VPI Record Cleaning - Does Bidirectional cleaning really make a difference?

I have an HW-17 and definitely think the reverse feature helps.  But, it is not essential if you wet the record and then turn off the motor and use a MoFi brush to go back and forth over the record surface much as you would do to wash a dinner plate.  Then turn the platter back on to vacuum it.  This works because you are scrubbing the record in both directions anyway. 

Wrong. This is no substitute for bidirectional motor. And unless the record is very dirty you don't want to scrub it, if you do you push the dirt deeper into the grooves. You move the brush rather gently while applying fluid, agitate a little. And Disc Doctor brush is better than Mo-Fi.

I've had a VPI 16.5 for years. I turn it on and scrub the bejeezus out of the record as it rotates. If necessary, I rinse (vacuum) and repeat. I use my own home remedy for a cleaning fluid. My friends use it too. Its as good as, or MUCH better than anything sold commercially out there. And it costs pennies per gallon of distilled water for the active ingredient. It really gets the gunk out of the bottom of the grooves, doesn't harm the records and really improves the sound. I've cleaned thousands of records this way, and harmed none of them. 

Inna,

I thought the mo-fi brushes were a copy of the Disc Doctor brushes?

Taters,
You are probably right.