Best Temporary Record Cleaning Options

You state you are going to save up for an automatic RCM, but need a temporary cleaning option. My recommendation is to go with a cheap, manual RCM.
Something like a Nitty Gritty 1.0 or a Record Doctor.

I have seen the NG 1.0 goes for $265 here on Audiogon

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1144523581

Or the Record Doctor for $229 on AudioAdvisor

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/productdetail.asp?sku=NGRD3

These are basically the same unit by the way.

This is a basic RCM which will do a good job while you save up for the automatic version. If you buy some good brushes (I like the Disk Doctor brushes myself) and some good Fluid (I prefer RRL), this will tide you over for a long time. It does mean you'll need to clean the records by hand using the brushes and fluid and then using the RCM as a vacuum to dry the records, but this will clean records about as good as you are going to get, until you jump up to one of the truly expensive RCMs like the Keith Monks or the Loricraft.

(Another option is to do a DIY machine, which will save you some money. Check here and on Audio Asylum for details on how to build one of these simple RCMs. I was too lazy to do that, so I got a NG 1.0 (I bought it used for $100) and I find it does a very good job. It is loud and noisy and work intensive. But it does a good job nonetheless. IMHO, nothing beats a vacuum RCM, even a cheap one.

I have no desire to upgrade until I can truly afford a Loricraft or a Keith Monks. (Given that the Loricraft costs around $2K, that msy be awhile! And yeah, as you can tell, I'm cheap. I'd rather spend a few extra minutes cleaning my records, and save the hundreds, or thousands, of dollars for new equipment.)

My two cents worth anyway.

I vote with Hdm, RRL + CF brushes + vacuum.

Vacuuming doesn't have to be expensive, though I draw the line at the notion that an EV1 or other DIY type machine can approximate a Loricraft. I own both and I'm confident that bit of hyperbole was, well, hyperbole! ;-)

But an EV1 doesn't cost $2K. Neither does a modded Shop Vac. Those can be found for $25 at Walmart, and you can tidy up the garage when you're not cleaning records. Try that with a DiscWasher!

There is no substitute for vacuuming. Dissolving dirt and leaving the scummy liquid in the grooves to evaporate leaves the dirt behind, emulsified into smaller particles, tougher to remove than before.

For truly inexpensive DIY RCM ideas, search the archives at Vinyl Asylum. There's no end of clever and determined though budget-challenged geniuses there.

Doug: I can only tell you this: I had records cleaned professionally on a Monks using Nitty Gritty fluid just before I purchased my EV1. Recleaning the Monks cleaned records on the EV1 (with my Filter Queen vac) with RRL, followed by a lab grade water rinse (yeah, I know the RRL doesn't need a rinse) yielded a much better sounding record. Could be a number of things: residue from the Nitty Gritty fluid, a "quickie" job done by whoever did the Monks cleaning at the record store, etc. etc. And I am pretty finicky about the way I clean with the KAB, so maybe it's just the extra time I put into it. This was with relatively clean records; the Monnks/Loricraft may do better with really grimey records, but the KAB/RRL combo, combined with the Nitty Gritty fluid in between (the alcohol in the Nitty Gritty cuts through grime, fingerprints better) does very well even on really digustingly dirty records.

the best thing I've found for under $50 is a can of primier record cleaner and a carbon fibre brush. See amusicdirect.com for more info...

Of course my VPI does a better job with RRL fluids...but given your criteria...this is a great option.

Hdm,
We obviously agree on the main points for the Maineiac: RRL works very well and vacuuming is essential.

That KM/NG comparison was not meaningful. Try applying your argument to this (logically identical) experiment:
1. clean a record on the NG
2. clean the same record again on the NG
Observation: the record gets cleaner (happens all the time)

By your argument we would conclude that the NG works better than the NG, a logical absurdity. A more logical conclusion would be that two cleanings are better than one.

The fact that different cleaning fluids were used renders all conclusions meaningless anyway. No one can say with any confidence which variable was responsible for the results.