Can I clean my records manually?

Truth is, I would buy an expensive RCM in a heartbeat if I had the cash. Too bad for me. I have been thinking of at least getting the KAB so I don't have to spin by hand at least.

And to echo the original poster: "Am I that ignorant? Please, let me down easy."

Thanks for doing so. :-)

We are all ignorant to 99.99% of the worlds knowledge. That's why we need Audiogon and the internet.

i will be a record cleaning person tonight, got the cardinals and reds, go birds to watch while i go to it, i wait till i have 20 or more lps to clean, i have been hitting the used shops and have come up with a few jems for me, i will break out the lazy susan, mini shop vac, disc doctor cleaner and brushes, one for scrubing, the other for a double rinse with distilled water, it will take me at least a couple of hours, but no doubt about it you have to clean your lps to get way down into the music, btw this thread is a good one, as the auto and manual debate goes on,

Ok, so, since I started this post I decided to go the manual route. My routine has rendered many of my records down to only a few ticks per side with only one cleaning. Here it is:

1. Begin with a good steam bath! I have a clothes steamer which looks like a canister vacuum but actually shoots out steam instead of vaccuuming. The attachment is perfect for covering the surface of the record.

2. Scrub with Record Research Lab cleaner.

3. Another steam to rinse and lift out the crud

3. Vacuum with a shopvac.

Can someone tell me how a RCM could do a better job???? (Serious question not retorical!)

Pawlowski6132, I think it would take some work with a microscope to check whether your method removes as much debris, whether it adds scratches, and whether it damages the wall of the vinyl as compared with the best record cleaners. There is also the concern with the L'art du Son of not removing vinyl molecules. Finally, there is the question of how much extra time your method takes and how much you value your time.

If you like what you hear, I would suggest you just move on.