"Protocols" of record cleaning

Generally agree with Alexc although I have Nitty Gritty, just because I do. Keep the DW off your records - I don't care what anybody says. Carbon fiber brushes are OK for a little lint that might pop up, but I have never found one that does not shed. While the fibers may not damage, you can certainly hear them and they can be difficult to remove from a groove even with cleaning. Use the brush gently. No need to clean every time is enhanced by returning records quickly after play to the high quality sleeve (hint, hint) with careful handling (goes without saying?) and trying to maintain a low static low dust environment (more difficult without a dedicated room). Keep your stylus clean - there are other recent threads on this. Keep your turntable mat clean - method depends on material. I have a Platter Matter which I have used for years and wash it with mild detergent and air dry. JMO :)

i have a keith monks record-sweeper (recently replaced my venerable watts dust-bug) - this device is a little brush on the end of an arm that tracks the grooves of a record as the record is playing - it does a great yob of keeping particulate matter off the needle, from the opposite side of the platter, as the record plays. the k-m wersion is an improvement over the dust-bug, as it's all metal, has tiny carbon-fibre hairs mixed in w/the horse-hair bristles, & the base is actually equipped w/a ground-wire, so you can drain the static charge from a record as it is playing. using a zero-stat prior to play also helps this, as does having installed a propor humidification system into your hvac unit! :>)

using the dust-bug & now the record-sweeper, has enabled me to keep my records in generally great condition over the years, w/o using a vacuum record-cleaning machine. when i buy new/use records, i yust wash 'em over the kitchen sink w/mild dish-soap, luke-warm water & a sponge, then dry w/a soft lint-free towel... i think that the discwasher brush does more harm than good, actually grinding stuff into the record grooves...

Try going to the website www.hifiheaven.com and go to the vinyl heaven section. There are some good links there with recommendations for commercial and DIY cleaners and methods. Thanks, Ben

Digging through some of my old IAR's last night, i found Enid Lumley's "guide to record cleaning". It sounds ABSOLUTELY INSANE to me. If anyone else is interested, let me know and i'll post her recommendations. We'll get to see just how dedicated some of us are in terms of what we'll do for the "best sound possible" : ) Sean >