are all used LPs dusty?

"Wetting without vacuuming away the sludge just rearranges the sludge. "

True vacumming is the most common solution I suppose.

I have found that using tightly folded edges of a very soft and absorbent paper towel like a record cleaner while the record is spinning does a very good job of removing excess solution when cleaning a record.

I've been doing this with good results using my Linn Axis table now for a good 25 years or so.

I use extremely dilute Shaklee Basic H cleaner in water, distilled water is preferred if availble.

I spary the record surface down thoughourghly, place teh record on teh table, give it a good scrubbing with an old discwasher brush, drying the discwasher brush periodically as I go using another absorbent paper towel as needed.

Then I use the paper towel technique above to dry the record.

Once you develop the technique, is is inexpensive and most effective with only one pass and only takes a couple minutes per record side.

Anyone know how to assess if a record is going to be noisy due to groove damage by previously bad needles? I've been disappointed a few times buying a used lp after judging it "very clean/near mint" in the store's light but discover at home bad static like background noise rendering the disc unlistenable. Now I recognize it's one of the risks in used lps hunting. One clue I look for is the amount of impressions around the center hole of the label. If there's a lot of tracks around it, it tells me its been played a lot so I might downgrade it among my decision factors (price, pressing, rarity, etc...) in purchasing it or not. Finally, if anyone has any tips to spot "noisy" records that look clean-good, let us know.

Anyone know how to assess if a record is going to be noisy due to groove damage by previously bad needles?

IMHO,the only way to know for sure is listen to it.I have LPs that look totally trashed and sound excellent and brand new ones that look,well,brand new but sound like crap.I'm sure there are some folks that claim they can tell just by a visual inspection but I don't believe it.Just call me Doubting Thomas.

I recall a product in the late 70's/early 80's that you were supposed to spray on vinyl to 'protect' it. It left them very shiny, as if ArmorAll'd, but made them noisy due to trapping existing dust, as well as leaving behind microbubbles. So much for shine vs. functionality.

You'll thank yourself if you get a VPI HW 16.5 record cleaning machine. You can buy them used for @$350. And sell them used for around $350. It's like buying basic tools if you're going to rebuild the brakes on your car.

PS-pls. don't "wipe a used LP with a towel"......