For everyday cleaning of surface dust a carbon fibre brush is the way to go. I just replaced mine with one of the carbon fibre brushed with velvet between the 2 lines of carbon fibre. I think it works better than the straight carbon fibre brush but they are very good too.
I keep spending money on records, many second hand, and I think a record cleaning machine is essential. However, since I keep spending my money on records I've never bought one. However, what I did was to use the idea of a modified crevice tool from this web site: http://www.teresaudio.com/haven/cleaner/cleaner.html and I use an old turntable I picked up cheap as the platform for cleaning. For over 95% of records this works a treat. I also steam the record first.
For those really stubborn records which still have pops and crackles after my normal cleaning process I use an artists paint brush and run straight isopropyl through the grooves before the normal cleaning process of steam, clean with fluid (one thirs isoproipyl, two thirds water and a few drops of dishwasher rinse aid) and clean/rinse with straight distilled water. I have a record I just bought which has crackles all the way through and I am about to try the PVA glue method on that one, we'll see how that goes but plenty of people swear by it - only for the really stubborn records in my opiunion though.
DS
I keep spending money on records, many second hand, and I think a record cleaning machine is essential. However, since I keep spending my money on records I've never bought one. However, what I did was to use the idea of a modified crevice tool from this web site: http://www.teresaudio.com/haven/cleaner/cleaner.html and I use an old turntable I picked up cheap as the platform for cleaning. For over 95% of records this works a treat. I also steam the record first.
For those really stubborn records which still have pops and crackles after my normal cleaning process I use an artists paint brush and run straight isopropyl through the grooves before the normal cleaning process of steam, clean with fluid (one thirs isoproipyl, two thirds water and a few drops of dishwasher rinse aid) and clean/rinse with straight distilled water. I have a record I just bought which has crackles all the way through and I am about to try the PVA glue method on that one, we'll see how that goes but plenty of people swear by it - only for the really stubborn records in my opiunion though.
DS