler alert!).
You need three ingredients. Water. Alcohol. A wetting agent.

The distilled water dilutes the alcohol and the wetting agent (surfactant) breaks the tension of the water to allow the alcohol to then effectively clean the grooves of the record. The alcohol is the tool to dissolve the impurities, kill nasties like bacteria and mould and clean your record to perfection. The water needs to be distilled professionally. The alcohol needs to be lab grade 100% ISO and the wetting agent needs to be effective, verified and tested. We sample and test each of the ingredients before each batch and sample and test the completed solutions. 

So why did we get into this business? Simple. A few years back I hitched my wagon to the emerging resurgence of vinyl. I purchased a record cleaning machine (after a few months of hand cleaning) and I purchased a bottle of very well known, imported cleaning fluid. And I was disappointed. I discovered (under the electron microscope) that the solution had actually added contaminants to the vinyl. I then spent the next 12 months trying most of the solutions available. I spoke to the manufacturers. I talked to other consumers.

And I was horrified when I questioned the current batch of eBay and store suppliers to see what they were using for their ingredients. Tap water, cheap imported (non regulated) alcohol rated at 70% pure, common washing detergent as the wetting agent. Most if not all were cutting costs or unaware of what these short cuts would do to the vinyl even after relatively short periods of time.

Then there were the imports. The imports that cannot transport alcohol through the post so therefore use ingredients that will not and cannot get the job done. There are many reports on various forums that feature irate consumers who complain of these products forming mould after a few months. Even in the very bottles that they come in. Enough said.

It was at that stage I created Melody Mate and the experimenting commenced.

It took years to come up with the perfect blend. I consulted specialists in science, all things audio and other consumers. They got utterly and completely sick of me sending them samples with the same question... What do you think?

I picked brains. I played mad scientist. I had a quest. I had a mission.

And once I had "it" I then set myself a challenge. To compete with the cheap alternatives on price. Crazy right? How can I compete with others using much, much cheaper imported ingredients and raw materials? By not being greedy, that's how. I am willing to forfeit profit in the hope that consumers respond to the product and buy regularly from my company. I value volume over trying to get rich on every bottle we sell. This has been exceedingly difficult with COVID-caused shortages in raw materials, ever-increasing costs and supply chain issues. With every increase we have absorbed the cost and have kept prices the same as we did 5 years ago. We have achieved this by cutting overheads and doing things smarter so we don't have to pass these costs on to our customers.

So there is my story and my background.

My reason and my theories.

Viva la vinyl!

Nigel Eriksen
Melody Mate Solutions