Can I clean my records manually?

Your supposition about dirt being softer than vinyl overlooks one extremely important factor, the extreme heat and pressure generated at the point of stylus contact. During that brief moment, those prodigious stresses soften the vinyl so that it is much more vunerable to damage. Plus, the make up of "dirt" varies. You've got fiber & dander particles as well as harder gritty bits of plaster, sand, and who knows what else floating around. I've looked at the detritus on a records' grooves through scanning electron microscope imagery, it varies greatly in composition and size. These variable particles also account for why a dirty record DOES wear diamond faster than a clean record. It's a given that even though diamond is the hardest substance, it can still be slowly worn away. Any increase in abrasive presence during playback exacerbates wear.

Photon is correct. Do the math on a 2 gm tracking force on a .05 x .07 mm line stylus and you will find that the pressures are enormous.

"Do the math on a 2 gm tracking force on a .05 x .07 mm line stylus ..."

Yeah right!! I trust you.

Anyone know a good ratio for Alcohol:Water for the cleaning solution?

thanx

Pawlowski6132, for 20 years I used a home-brew formula (that I'll detail below), but I've found that both the Disc Doctor Miracle Record Cleaner and Paul Fumpkin's Audio Intelligent are vastly superior cleaning fluids that are well worth their cost for the results I'm now getting. Both can easily be used manually using the Disc Doctor brushes, some clean cotton terry cloths and a dish drain. Follow Disc Doctor's cleaning directions for both. You can get a mini-pack sample of Audio Intelligent fluid to try for just $8.

The home-brew forumula I've used in the past is one of the many similar formulas that have appeared in Absolute Sound and in the online forums:

80% Distilled water
20% Isopropyl alchohol (92% pure or better with no additives)
A few drops of Kodak Photoflo as a wetting agent

Followed by a rinse with pure distilled water. The more pure your rinse water, the better (e.g., a distilled water that is also micron filtered and, if possible, deionized; or lab grade distilled water). The Photoflo can leave a residue, thus the rinse step.

I'll reiterate, though: the Disc Doctor or Audio Intelligent fluids will make your LPs even cleaner for even better sound. I'll never go back to the home brew not that I've experienced these results.
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yes you can, i use disc doctor fluid and brushes, with my old tt platter on a lazy susan, with all cotton cloths for wiping the excess and then a small shop vac with a cotton cloth over the four inch attachment, works like a charm,