Getting and keeping records clean................

NICKSGEMS10'S
try the Loricraft prc-4 and Aud' du Son cleaner...rcm comes with rc brush, cover and fluids kit...there are several different models and all are backed by 5 YEAR WARRANTY...like most things, you get what you pay for!! it's very quiet and has double suction and increased power.
good luck!
azjake

I have no doubt that the Loricraft and Clearaudio machines are the best, but for real world use, the medium price VPI16.5 or equivelant will be all you need. I have tried the loricraft, it's quieter perhaps easier to use, but I could'nt detect any great difference in results. So I would say VPI in the US, over here in Europe the Moth, about the same price as the VPI, but available in kit form at a £200 saving. I am useless at carpentry, but got it built and working, though it aint pretty. Again I don't know if its available in the US, but the wonderfully named Okki Nokki from Germany I believe, is very similar to the Moth/ VPI, but a bit more basic, at half the price.

Automatic record cleaning machines are a great convenience I suppose. I use a manual machine, the Record Doctor II, and I guarantee that with a little elbow grease and the right cleaning solutions, no machine will get your records any cleaner. You can buy a lot of vinyl with the money saved.

For very dirty records I use warm water with dishsoap and a very soft towel to dry them. A sponge works fine to clean the records. Towels are used to lay the record down to soak off the water. Cheap; recommended as the method by Last Record as well as Nick Gowan.

Once the gunk is cleaned off I just use the Last Record fluid with their applicator device as I posted earlier.

Wntrmute2 - I spent alsmost nothing on my RCM - just the cost of a crevice tool for my shop vac and some felt and double stick tape to adapt it for record cleaning. While I doubt it will outperform a Loricraft, I also think it will perform on par with the other similarly designed machines and I absolutely know from experience that it way out performs hand record washing.