Record-playing Rituals?

I'm surprised there's no mention of the Zerostat anti-static gun. I use it first, and then use a carbon fiber brush. Once the dust is gathered into a straight line on the record, I vacuum it up.

Then I wet scrub using home made brew, and then vacuum again. I apply LAST extremely sparingly, spreading just two drops across the LAST brush. Records which have had LAST applied to them get a semi-transparent, self-adhesive colored dot placed on their label ... so I don't apply LAST to them again.

The record cleaning machine I use is one of my own design. I found VPIs and NGs to have inadequate suction. The vacuum on my machine has a 1 horse motor. Sorbothane on the turntable keeps the vinyl "stuck" on the platter -- otherwise the suction would lift the record up. I use an old broacast transcription turntable for rotating the record ... this 'table is built like a tank. All of this is built into a printer stand, and it looks really sharp! John Grado uses one of my record cleaning machines.

Thanks for the great thread and all the wonderful posts, Both the info and the humor are great. But, doesn't anyone else click their heels 3 times and say "There's nothing like vinyl ... there's nothing like vinyl?"

I will admit to clicking my heels and always use the Zerostat between the clicks to negate static buildup from my carpeted floor after having "shot" the LP.

I tried clicking my heels together but I fell over and scratched the record. Say, where can I get a ruby-colored ZeroStat? This orangey-red thing works great but it is sooo ugly.

1. Clean record with VPI HW16 and custom made fluid. Thorough scrubbing if needed.
2. Treat record with Zerostat with Staticmaster brush 2x.
3. Clean stylus with custom fluid and Diswasher stylus cleaning brush.
4. Treat stylus with Stylast.

Fetishist? Perhaps. However, I have many 40+ year old records that play very clean, and I only have to change my stylii when I want to.

Where do I get something like "Scratchfixer" that contains molybedum sulfide?

Thanks, Robert