What is your record cleaning regimen?

I buy new records and think it is crazy to clean them fresh from the pressing plant. On the rare occasion when I buy a used one it is either mint or near mint. I swipe twice with the newly updated/upgraded Audioquest brush before playing and since I don't blow (really spit) on my records or touch any other part than the edges or cook food near them, nothing accumulates on the vinyl except dust, which comes right off with the brush. They don't need deep cleaning. I store them perfectly vertically in rice paper sleeves (jackets in polyvinyl) and never leave them sitting out naked.

Also, please don't blow on a stylus. There are lots of brushes and other products out there, and when I clean mine (rarely - maybe once a month), I use the stylus fluid very sparingly.

A dealer I know offered to test the effectiveness of a VPI RCM (I think) that was around $750-$1000 and I took him up on it bringing a few of my oldest 40 year old records that have been played hundreds of times that are clean to me. We played them before and after cleaning on his machine. I didn't notice a difference, nor did he.

If you like buying used records that were not treated carefully, I guess a RCM is worthwhile. If you really want to go crazy, the Audiophile Man takes like an hour to give a record a good cleaning with a Degritter (around $4K). To me, your hobby then becomes cleaning records rather than listening to and enjoying them.

I tried a good number of record cleaners, including the Nitty Gritty and the Hanss record cleaners. I've used the Audio Intelligent Vinyl Solutions, the Phoenix record cleaner. I also used the Mint LP solution produced by the same guy who does the cartridge protractors. Each of these approaches have had benefits. Then, I bought the Ultrasonic V-8 cleaner from the now deceased David Ratliff. That one upped the game considerably, but I still had problems with some records from time to time. I was happy though to be able to clean up to 8 records at one time. Then, on a lark, I tried the Gem Dandy Record Cleaner produced by George Merrill. I decided to combine that approach with the V-8 bath. The Gem Dandy uses a proprietary cleaning solution along with record holder made from PVC and you just use high pressure tap water on the record. After I do the Gem Dandy regimen, I put the records on a wooden dish drying rack and when I've collected 6-7, I put them in the ultrasonic bath for 10-15 minutes to rinse. I've found this regimen of using the Gem Dandy and the ultrasonic to be eye-opening. My records now sound unbelievably good. For those records that still have some defects in the form of clicks and pops, I do a round with the Groove Lube by Gem Dandy, which comes with the record cleaner. That helps tremendously and also makes the record basically static free. It does leave a bit of residue on the cartridge after playing though that has to be cleaned off with my little cube of Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. The Gem Dandy job is more labor-intensive and messy, Be prepared to get very wet. However, the results are well worth it. Believe me, if they weren't, I wouldn't be doing it. I prefer to stay dry when cleaning records.

I just purchased a Degritter a few weeks ago and it cleans very well one problem periodically when I put a record in the slot nothing happens I have to reset the record in the slot sometimes more than once before it will start up. The issue for me is when a record is not loaded properly, no indication on the display to indicate that you have a problem.

I have reached out to the company to ask how often this should be happening and they are very vague. Has anyone had this issue other than me.

@sokogear

I really agree with your thoughts on the subject. Unfortunately, I have found that while half the new pressings I get are clean and quiet. The other half are not. I am told this is record release compound… I don’t know… I like being lazy. But I have learned over the years that the results are much better when I clean and treat new albums with Last Preservative. The cleaning being at least as important if not more important than the Last Preservative.

I find new records require a cleaning before 1st playing. YMMV