Cleaning Records


I have a rather small record collection made up of about 25% new records, 25% old albums that I've purchased from local shops, and 50% old albums of my dad's that have been sitting in the garage for a good 10 years.
As far as cleaning goes, I guess the obvious part is buying a carbon-fiber brush to dust them off before each play, but I'm lost as to what I should do to REALLY clean them. I only spent about $400 on my turntable, so buying a VPI record cleaner used for $800 doesn't seem right for me right now. Are there any cleaners that do a comprabale job for under $100 if possible, possibly $200. How should I go about cleaning without a cleaning machine? People have talked about washing their records. Does this process actually include holding the record in the sink and pouring deionized water over it? How would I clean it?
If I were to clean it with a cloth, would I move around the record in circles as opposed to moving from the label outward? I've seen a lot of "record-cleaning solutions". How does one use these? Just mix it in water and pour it on the record? Wouldn't it harm the record to actually apply force to it when "scrubbing"?
I found a bottle of D4 that I bought a while ago. Should I use it? And if yes, do I dillute it in water first?
I'm obviously very new to all of this, and I would appreciate any help.
boxingnun
I'm sure that some LP purists will scream bloody murder, but for really dirty records you can literally wash them under luke warm ordinary water in the kitchen sink. Use dishwashing soap, and some kind of fine brush or velvet cloth to wipe in the direction of the grooves. The hardest part is drying them off without getting fresh lint on them. If you put them back into the old record sleeves you will have the dust problem all over again. Don't use too hot water, or you will warp them. Some folk would play the record while it was still wet...this was supposed to sound good. Surprisingly I never noticed much difference, wet or dry.
Water with soap is not enough for dirty or new records.Unless you want to use,say,Disc Doctor or Last cleaning fluids and brushes,I suggest a mixture of 25% of alcohol and 75% of water,preferably distilled.But I would not use it myself for rare and valuable records,just in case.I would use Last for them,a fluid proven for decades.I sometimes use a WET towel to wipe most of the water off and then dry the records in the air.Apply as little pressure as possible while wiping off;wet towel should not scratch, but be careful.You can also damage the labels with water.
Eldartford, Stereophile last year played around with one of these hand held steam cleaners with really great results.
You are the ideal candidate for a "Disco Antistat Manual Record Cleaner". This is the Hi-Fi Choice ***** and Product of the Year. Visit www.russandrews.com, where a bottle of Revive will be included to uniquely remove Mould Release Agent left in the grooves.
25 percent alcohol and 75 percent water...Sounds like gin to me!... Don't laugh...It might work.