Best way to clean vinyl ???

Both RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence labels are very good. If you find an original pressing in good condition, they are worth hundreds $$$. Classical Records makes excellent reissues of these. I also favor Decca recordings for their fullness in sound. A good place to look for selection as well as decent prices is Musicdirect.com. Good luck.

Why Record Research Labs cleaning solutions, of course.

Tmccc0, forgive my ignorance but, what is an ultrasonic parts cleaner and how do U use it (as per instructions I suppose -- but to be on the safe side...)?
Thanks, Greg.

An ultrasonic cleaner will blow off any sh*t (VPI, Nitty Gritty, Keith Monk,...) out there! The "bristles" that come with those sh*ts are wider than most record grooves. You essentially rely on the cleaning solution. Check out any industrial supplier and look for "ultrasonic parts cleaner".

I have found some success with the Orbitrac II unit. Available from Needledoctor. com, Acousticsounds.com and/or elusivedisc.com. Cost is $35.00 plus shipping. I agree with all above on the NittyGritty/VPI, but much more expensive. When they come on Ebay they sell used for 3/4 original MSRP.

get a cheap nitty gritty, a manual model. I am simply reporting results here: records I have washed WELL with soap and water, from thrift stores and the like, still remained unplayable. A good soaking and vacuuming, and problem solved. There is no substitute for a nice wet vacuum wash. none. period. This is what archivists use, don't tamper with a known formula. pcanis

heres' another wote for washing w/soap-n-water. this, in combination w/a watts dust-bug, recently replaced w/a keith monks record-sweeper, has always worked yust fine for me. doug

Check out the NOV/DEC issue of Listener Mag. There is an article that covers your first question in great detail, collating eighteen reponses from thier contributing reviewers. The mag is down to earth and keeps the hobby fun! Highly recommended!

Shy of the old Keith Monks machine, the VPI followed by the Nitty Gritty. Washing records in luke warm water and soap has worked for me...but...you need to find a liquid soap with no perfumes or oils in it...and one that will rinse of totally..(soft water is a must), and you must have a lint free towel...such as used for fine crystal/wine glasses.. check Williams-Sonoma...usually cotton or cotton/linen blend...no synthetics....a big..also..is that you must also keep from getting the labels wet. All said and done,..a Discwasher system works well for most people.. One of the top end Grado's is a good match for the Rega.

Depends on your budget. There are some excellent record cleaning machines by VPI ($1000) and Nitty Gritty ($450 to $650). If you want something inexpensive like a manual pad with a cleaning solutions, there is a good cleaning system made by a company called LAST ($20 to $50). For something simple and cheap there is also the Discwasher system. Some folks also swear by soap and warm water.