Record Care Regime can I do better ?

@mijostyn;

Most chlorofluorocarbon solvents stopped manufacture in 1996 per the Montreal Protocol.  

CRC brake cleaning fluid https://www.crcindustries.com/products/crc/crc-brakleen.html now come in various compositions, one non-flammable version contains perchloroethylene which is a known carcinogen.  One VOC-free 50 state version contains acetone & naphtha and will dissolve the vinyl record. 

Please stop recommending the CRC Brake Clean.  You may have the old version that did contain a CFC solvent (likely methyl chloroform or CFC-113), but that version is no longer available and never will be again. 

In the meantime, I believe Swann is from the UK and most of the current CRC Brake Clean products are likely not allowed to be sold.  However, if it is sold - I would recommend you not buy it; its either going to be potentially toxic or its going to dissolve that record.  

As @cleeds stated, LPs aren't made in clean rooms and, in fact, some record pressing plants are very messy places.

Having worked in a clean room environment and having analyzed new LPs, I would say that most record pressing plants are dirty. I would definitely clean any new LP.  Most new LPs have significant contamination on the surface which is not visible to the naked eye. Much of this contamination is due to mold-release compounds. Once cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner your LPs should be fine for quite a while if handled carefully and stored properly.

Your cleaning process looks fine.

+1 @antinn

Thanks all for the comments so far .... it seems that i should consider investing in an RCM at some point .... be it Ultrasonic or a more affordable Project VCS type thing ...
I have added a Milty Zerostat gun recently after reading about and chatting with others who have them, so that should prove to be a reducer of static , which while doesn't seem to be much of an issue sound wise for me , could be contributing to my 'dust' problems ..

so once again thanks for the comments and all future thoughts are welcome ...

@swann36,

To repeat a post I made over at Steve Hoffman (with a few mods) and in reference to your issue with the stylus collecting gunk:

This review of the Disco unit Disco-Antistat Vinyl Cleaning Machine From Knosti - The Audiophile Man , states the same problem with gunk on the stylus and attributes it to the supplied cleaning agent. The reviewer does go on to offer some suggested alternative cleaning agents. Also, you can use the ILFORD ILFOTOL that can be purchased in the UK. If using ILFORD ILFOTOL, you can double the recommended concentration from 1part cleaner:200parts water to 1part cleaner:100 parts water to get improved detergency. The recommended 1:200 is good as a ’wetting’ agent; but it ’may’ be a bit ’light’ as a detergent. But first try at 1:200 (5 ml/liter). Just make sure to rinse after use as you currently do.

I will add that allowing the record to dry overnight can allow it collect lint & particles that are in the air that you cannot see with normal light. These airborne lint/particulate are visible with a 265nm UV light. If you decide to use a UV light for inspection - you will not need more than 10W and the inspection time is just a few seconds - intense UV light for long periods can damage the record. Takeaway - if allowing to dry overnight place in a area with limited air flow (which sounds contradictory, but you want it dry and clean).

Big question - aside from the stylus gunk - are you otherwise satisfied with your process? Do your records mostly play quiet? How often do you change out the cleaning bath? I have no rule of thumb for you. A benefit of vacuum-RCM is that fresh cleaner is used each time. Cleaning particulate from the groove is not easy - there is an entire science on what it takes to clean minute particulate (i.e. <~25micron) - the semi-conductor industry. A big takeaway is developing enough shear force to release the particle from the surface; and this is influenced by fluid surface tension, and fluid agitation. Ultrasonics work because of the high cavitation (fluid agitation) that is produced; and the tank offers a lot of cleaning fluid volume and this can be improved with tank filtration to keep the fluid clean. But, you can use manual brushing to also develop high fluid agitation. So when you say you use 10 rotations - how fast do you rotate?

I use a manual cleaning process - you can download what I do for free here https://thevinylpress.com/precision-aqueous-cleaning-of-vinyl-records/ - let me reiterate - this addresses A way to clean - not THE way. For me to really deep clean the particulate I am moving my brush back-forth (= one stroke) at a rate as high as two strokes of ~6-inch-arc/second. Slower is OK for surface type soils such as a finger-print, but small particles need lots of agitation. BUT, BUT, BUT, if you use a brush that actually penetrates the groove deeply then the rapid motion risks breaking off the brush tips making the problem worse. The brush I use just covers the top of the groove and the bristles are flexible - so the rapid motion is moving the cleaning fluid and the foam that is developed in the brush helps lift away particulate.

Good luck,
Neil