cleaning gritty surface noise on LPs

Yes. It is pretty easy… but requires a bit of effort.

For most albums the answer is a vacuum disk washer. There are many on the market… like VPI, I use the German Nessie… there are many. Some are ultrasonic, these may be slightly better than traditional - dispense fluid / vacuum up type.

I have 2,000 albums. A few hundred from the 70’s, heavily played. With an audiophile table (these reduce surface noise by a huge amount), and cleaning… they sound nearly pristine. Inexpensive vacuum cleaners like VPI sound a lot like a jet landing… better quality ones are smaller and MUCH quieter.

But owning vinyl and getting the most out of it requires a vacuum cleaning device.

After a thorough vacuum cleaning, I apply LAST record preservative. Seldom does a record need vacuum cleaning again. . I use LAST general cleaner and their brush before playing… to keep the dust off the album and stylist.

There are a few albums… for me I have found maybe 1%… that are hopeless. If a vacuum cleaner doesn’t do it… then either live with it or toss it. 

@ghdprentice 

Thanks for your response, but you missed my mention of using a Nitty Gritty Record Cleaning Machine, which is a vacuum cleaning machine.

I have used very similar practices to yours--LAST preservative, then routine cleaning with a carbon-fiber brush after using a Zerostat gun.  I also use the LAST stylus brushes, Onzow Zerodust stylus cleaner and LAST stylus preservative, and my stylus has over 1000 hrs. on it and still sounds fine. 

For deep cleaning I've used the LAST "First" cleaner, Nitty Gritty fluid, Disk Doctor and others, and I'm afraid these particular records may be like your hopeless 1%.  It's a shame because they are otherwise largely free of "ticks," "pops," and what-have-you. 

I'm wondering if something different like the MoFi "enzyme" cleaning fluid or Dawn dishwashing detergent (well-known for cutting grease, removing fingerprints, etc.) would give any different result than the cleaners I've used.

OP,

Oops, I did not read carefully enough. I still use VPI cleaning fluid… non alcoholic. Long ago I did a ridiculously deep dive into cleaning fluids. One rule was no alcohol. I have tried a few fluids. My take is that if you have a really good table and cartrige and a good vacuum cleaning doesn’t do it… then nothing is going to change that. Toss it.

I mention the table, because when I got my first audiophile table the noise level dropped dramatically, particularly in my ancient heavily played albums. I believe because the stylist is a fraction of the size of the ones I used way back when… so they drop down to pristine vinyl. So, a cleaning and a really good cartridge can eliminate the noise.

Ethanol and isopropanol (one or the other, ethanol preferred) are beneficial additives to an LP cleaning solution along with a nonionic detergent. If you’re using pure water alone, your solution cannot dissolve oils or lift and solubilize dirt deeply in grooves. This has been discussed here ad nauseam.