For what it's worth, I say spend the money on a commercial cleaning solution even if the price seems high. I'm a reformed consumer who resisted commercial products for the same reason as you. I tried just about every diy formulation on the web, but none work as well as on a dirty record as stuff from Buggtussel, Nitty Gritty, and others. After cleaning used lp's with diy solution, I still hear ticks, pops, etc. Very often, recleaning with the Nitty Gritty (or Buggtussel for really dirty ones) makes for substantially quieter playback. If you consider what equipment and vinyl costs, the cost of cleaning solutions is insignificant. However, if you want to try diy, just do a search on the subject, it's been covered before.
