Record-playing Rituals?


I'm curious what everybody's riuals are when listening to albums. How often do you clean the records? Every Time? How often do you clean and lubricate the stylus? Every time?

David
deshapiro
I dry-brush my records before every play and clean the stylus as well. Oh, and let's not forget the clamp, a really important part of my analog set up.

I also use the VPI 16.5 on records after three or four uses, depending on how much dust/dirt they collect.

On a weekly basis, I'll clean the platter and use Last stylus cleaner on the cartridge.
I'm slowly getting back into vinyl after 20 years. I can't remember, if I ever knew, how to properly use a "Zerostat." Can anyone please remind me the correct procedure?
To all you vinyl purists out there-tell me what I'm doing wrong. First I must tell you, 25 years ago, I would buy an album-off the "rack", then I would record it to a good quality cassette. I did this with the idea I could play the cassette as loud as I wanted to, no acoustical feedback and my album would stay new-forever. I now realize I was compressing the sound, but then-ignorance was bliss. I have recently started easing back into vinyl. My son just bought me a half speed master of Dark Side Of The Moon. I ran a dry parastat s l o w l y over the album before playing. I also have a grounded mat in place of the original turntable mat. I also use a Zerostat the last thing before playing the album. I have noticed after a couple of weeks, I hear more pops than when it was new. Ok-I can feel you cringing, because I am obviously doing something wrong and killing my new album. I have read threads about vacuuming the album and wonder if this is where I'm missing the boat. I have vinyl record sleeves, so paper isn't an issue. I saw a record washer reviewed - "Spin Clean Record Washer" and the reviewer said this, along with products from AIVS would do the trick. This is a washer only and since you know, most of my albums were only played once-until recently-dirty albums shouldn't be an issue. So how do I leave the pops behind? Also, I have noticed the pops aren't consistent across the board. Some albums (Thompson Twins-Across The Gap) sound great. Others-many pops etc. I don't have the resources, or at least I should say I'm not yet committed, to pouring big bucks into vinyl. I have a modest collection from 20-30 years ago (I found a Graham Nash "Songs For Beginners" and Cat Stevens "Teaser And The Fire cat" that are still sealed!) They are "Plain o" albums, but it's still cool to make that find. I regress. So after hearing, or reading my procedure, what am I doing wrong?