Clearaudio Double Smart Matrix or Loricraft PRC4

I don't use steam as a replacement, it is part of my regimen that also includes AIVS cleaners and rinse. However, I have found in my DIY cleaning station that steam does enhance the results I get. For others, YMMV. But there is no issue with heat.

What you guys with the expensive machines miss the most is the great backlog of lps that need cleaning stacking up in the corner. :-) Lends an eclectic look to the room. I call it "retro-yard sale".

APicture for those who love some serious engineering. Inside of the German Source Odyssey RCM :-)

Point Nozzle RCM

Syntax, That photo makes me want to trade in my PRC4.

Dan_ed, Is that stack of LP's not there because those of us with expensive machines don't have any money left over to buy more LP's or is it not there because some machines like the wand vacuum types are so much faster than your DIY cleaning regiment that owners have already gone through their stacks of dirty records and there is no time for a backload to build up? :^)

I just talked to a guy who has the automatic Audiodesk machine who did 100 LP's in an 8-hour marathon session last weekend. It has taken me three months to do 100 LP's so I have quite a stack built up but my wife won't allow it in the LR so it's hidden away.

Doug, I agree, common sense dictates that a wand style machine can be a source of re-contamination. But that those inherit qualities can be lessened with a few additional steps. I always assumed as well, the abrasive qualities by physical contact could as well create damage to the vinyl surface, and groove.

A pre-cleaing/pre-dusting before the record reaches the RCM will lessen what the Wand encounters. Periodic replacement of the Vacuum Wand and/or protective velvet strips.

An additional wand dedicated for rinse only will help, and of course the obvious, is a simple additional rinse step at the end.

I understand as well, that groove silence, or the omission of clicks-pops to be used as a gauge to judge a cleaner's-rinses efficiency.

That clicks-pops can be damage, or anomalies in the vinyl that no cleaner, or RCM will magically remove.
Mark

I have come to reguard debates on record cleaning methods as pointless. It's a no win arguement. First of all there are endless ways of reaching essentially the same result. Second, we judge the results by listening(which is an inherently subjective experience) on systems which differ in a multitude of ways between us.
I use the VPI. I've heard records cleaned on Doug's Loricraft and Albert's Odyssey and Audiodesk. All produce impressive results. A friend of mine on a tight budget uses the Spin Clean(dirty word to many of you I'm sure) and I'm surprised at how effective that device can be. The most important thing is to not play dirty vinyl, whatever your method.
In the end do what works for you and you can afford. I agree that "audiophile" purified water is a rip off. There's no way it can be more pure than Nerl lab grade water and even if it was it would not have any detectable impact on the results.