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Cleaning Records

I have a rather small record collection made up of about 25% new records, 25% old albums that I've purchased from local shops, and 50% old albums of my dad's that have been sitting in the garage for a good 10 years.
As far as cleaning goes, I guess the obvious part is buying a carbon-fiber brush to dust them off before each play, but I'm lost as to what I should do to REALLY clean them. I only spent about $400 on my turntable, so buying a VPI record cleaner used for $800 doesn't seem right for me right now. Are there any cleaners that do a comprabale job for under $100 if possible, possibly $200. How should I go about cleaning without a cleaning machine? People have talked about washing their records. Does this process actually include holding the record in the sink and pouring deionized water over it? How would I clean it?
If I were to clean it with a cloth, would I move around the record in circles as opposed to moving from the label outward? I've seen a lot of "record-cleaning solutions". How does one use these? Just mix it in water and pour it on the record? Wouldn't it harm the record to actually apply force to it when "scrubbing"?
I found a bottle of D4 that I bought a while ago. Should I use it? And if yes, do I dillute it in water first?
I'm obviously very new to all of this, and I would appreciate any help.
boxingnun

Showing 1 response by shersta

shersta
140 posts
 
Let me cast another vote for the Disc Doctor products. My budget for stereo stuff is very limited and I've tried a number of low budget solutions to lp cleaning (orbitrac, diy cleaners, etc.) I've found the DD stuff to be the best for the money. You could get a qt. of the DD stuff, some new vrp sleeves and a carbon fiber brush for around $100. I use an old tt as a cleaning station. I apply the DD solultion with the supplied brushes, clean off with toilet paper, apply distilled water, vacuum mostly dry*. and allow to completely air dry in a dish rack.
*I bought an extra wand for my wet/dry vac, blocked off the end, cut a slit in it, and attached felt to the contact surfaces--works great. Feel free to email me if you have any further questions.
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