Can I clean my records manually?


Well, I know I can but, will this method yield acceptable results for approximately 6 months until I get a record cleaner? If so, I imagine I need a cleaning fluid and some type of a brush or rag. Can anyone recommend a method. Also, am I correct in assuming that the only value an automatic cleaner provides is convenience?

Further, can a dirty record damage a cartridge? I can't see how it would since dirt is softer than the vinyl grooves and lots softer than a diamond.

Am I that ignorant? Please, let me down easy.

thanx
pawlowski6132
Photon is correct. Do the math on a 2 gm tracking force on a .05 x .07 mm line stylus and you will find that the pressures are enormous.
"Do the math on a 2 gm tracking force on a .05 x .07 mm line stylus ..."

Yeah right!! I trust you.

Anyone know a good ratio for Alcohol:Water for the cleaning solution?

thanx
Pawlowski6132, for 20 years I used a home-brew formula (that I'll detail below), but I've found that both the Disc Doctor Miracle Record Cleaner and Paul Fumpkin's Audio Intelligent are vastly superior cleaning fluids that are well worth their cost for the results I'm now getting. Both can easily be used manually using the Disc Doctor brushes, some clean cotton terry cloths and a dish drain. Follow Disc Doctor's cleaning directions for both. You can get a mini-pack sample of Audio Intelligent fluid to try for just $8.

The home-brew forumula I've used in the past is one of the many similar formulas that have appeared in Absolute Sound and in the online forums:

80% Distilled water
20% Isopropyl alchohol (92% pure or better with no additives)
A few drops of Kodak Photoflo as a wetting agent

Followed by a rinse with pure distilled water. The more pure your rinse water, the better (e.g., a distilled water that is also micron filtered and, if possible, deionized; or lab grade distilled water). The Photoflo can leave a residue, thus the rinse step.

I'll reiterate, though: the Disc Doctor or Audio Intelligent fluids will make your LPs even cleaner for even better sound. I'll never go back to the home brew not that I've experienced these results.
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yes you can, i use disc doctor fluid and brushes, with my old tt platter on a lazy susan, with all cotton cloths for wiping the excess and then a small shop vac with a cotton cloth over the four inch attachment, works like a charm,
Of course you can clean records manually, but not well.

There are many posts both on cleaning fluids and on various record cleaning machines.