CleanerVinyl-Ultrasonic record cleaner

I now use a  Chinese 10L US cleaner and a Vinyl Stack.  My process:

Spin Clean, as a pre cleaner to dislodge most of the dirt etc on the LP, blot dry.

US clean using Rushton's formula, at 1/3 rpm / 5 rev in 15min.

Rinse.

Nitty Gritty vacuum dry.  Then inserted into a new MoFi inner sleeve.

I change all fluids after 20 LPs.

There is a considerable amount of debris in the Spin Clean tank after a cleaning session. There is *also* a surprising amount of debris in the US tank after a cleaning session, representing debris *not* removed by the Spin Clean alone.

Damage is still audible.  The background of undamaged LPs is now lower than the background of my system.  Amazing to hear music decay into nothing, or an arbitrary cutoff where the engineer cut the signal.   The low level Shhhhh/Woosh sound is removed from undamaged LPs.   Transient response and low level ambiance clues are significantly improved.   I have noted an increase in pops tics on some LPs as I get closer to the record label indicating some tweaking of my process is needed.   Overall US *is* a significant step forward.

@iopscrl,

The main reason I prefer my steam method is that among other important things, there is no "tank" that the initial debri falls into to possibly be redistributed again. (I’ve read that the Spin Clean fluid has an agent that allows for debri to fall to the bottom).

There are SO many positive aspects of steaming. They are very logical, which I find to be the most persuasive argument for most things.

My belief regarding the amount of ticking one experiences at the beginning/end of lps is related to the pressing process/quality.(IMO).

@pryso,

I use steaming solely for my initial cleaning of lps. I do not use it in any way as a replacement for US cleaning.

I’ve found the I achieve superior results with my pre-steam method, then a VPI rinse, then US, the a VPI rinse.

Using plain distilled water after I steam is great.

...let's not forget that at the more extreme two ends of a lp, there will be more tracking error.

Great thread guys. I'm looking to get one of these US cleaners as a pre-step to a final rinse/dry with a VPI HW-17.

I currently do the following:
1) Clean with a Spin Clean in distilled water
2) Rinse with a (second) Spin Clean in distilled water
3) Rinse/dry with a VPI HW-17 in pure water

How are you guys doing the steaming as the first step in your process?

Witnessed this again yesterday in a diner's men's room:
Guy comes out from a toilet stall, goes to the sink, turns on faucet, places hands under the water stream, then turns off faucet. By the time you get to finish the previous sentence, guy is out the door. What is wrong with this scenario and what's that got to do with cleaning vinyl records?

While accepted as the "universal solvent", water needs help to run off unwanted dirt, gunk, debris, germs, etc., from any surface, including the presumably dirty hands of that guy. The kind of help with mechanical and/or chemical solutions depends on our valuation of acceptable risks on vinyl and environment. Ultimately however, the main purpose of any solution is to lessen the physical or chemical BOND between gunk and records. Science of cavitation holds much promise in that regard. But I wait in the sidelines while others experiment. My records are old like me and ... irreplaceable, unlike me!

Rinsing with water afterwards must maximally FLUSH out the "un-bonded" gunk off our records.

Then DRYING. The drying method will depend on one's patience. Evaporation is slow, sans static electricity of rubbing. Vacuum extraction is quick. 

BTW, water as described is not "tap". Buy online laboratory grade distilled water. The chemical solution to use depends on your conscience. Or wallet.

Implementation of vinyl cleaning, like hygiene, is a personal choice, like that guy in the men's restroom.