Record-playing Rituals?

How dirty ought used record cleaning fluid to be? Does anybody else find their spent fluid is so clear it looks practically drinkable? I'm newly returned to vinyl and absolutely inexperienced in the kind of record-cleaning you have been talking about here. Having read (and read and read), I ordered fluids, ordered brushes, lucked into a used Loricraft, which arrived just this morning, and set to work.

My records were to start with none of them visibly filthy--when I last played them, many years ago, I was as careful as I then knew how to be and brushed them with a Discwasher. But from the reading I'd been doing recently I had gathered that no record that hadn't been at least scrubbed and preferably vacuumed was could be considered clean and that the fluid one vacuumed off would show just how dirty it really was. I was really looking forward to seeing the dissolved gunk. But, to my disappointment, there doesn't seem to be any gunk--the liquid that shows up in the little refuse bottle is absolutely limpid. I can't tell whether I'm doing something wrong or whether my expectations were just off.

Under normal circumstances I'd just play the cleaned record and hear whether there was a difference or not. But I can't: yesterday, with the worst possible timing--just a day before the Loricraft arrived--my amp failed and had to be sent off to Idaho. I've got probably a month of phono-silence ahead of me. Record cleaning is now my sole audio amusement!

So is this normal or it not?

First, condolences on your dead amp. May its resurrection bring sweetness and light.
Second, I've always kept my records scrupulously clean, even before I had a cleaning machine. The fluid retained from records that I had previously cleaned by other methods has never been anything but clear. That isn't to say that there are not sonic benefits of more thorough cleaning, just that they aren't readily visible.

Most of the contaniments will be microscopic. These will be the deposits in your spent fluid. The other grunge will be left on the vacuum brush. That is why it is very important to clean the brush after each use.

After spending about a grand on cleaning stuff, now I just say piss on it & play em dirty! That way I don't have to worry when my fluid that comes out of the VPI is clean. Once in a while I throw the cartridge in the dishwasher to get the crap off of it.

I only do this now because I was slack last week, and forgot to get a hold of 4yanx when I was out in his neck of the woods.

So now I feel bad, and my records sound like crap, but I am drinking more to overcome these oversights. After enough alcohol, even the bad records sound good. Thank God for the Teres 40 minute motor shut off.!

Does anyone find that record cleaning solution beads up on the record instead of forming a sheet across the record surface? Seems to happen more on new records, and varies between records – some I get a nice sheet of fluid on the entire record surface, while on others it breaks up half way round, while in the worst case it beads up immediately behind the brush. The VPI solution that came with the machine sheeted nicely. The next batch was VPI concentrate with instructions to mix in a gallon of distilled water. It beaded so I added a small amount of alcohol per direct instructions from VPI after inquiring to them. The alcohol helped a fair amount. I’ve now switched to Record Research lab Super Vinyl Wash and it really beads up. Does anyone recommend adding a small amount of alcohol to it? Of course its possible beading up is of no concern, since maybe the only area where even coverage across the record surface matters is under the brush. I use the VPI brush. Tried a Nitty Gritty brush but didn’t like it as well because it soaks up too much fluid and becomes saturated. However I didn’t give it much of a try and may use it again. So, does anyone have any thoughts on sheeting vs. beading?