AIVS No 15, followed by some kind of "pure water" rinse. You should buy two vacuum arm mounts and wands- one for the fluid and one for the rinse. The Disc Doctor or MoFi type pads work well on the VPI- though they absorb more liquid initially than a brush. Even though I have other cleaning fluids, machines, use ultrasonic, etc. for problem records, I will use the AIVS No 15 plus lab water rinse- in some cases it will, with multiple cleanings bring a distorted record that sounds trashed back from the dead if the noise is due to ground in/glued in contaminants. Some records are just trashed and no amount of cleaning will revive them. But I can favorably compare using the AIVS No. 15/pure water method on a VPI using multiple wands and applicators to my far more costly cleaning equipment. Much of it is in the method.
ISO advice on record cleaning fluids
I'm looking to compare notes with vinyl fans who, like me, haven't sprung the big bucks for an ultrasonic cleaner (such as the one made by Audiodesk) and who still use fluids to clean their LPs. I clean mine with a VPI HW-16.5 vacuum machine, but for really dirty records (e.g., garage sale finds) I add the extra step of washing them first in a humble (but for the price, very effective) Spinclean. With the VPI machine, I've alternately been using Mobile Fidelity solutions, as well as those from VPI. I am, however, curious about other solutions -- especially, based on the reviews I've read, those made by Audio Intelligent (AI). So I'd welcome feedback for any of you who have tried other solutions. Thanks
Michael
Michael