cleaning gritty surface noise on LPs

OP,

Oops, I did not read carefully enough. I still use VPI cleaning fluid… non alcoholic. Long ago I did a ridiculously deep dive into cleaning fluids. One rule was no alcohol. I have tried a few fluids. My take is that if you have a really good table and cartrige and a good vacuum cleaning doesn’t do it… then nothing is going to change that. Toss it.

I mention the table, because when I got my first audiophile table the noise level dropped dramatically, particularly in my ancient heavily played albums. I believe because the stylist is a fraction of the size of the ones I used way back when… so they drop down to pristine vinyl. So, a cleaning and a really good cartridge can eliminate the noise.

Yes. It is pretty easy… but requires a bit of effort.

For most albums the answer is a vacuum disk washer. There are many on the market… like VPI, I use the German Nessie… there are many. Some are ultrasonic, these may be slightly better than traditional - dispense fluid / vacuum up type.

I have 2,000 albums. A few hundred from the 70’s, heavily played. With an audiophile table (these reduce surface noise by a huge amount), and cleaning… they sound nearly pristine. Inexpensive vacuum cleaners like VPI sound a lot like a jet landing… better quality ones are smaller and MUCH quieter.

But owning vinyl and getting the most out of it requires a vacuum cleaning device.

After a thorough vacuum cleaning, I apply LAST record preservative. Seldom does a record need vacuum cleaning again. . I use LAST general cleaner and their brush before playing… to keep the dust off the album and stylist.

There are a few albums… for me I have found maybe 1%… that are hopeless. If a vacuum cleaner doesn’t do it… then either live with it or toss it.