Record Cleaning Machines

If you handle records properly and remove the dust with a carbon fiber brush properly before each play, the need for a RCM seems to be greatly reduced. I guess if you buy a lot of used records that are very dirty, it could come in handy. How does grime get in there without fingerprints? Records are only exposed while playing,Then immediately put into MFSL rice paper sleeves.

I tried a RCM a while back (forget what type-around $700) on my oldest records (although they were in very good shape) and could not tell the difference after they were cleaned, playing them immediately before and after.

I remember a long time ago an engineer who ran a high end audio shop told me not to put any liquid on a record - just use a carbon fiber brush and it has worked for me for 40+ years.

Wow! Talk about complicated and time consuming. Not to mention keeping track of which records were cleaned when.

With all the micron talk, nobody is talking about sound quality.

Since my records are shiny and in visibly excellent condition and have no surface noise, I’m going to stick with the carbon fiber brush before every stylus drop. If it only gets rid of the audible dust particles and doesn’t pick up the microscopic dust that doesn’t interfere with the stylus tip scraping through the groove thousands of times its size, who cares?

@oldaudiophile- i use a very dense brush to clean my stylus maybe once a week with a slight amount of MFSL stylus cleaning fluid. That sometimes makes a difference in SQ when I can see some dust on the brush.

Sounds like youve got a good tracking system down. You must go through a lot of stickers! So you count the number of plays per cleaning, or does it very by time, or record condition? 

+1 @mijostyn.   Only thing I would add is that if there is an out of print record I want, I will occasionally buy it if it is NM or mint condition.

i have never had one of those come back dirty. Occasionally they have a minor scratch/pop for a revolution or two, but I’ve had new records sometimes sound worse. In the worst of those cases, the vendor will allow a return, especially if they’ve seen a pattern of problems. 
I know one person who has a multi $K RCM who never brushes his records before playing them. What a waste, pure insanity.

@bigtwin - I'm sure the spit that hits the record when you blow on it doesn't help with the cleaning. Carbon fiber bristle record brushes (not the thick ones) sweep the dust off and have a blade (if you want to call it that) that removes the dust from the brush when you sweep it over that. I'll do a main sweep for a couple revolutions, clean off the brush and then do an angled sweep towards the middle of the record and then the blade sweep. If your records are not generating surface noise and you bought them new or are not trying to resuscitate an uncared for used record, then IMHO you don't need a RCM.

As far as using a fan @oldaudiophile, you shouldn't get the record wet unless as I mentioned, it is dirty. 

I do use a leaf blower.....WHEN DRYING MY CAR! Dirt on a towel will scratch the paint.

The dust on a record doesn't come from the road. Unless you handle the record like a gorilla and/or use paper or junky sleeves, it should stay the way you got it if you keep the dust off of it. Unless you have a ton of dust in your air, a carbon fiber bristle brush does the trick. I do keep the records in MFSL rice paper sleeves, and jackets in clear poly sleeves, and MFSLs have a folder that the record goes into that then goes in a jacket. 

For the ultimate in OCD, the original UHQRs  (DSOTM, COTC, FP, SPLHCB, IR, TFTT and a classical one) have the sleeve, the folder, the jacket, and then a box with 2 foam inserts to hold the record into the box. It also includes a frequency response graph inserted into an envelope on the inside of the box and the number of the pressing on an authenticity certificate and the actual jacket. Probably would cost $200 these days (before all the scalpers bought them and jacked up the prices). They just started making extra large poly sleeves which fit these and other small box set releases, so I use them on these prized records. So 5 steps just to put the record back and then one more to put it back in the cabinet! They sound pretty good too. Especially Finger Paintings, Sgt Pepper, and Crime of the Century.

Nice clip MC, as usual you are always spot on with the hilarious exaggerations from movies or TV shows.

@oldaudiiophile - I didn’t imply that the fan would hurt anything. I was just saying that if you don’t ever wet the record, you wouldn’t need a fan to dry it. You answered my question about frequency of cleaning, thanks. So I would buy a RCM, clean my records once and then forget about it unless I got a dirty used record (which wouldn’t happen)? No thanks.

 Like I said, I tried it on a wet RCM a couple years ago on 40 year old records played hundreds if not a thousand times and could not hear any difference before or after, nor did the salesman trying to sell me one. I think it was like $700, maybe a VPI? Maybe an ultrasonic would be better, but if I don’t hear any surface noise, are you saying the SQ improves with better dynamics, bass, clarity, etc. after being cleaned? I find that hard to believe if the record has been well cared for and has been brushed for dust, but I accept that you heard it.

That’s why this forum is so great, we can respectfully disagree knowing in this hobby it is very rarely cut and dry. A little comedy never hurts either to counteract the network news hysteria of the day.