Vinyl foibles

I have albums in my collection that I bought with paper route money circa 1960.  LOL, and that was after several years of experience playing my grandmother's 78s on her windup Victrola.  How old do we have to be to qualify around here?  Anyway, manufacturing records is a dirty process.  So, my first advice for you is to put your new records in your Degritter before their first play.  Next, clean off your turntable platter probably daily.  I usually use a microfiber cloth to do that.  Next, check the air filter on your hvac system, it probably would benefit you to replace it more often.  I change my filter every 3 months and I don't live in a dusty environment.  Next, take a hard look at your dust jackets.  Are they paper?  If so throw them away and get some good ones.  I have preferred Sleeve City Disckeepers for years, but MoFi and others make good ones too.  Finally, every time you put a record on the turntable do two things before dropping the needle:  Give the record a swipe with a good record brush to remove any dust and, take a soft brush to clean the stylus with a gentle back to front motion to remove any dirt that might be on it.  I use Stylast for that, but a small artist's paint brush works fine. Do these two things for every side of every record.   

What they said. Also ensure the humidity is not less than 50% as static builds up and can attract dust and also cause pops on the phono input.

On WBF (Whats Best Forum) theres been lots of discussions regarding the use of static eliminators. There are 2 Japanese companies that produce them specifically for audio, DS Audio and CS Port. They are pricey but they do work. 

I've had a DeGritter for years that I use on my records - I just buy new ones and run them through there once - and I've noticed the same thing; they play perfect the first time, but not often, but sometimes subsequent plays will have a small tic or two, but I've not experienced what sound like scratches. 

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I do most of them but don't clean my HVAC filter as often as I might. As for my turntable platter, I cover it with a cork mat because it is a VPI made of metal. I like a little more softness. I have no idea how to clean the cork mat, though, and I sometimes think this might be the culprit. I cover it with the felt mat VPI provides when the turntable is not in use. I have a static gun that really doesn't do all that much good, I think. Certain records are so full of static they lift the cork mat off the turntable. As carefully as I can I use a fingernail to separate them. I always use MOFI-type inner sleeves. For some reason 180 and 200 gram records seem to pick up the most dirt. They also get real, unremovable ticks. A stereo store owner who was highly regarded in the analogue field told me that the 180 and 200 gram records are made of softer vinyl and wear more easily.