Some thoughts on record cleaning machines and alternatives

On the topic of reliability - I've been a bit disappointed in my Clearaudio Double Matrix Pro Sonic (purchased brand new 2017). The "Pro" indicates it's rated for professional-duty workloads, but this has not been experience. I used it a good bit, but nowhere near as much as a "pro" workload (i.e. as it might be used in a record shop). After a few years, the liquid pump failed. I had this repaired under warranty, but then it soon failed again. I haven't bothered to ship it back again; I just spread the cleaning fluid manually (a bit of a bother as it has to be done manually now on both sides). Beyond that, there have also been some intermittent electrical glitches (e.g. random shut-down in the middle of a cleaning).

When it was fully working, I LOVED it - cleans both sides at once, fully automatic, does a great job; you just put the record on, press a button, and take it off when done. A quick-clean cycle took just 30 seconds; a minute to 90 seconds for the longer cycles. 

I simply don't have the patience for Ultrasonic "bath" machines; the dry cycles in particular seem painfully slow. I guess you could add a vacuum machine for quicker drying?

@richardbrand Now that you have explained your belief re. vacuum RCM and small particles we can at least have an intelligent conversation.  @mulveling raises the issue of drying speed.  This should give us the clue we need.  The particles, be they big or wee, are suspended in an aqueous solution during the cleaning process.  The trick is to remove the fluid with the suspended solids before the mixture can dry and leave a deposit on the vinyl.  Neil Antinn discusses this issue in his book.  Vacuuming is faster, ergo better than air drying.  In other words, there will be less solid deposits when vacuum drying is used.  Not because vacuuming picks up those wee particles out of the dry record grooves, but because it picks up the fluid that those wee particles are suspended in before the liquid dries leaving them behind deposited on our precious vinyl.

I have used a 16.5 since the mid '90s.  It has gone through several arm tubes and brushes in its life.  It lives in my downstairs powder room, on its wheeled stand that I built, so I can just wheel it over to the sink and its adjacent utility outlet.  The stand has a shelf for the cleaning solution and for the box of sleeves.

I use a home brew cleaning solution, distilled water, there is so much calcium in my well water, isopropyl alcohol and photographic wetting agent.

If I buy a used record I'll usually wash it twice, and of course a new sleeve.

I have wondered about using a few drops of dishwasher detergent in the distilled water rather that the photographic wetting solution- has anyone tried that.

A CRITICAL tool IMHO is my hearing protectors!  A heavy duty industrial pair.  I remember reading a review many years ago when the reviewer stated that he used the HW 65 every time before he played a record as the records sounded sweeter - my guess is that the exposure to the motor and vacuum noise reduced his acuity to higher frequencies!  My stand has a hook on the side for the hearing muffs.

@retiredaudioguy I recommend you read Neil Antinn's book.  Yes once upon a time I used to add a drop or two of Dawn to my home brew.  I also used vodka back in the day.  That was before I learned there are far better ways to clean records.

@elliottbnewcombjr I can recommend the HumminGuru to you.  I bought the Nova.  It does a good job on new or near new records, the company provides excellent customer support.  The machine is not robust and it will need maintenance and repair.   If you mostly are cleaning older records or buy a lot of used records, IMHO a VPI is a much better option.  These are far more robust, are faster, and they are more effective on very heavy dirt, finger prints, peanut butter and jelly and other sorts of grunge.