Best value record cleaner/cleaning system

nkoner,

I'd love to a customer/'s like you who appreciate properly cleaned vinyl.

If I thought there was a good enough market, I'd offer my services.

Cheers!

You need to ask yourself this question... How important is my vinyl record collection to my overall enjoyment in life? Then one more if the answer is very important...How much time am I willing to put into the caring for such a valuable addition to my life?

If the answer is I'm willing to put in a decent amount of effort into such an important aspect of my life...here is my response..

Get a good steamer and some Down With Dirty Concentrate/Aquafina water and a couple of cleaning tools. Overall investment is around $200.00. Labor not included.

I tried several ones. I was disappointed by the big noise of vacuum RCM's. I tried also a DIY ultrasonic RCM but the process is long and is also noisy.
My final choice is Loricraft PRC3 (entry price). Very silent and rapid : two minutes for the two faces of an LP (no rinse).
Loricraft is not cheap but if I've made this choice from the beginning I would save a lot of money.

I use the Squeaky Clean with a Shop-Vac Micro. Made in Canada.

Sure line paint edger is a great gentle tool to wash vinyls in the sink.  Gets a lot of surface area. Use a little Rinseaid and then rinse thoroughly. Dry with microfiber towels. Slip into plastic inner sleeve. No affect on label. Lots of videos on YouTube.

The "Spin Clean" is a fave among my customers looking for "basic" cleaning. As mentioned before vacuum and ultrasonic cleaning is superior. 
Anvil Turntables

Rhoneman,

Great work; finding a cost effective ultasonic record cleaning system. All vinyl lovers should take note of your contribution to clean vinyl.

A soft non-abusive dish washing brush with some dawn detergent seems to work pretty well. Not for everybody but it works pretty well for me. 

Let's go another tack.  I recommend ultrasonic cleaning. It yields far superior results to Nitty Gritty (which I have) to VPI (which my friends use).  We have conducted tests by cleaning ultrasonically after using the prior machines and the sound is so much clearer, better detail, much better imaging, etc. The effects are the same whether you use beat albums or those brand new. In fact I have had good luck buying original Blue Note recordings all scuffed up for a few bucks and after cleaning they are decent and listenable.
I resisted this as I did not want to spring for the expensive German machines $3-4,000.  Now there is an excellent alternative. I purchased a system from Cleanervinyl.com for $550 and an ultrasonic machine recommended by them for $170 on EBAY.  In the past 2 months I have cleaned over 2,000 records! I would say the results are close to going up a level in Record Condition and are great for beat up albums.
I have a few friends who purchased this system and are very happy. It looks pretty cheesy and for the money it looks ridiculous. However, I am buying the results and they have been excellent. The system is not cheap but it justifies the expense.

Okki nokki is a great choice. Make sure to empty the tank after each use. You have to tip it toward the hose end to get all of the fluid to come out. If you leave fluid in the tank the arm tube can swell and not move freely. If you leave it in too long it can get chunks of crap in it and can cause problems trying to drain it.

I use sandpaper. Fine grit is best. 

I have been happy with my VPI 16.5 for 26yrs and still works perfectly.
 I then found out about Dave Burton- "Record Genie" his service will clean your records with an Audiodesk or Klaudio ultrasonic machine or both. Also uses a Furutek D'Mag.
Very worthwhile if you want to experience CLEAN Vinyl. Reasonable prices and uses media mail to keep costs down 
Highly recommended, Try his service on some of your prized records. You will want to do them all !!!

Spin clean and fiber wipes are of no real comparison to a good vacuum machine. I  used to have a VPI 16.5, but it leaked so I recently got the new Pro-Ject VS-C, a superior machine to the VPI, Okki, and Nitty Gritty. Quieter, greater suction, bi-directional, ease of use! If you have a collection of an size, it's well worth the cost to get a real RCM. And the difference in sound quality is nothing short of amazing! I have albums I've owned for 40 years, I thought were old and worn out, lots of surface noise, pops and ticks. A thorough cleaning and it's new again! No surface noise at all! Jaw dropping results. Records don't wear out, they just get dirty. 

I still think the method of covering the LP with peanut butter and letting maggots eat it all off is the way to go.

okee dokee i bought an okki nokki from audio advisor... :)

After graduating from the Discwasher to a Nitty Gritty when it was first introduced, and then to a VPI HW-16, I much preferred the VPI. Not only does the VPI Vacuum suck the LP dry much quicker (in two revolutions) than the NG, but its platter provides solid support for the LP whilst (gettin’ above my raisin’ now) you scrub it, a must with used LP’s. To keep the just cleaned side from becoming contaminated when you flip the LP to clean the other side, use a second platter mat. The HW-16 (now 16.5) is well worth it’s price, but I sprung for the even better HW-17F, about as good a cleaner as you can get outside of the osmosis type. I’m waiting for their price to come down.

I use an old plastic Technics table with the belt removed for record support while I apply Disc Doctor cleaning fluid and scrub using the Disc Doctor cleaning pads. Then vacuum on the KAB EV-1 and back to the table for rinse using reverse osmosis H2O (Whole Foods) and then back to the EV-1. This process makes up for the only deficiency that I see of the EV-1, lack of lateral support while scrubbing. Have done hundreds of records like this. 

Not only is it important to deep clean but a vacuum is a must for removing any debris.  At the very least consider a nit with a vacuum - I use a Nitty Gritty MiniPro2.  I like the NG since the platter only touches the label area.

My process: Spin Clean, then steam (using finger bowl to cover label), final dry off with micro fiber towel. Seems to work pretty well.

goheelz,  thanks for the mention.  The Okki Nokki is based on the VPI.  metal construction, quieter and cleans in both directions.  Glad to hear your VPI is still Sucking!

On the other hand, you can trust @meadowman ^^ and his Okki recommendation.  I'm pretty sure he sold me the VPI record cleaner years ago. Thanks, Mike!

I recommend the VPI 16.5 record cleaner.  Not the cheapest solution out there, but it's mighty reliable.  Thousands of records cleaned, and it's still going very strong 15 years later.  The downside: it's not quiet, so it really needs to live away from polite company and ear protection is de rigeur. Newer (or more expensive) models may be a bit less noisy.

2nd on the Okki Nokki.  Full Disclosure I am a dealer for Okki Nokki.  Great product that cleans in forward and reverse. 

I started out using the velvet pad on a wood handle cleaner years ago.

Then I got a Knosti. I was quite pleased with it other than the cycle time. I could only wash one record and then wait for it to dry enough to remove the hub and do another record. Then there were rinse issues....

So I moved on to an Okki Nokki. I like this one! I am able to clean a record as deep as I like, dry it and play it immediately afterwards.

The Knosti cost me about 80 bucks while the Okki was 500.

I decided on an automated platter when using the Knosti and thinking of upgrades.

[Use carbon brush and zero stat before playing thereafter.  All new sleeves and outer sleeves after cleaning.]

I have used two methods so far - Spin clean and microfiber towels for drying works well, get more background noise out with a Record Doctor V after Spin Clean on very dirty records.  Record Doctor V is less painful than spin clean if dealing with hundreds of albums.  

The Spin Clean is inexpensive and effective. It's not cool, or glamorous. But it gets the job done pretty well, for not very much money.