This is my first post on this forum so please be easy on me :)
I have decided to get back into vinyl in the last half year and have been collecting records for the first time since my youth. And most of my new audio kit is on the way. Long story short: I've led a very nomadic life for the last 15 years, and possessing audio equipment was just not possible -- but now it is.
So for the better part of the past two days I have been reading old and new forum posts on cleaning LPs to include some monster threads such as the one on steam cleaning. Bravo to you steam cleaning advocates. I have yet to read the thread on which water to use though.
Anyhow, I don't have a huge budget (anymore) so RCMs and ultrasonic kit are out. I'd rather spend the funds on music at this point. So this is what I gathered so far from a newbie to analog needing to get his cleaning regimen in order.
1) Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Super Deep Cleaner w/ dedicated brush. I have a lot of new vinyl and they advertise this to take off that new film that comes on vinyl.
2) AIVS Enzymatic Formula with dedicated brush (for the dirtier older records that start to trickle in). I'm not sure if this must be used with other AIVS products in some step process. Can't it just be steamed off?
3) Regular cleaning fluid with dedicated brush for normal cleaning. Not sure here, maybe AIVS one-step or homemade. I know there are other good fluid brands too, but my preference is to avoid proprietary 'step' processes if at all possible. I could be talked out if this though.
4) Handheld Steamer. One of the teapot ones similar to this one
http://amzn.to/1zYLgCK. It seems close to the same models that have popped up over the years.
5) Water for steamer. Battery water, de-mineralized, R/O, grade 1. As I have said, I still have yet to read the water thread.
6) Spin-clean. Run the LP through the spin clean after steaming it to remove any debris.
7) Drying Rack for air drying.
8) Put LP in Mofi Master Sleeves and date the sleeve with last cleaning.
So there it is. I have tried to read a lot on this from past forum posts, but after reading hundreds of posts the 'chatter' started to get in the way and it became less effective. I read probably 4-6 hours on this topic alone -- not to mention all the turntable and phono stage threads.
I chose AIVS fluids, not because I know it is better, but I had to start somewhere. I know there are other cleaning fluids out there: Walker, TTVJ, L'Art du Son, Mofi, etc, and I imagine they all do a fairly good job.
There are also some things I am still a rather fuzzy on though:
Microfiber cloths. Is it possible to dry records with microfibers after the cleaning process? Or is this not recommended? I see them mentioned every now and then. I use microfibers all the time for various specialized cleaning and it seems as if there would be some applications to vinyl where it could be useful over brushes.
I have also seen videos (stltrains for instance) where one uses a RCM in conjunction with a steam cleaner, but I am not sure if there are some best practices for doing it by hand w/o an RCM. I was also wondering if I could rig up a cheap beater of a record player to rotate the record while steaming. Of course, avoiding electrocution would be nice :)
Again, I am a complete noob to this, and everything I have listed above has been gathered on this forum from a lot of very helpful, knowledgeable, and probably crazy audiophiles.
Any tips, suggestions, or other critiques are very welcome. This is a great resource for audio knowledge, and for that I thank you in advance.
k.
