How often to you clean vinyl and the needle?

Clean; when it comes to my home before I play.

Carbon brush before every play.

Needle; after Inspection or about 20 hrs of play.

Vinyl once, stylus as needed.

Record with brush before every play.

Stylus as needed = rarely.

I clean an LP on my Degritter when it first acquire it. If it's brand new I just do a DW cycle. If I bought it used I do a two-cycle clean, once with detergent followed by a DW rinse. After that, I clean the record as needed.

With my cartridges, I clean the stylus tip with the Lyra SPT and provided soft brush before each listening session. Then I use one of those round carbon stylus brushes after each side or at least each record (two sides). After about every 50 hours of use I clean my stylus with the Flux HiFi ultrasonic cleaner, but for no longer than 10-15 secs.

Records once if I play them rarely, maybe every year if I play them often. Needle-before playing each side. I hate vinyl and love tape.

Every record new or used goes thru my RCM, VPI HW17, before first play,  Then every record is treated with LAST.  Then every record gets a quick brush before each play on each side every time.  If any record gets noisy it goes thru the RCM again.  Stylus is lightly brushed with Stylast before each side is played.  I inspect the stylus regularly with a lighted magnifying glass several times per week.  If there is any sign of buildup (rare) I clean the stylus with an ultrasonic cleaner that I bought on Amazon that is made by Hudson.  It is remarkably effective.  Every six months the stylus is inspected using my Wild-Herrbrugg microscope.  This is mostly to monitor for wear.

I treat records with Last too, once. They even sound a touch better than without it.

I use an ultrasonic cleaner when I first receive an LP. Records are stored in proper anti static sleeves and album jacked is stored in proper sleeve as well. I never touch the surface of a Record with anything. Furutech anti static device. Common sense, IMHO, says never use anything that could push surface contaminants, visible or otherwise, into the grooves where the stylus rides. I clean the stylus every LP by touching it gently on a Audio-Technica AT617a Cartridge Stylus Cleaner.

Records in the Nitty Gritty when new. Rarely after that.  Stylus with Oznow after every side and usually a swipe with LP#9.  I have never had an issue with Lp#9 ever damaging a stylus or cartridge. 

I wonder how many of us who rarely clean their styli ever look at the stylus under high magnification after long term use. If you did you’d be motivated to clean the stylus every few sides. I routinely use Magic Eraser but to be really thorough I use a liquid solution and a tiny brush .

I clean my needle after I play a side of a record.

"I wonder how many of us who rarely clean their styli ever look at the stylus under high magnification after long term use. If you did you’d be motivated to clean the stylus every few sides. I routinely use Magic Eraser but to be really thorough I use a liquid solution and a tiny brush ."

lewm's point bears repeating.  Also controlling static one way or another and the use of antistatic sleeves are all important points well made.  The first records I bought with paper route money in 1963-4 are still in my collection today.  The one tool from yesteryear that I miss is the Dustbug.

LPs get cleaned on acquisition, given a new inner sleeve, and then cleaned again whenever I think they need it. A good clue is when flecks of dust will not blow off despite a treatment with an anti-static device.

A soft stylus brush before each session, and a carbon fibre brush with one drop of stylus solution about every week (exception: no wet brush gets used on the Deccas, with no cantilever it is too easy for liquid to get inside the cartridge).

Yes.

New or new to me used albums get cycle on the record cleaner with Last heavy duty cleaner and followed by Last Record Preservative . This typically only once.

Quick surface clean with Last General Purpose cleaner and drop the needle into a stylist cleaning gel for each play.

I clean the record before play with a carbon fiber brush, and I use a brush to clean the stylus after each play.  I use the LAST stylus cleaning fluid about once a month and the Oznow stylus cleaner about once a month, or when I think the sttylus has gotten some gunk on it.

This regimen, along with use of the LAST stylus preservative before each play, enabled my last stylus to play for over 1200 hrs. and still sound good.

Records get cleaned before first listen, even new ones. 

Needle gets ultrasonic cleaning when needed, brush it only on occasion when I see something on it. 

The less you touch the needle the less chance you have to ruin it. Have killed a needle trying to brush it. Then I got the UC cleaner, it also does a much better job. 

Those vibration based cleaners do work nicely, but they are not "ultrasonic".  The ones I know about, sold under the Audioquest brand and maybe some others, vibrate at around 500Hz.  That's why you can hear it.  I have the Audioquest version but use it rarely.

Clean all records upon acquisition.
One GruvGlide application per record.
Audioquest carbon fiber drop brush before every play.
Stylus clean once per listening session with one of those small round brushes going back to front. 
 

I'm surprised to see folks still using the Onzow product after the much publicized reports of it leaving a residue on the stylus and cantilever. Or has that been debunked since? 

I looked for any signs of residue after using my Onzow using my Wild-Heerbrugg microscope.  For those who may not know this is a very high quality microscope, one that McIntosh required their dealers to buy and have available for turntable service many years ago.  Audio Technica followed suit.  I actually own one of each as the two companies specified different models, M5 and M3 respectively.  At any rate, these microscopes allow you to examine a stylus in minute detail.  My conclusion was that I could not reach a definitive conclusion.  Certainly any residue buildup took a long time and many, many repetitive uses to form.  The occasional use of a liquid cleaner, there are many on the market, removed any residue.  I was able to form a residue using the Onzow exclusively, by waiting over a long period of time (months of daily use).  My feeling is that this is not the way the device is used in practice.  So whereas it is possible to develop a buildup, the user really has to be trying to do so, or be extraordinarily negligent.  I bought a new Onzow as mine was very old a year or so ago and have no qualms about using it.  I do think the new buzzy gadgets work better though.