All I can say to the skeptics of the efficacy of cleaning records, including brand spanking new records and those that have been fastidiously cared for since purchase, is that cleaning them does, indeed, benefit audio performance. Of course, like most things in life, a little knowledge helps and the more you know, the better your results will be. As such, I consider "Precision Aqueous Cleaning of: Vinyl Records" by Neil Antin (March 2021 Second Edition) indispensable reading! Not an easy read but worth every every second of your time if you are serious about high fidelity. If you've never cleaned your treasures before, no matter how well-cared for they are, whether you choose to clean them manually, with a Spin-Clean, vacuum machine, ultrasonic machine or combination thereof, you WILL hear an improvement in audio performance. Of course, this presumes you have a reasonably good quality turntable, cartridge, phono stage, sound system, in general, reasonably good hearing acuity, decent vinyl spinning habits (e.g. use of carbon fiber brush; stylus cleaner; record handling & storage, etc.) etc. Chances are good this is not an issue if your on this website.
I've been buying records (new) since the late 50's. My immediate collection is, predominantly, from the 60's through the 70's and 80's but I do have a few recent re-pressings. All of them are in high-quality anti-static ploy sleeves. I cleaned some of the older ones, manually, in the 80's. More recently, I've started using an ultrasonic cleaner and Knosti Disco Anti-Stat. Even using my present cleaning regimen, my records looked shiny, brand new, clean beforehand and came out looking the same way. So, I didn't expect much afterwards. I was SO wrong. The difference was/is surface noise is virtually eradicated, bass is very noticeably more profound, more tight, more accurate, as is the entire frequency response up & down the scale. Even with my 70 year old ears, I can readily and easily hear the difference.
I've been buying records (new) since the late 50's. My immediate collection is, predominantly, from the 60's through the 70's and 80's but I do have a few recent re-pressings. All of them are in high-quality anti-static ploy sleeves. I cleaned some of the older ones, manually, in the 80's. More recently, I've started using an ultrasonic cleaner and Knosti Disco Anti-Stat. Even using my present cleaning regimen, my records looked shiny, brand new, clean beforehand and came out looking the same way. So, I didn't expect much afterwards. I was SO wrong. The difference was/is surface noise is virtually eradicated, bass is very noticeably more profound, more tight, more accurate, as is the entire frequency response up & down the scale. Even with my 70 year old ears, I can readily and easily hear the difference.