Vinyl Care

All I can say is wow.

I only hope if I ever need critical surgery,my Surgery team is as devoted to cleanliness as you folks.lol

I will have to keep it simple at first,and just pick one of these devices and start there.

Thanks

Good call. Have fun 😊

I was in a similar situation, having hardly played records after CDs came out.

Thanks to this forum, I discovered the bible on how to clean records.  It is PACVR-3rd-Edition - Precision Aqueous Cleaning of: Vinyl Records.

Like the bible, at 192 pages it is pretty lengthy.  But unlike the bible, the author Neil Antin is still alive and is active on this forum!

What I have distilled from this is that

1. newer line contact stylus profiles read information from parts of the groove walls that have not been 'worn out' by older stylus shapes
2. ultrasonic cleaning is the best way to dig contaminants from deep in the groove
3. most contamination is far too small to see with visible light and most people do not have access to electron microscopes

So I bought a Chinese ultrasonic record cleaner for less than A$300 and use it once on all my records, old or new.  Polysorbate 20 is the 'detergent' and I use water passed through a Brita ion-exchange filter.  Then I rinse the records using a very dilute mix of Ilfoton photographic wetting agent and let them air dry on the rack that came with the machine.

I replace the inner sleeves with Japanese Nagaoka anti-static sleeves.

Before playing any side, I use an AudioQuest carbon fibre anti-static record brush just in case there is any dust.

After switching to this regime, my stylus stays clean far longer.  When it needs cleaning, I use Audio Technica stylus cleaning fluid brushed from the rear (my main cartridge is an Audio Technica with a Micro-line stylus).  I follow up by lowering the stylus a couple of times into a gel pad which is a purpose built alternative to clay - the DS Audio ST-50 stylus cleaner.

The bottom line is that most of the old pops and crackles have audibly disappeared though nothing can remove scratches.  I believe static electricity is the biggest cause of surface noise and water is an excellent way of discharging static.  I also think static charges are created in the groove when it is rubbed by a diamond stylus.  Charged particles of dust are attracted and stick incredibly firmly - the inverse square law of attraction applies. 

I sometimes use the carbon fibre brush after playing a side, especially if I see any dust.  And I do use a dust cover while playing.

for cleaning tips I do come here. As for humor.....

I just got a humminguru Nova and I love it. Not sure what your budget is, but you should check out humminguru.