how to clean old LPs

steam, steam, steam. cheap and very effective

You mean with steam from boiled water?

There are several cleaning alternatives. Many people here like using one of the multi-step cleaning fluid solutions such as Walker Audio Prelude, Audio Intelligent or Disc Doctor. Use your Matrix cleaner to vacuum away the fluid residue between steps. My preference is for the Walker Audio Prelude, but I hear reports of very good results from Audio Intelligent as well.

Steam cleaning with a small hand held steamer also has its proponents on this board. Read the many posts on this topic carefully and use care if you follow this approach.

Not as commonly discussed here is ultrasonic bath cleaning, but that requires different equipment.

Go to Wallyworld and pick up a hand held steamer with a 4" attatchment..I use a Shark Steamer..I can't imagine any cleaner ( manual or automatic ) that will remove more grunge and leave a more clean surface than Steam cleaning...I know there are guys ( and gals ) with plenty of Green to buy the Big Boy Auto cleaners,,but for a few bucks these little hand held steamers will compete with anything.........No bells and whistles but they work....

I had a similar situation to yours - my vinyl collection sat unplayed for about 15 years. When I first took them out again to play them, they all played awful - pops, ticks etc. My suspicion is mold, but who knows. I first tried manual cleaning using a few different fluids but that was too much work and the results were mixed (likely due to my own laziness and impatience).

I purchased a record cleaning machine and they all play like new again. I have not tried the steam cleaners, though I plan to get one for really dirty LP's, but for mass cleaning, I think the RCM pays off just in time saved. I also purchase a lot of used lp's and they all need a thorough cleaning. When you can buy albums for $1 - $5 that play like new after a good cleaning, the RCM really starts to pay off.

A Nitty Gritty RCM can be purchased for $150 (i needs to be hand cranked) I think. I started with one of those and it worked great. After I realized I was in it for the long run I purchased a VPI 16.5 for $350 used. It's less work and does a great job. I mix my own fluid - there are recipes online and they work as well as the expensive ready made solutions.

actually I'm looking for nitty gritty fluid cleaner , and maybe SOTA RCM , do you all think that will solve the problem?

Thorman, what do you do next after applying the steam? Do you scrub with a brush, wipe with microfiber cloth, dry it??? Also, do you steam the LP with it lying flat (steam from above)?

VPI 16.5 with Walker Fluids and a Walgreens steam clearner. Best I have tried. Better than Clearaudio or NittyGritty.

vinyl_33
I have a ( jig ) 4' Rod/Spindle set up where I can spin the record while steaming and once steamed ( still wet and dripping ) I give it a water rinse cycle and while still wet I put them on a DIY( Turntable )Vacuum system to suck any liquid left.You can also just wipe lightly with a Micro Fiber cloth .Any real dirty records I hand clean with a record cleaning fluid ( in the kitchen sink ) before hand.. The hand cleanng only takes the one time and my records now never get dirty....The steamer does a fabulous job..Specially for the low cost........

Nothing wrong with the SOTA RCM (as far as I know), but for fluids I'd suggest you re-read Rushton's post. Any of the fluids he mentioned will outperform the NG fluid, as will the enzyme-based fluid system from MoFi. Old records long stored tend to pick up biological growths. Enzymes work well at removing those, better than anything else I've tried anyway.