To clean or not to clean...


Brand new spanking vinyl. When one receives a  brand  new never played album. What is the consensus?
To clean or not to clean?

I  have leaned toward not cleaning until after numerous spins. This may be more out of  hope that conditions at the pressing faculty are on par with a semiconductor factory. Overall  I have not had issues, but once in a  blue moon you do  get that annoying pop that make you cringe and think" I should've cleaned this one".

Or am I simply guilty of the lessening of a mundane task.
idigmusic64
I clean everything - new or used - whenever I pu records.

After cleaning, they get resleeved in MoFi sleeves.

After that, brush before play (and milty in the winter)


I clean EVERY VINYL, OLD OR NEW before ever playing it - every single time.  I clean EVERY VINYL, OLD OR NEW that I can get my hands on, whether it's my record or not.  If I go to a friend's house and I see a turntable, I plead with them to let me take all of their records home and clean them (sometimes I bring them back).  I go to thrift stores and yard sales just to find dirty, moldy records that I can clean - if they look like someone used them for Frisbees at one time or are stuck with goo in the sleeve, even better.  I have gone so far as to buy lots of records at a Goodwill (don't care about the artist - what's the point?), take them home and clean them, and then re-donate them so at least I know that those records on the rack have been cleaned by me. 
Holy Cow! Bikerbw, you are so virtuous and a better person than I am.  I love that you do this.  I'm too lazy to use my record cleaning machine most times!
I lightly dust the top of my streamer, every time I change playlists........never heard any pops or crackles this way.
I clean every LP whether it was purchased new or used, and then sleeve it in a Mobile Fidelity rice paper sleeve. That's the beauty of US cleaners such as the Klaudio or Audio Desk - they are easy one-button solutions.