What is your record cleaning regimen?

I'm in the camp that has found every record not well cleaned by a previous owner will benefit from a good cleaning. 

Having evolved from manual processes with dishracks, air-drying etc to VPI to a regimen of US followed by wet vacuum rinses, I've improved audible results with a few missteps along the road. 

I can't comment on differences between the new crop of high$ machines ,but suspect the Degritter, Kirmuss etc. all perform at a generally high level. The Audiodesk is the best I've personally experienced. Due to budget priorities I've settled on a more modest solution that gives similar results to Loricraft, VPI Typhoon and  other >$1K options by investing a bit more "elbow grease".

@saulh This thread gives all the gory details and might be informative regarding your routine: 
Rushton's Approach to Ultrasonic Cleaning

From various threads, @pindac really stands out as an expert on record cleaning. Searching his posts might be worthwhile if you really want to dive deep on the topic. Cheers,

Spencer

Yes, thanks to some recommendations in this thread, I did a more thorough approach to cleaning LP’s, and I’m very pleased with the results.

Previously, I just did a 3-5 minute U/S clean, and if that didn’t leave the sounding perfect, I relegated the LP to the secondary pile.  Since then, I have taken a few of those LP’s, soaked them for about 15-30 minutes in warm (37 degrees C) water, run a little US, and then lightly scrubbed them with LP cleaner and an LP brush, then ran the US for another 5 minutes, and that removed about 90-99% of the crackles.  
The process is more labor intensive than I would prefer, but I can’t argue with the results.

I am not a expert in any shape or form. I have been given very valuable guidance from the advisories on offer in the Link I have added.

The PACVR as its 2nd Edition was enough to encourage myself to make amends for any previous methods used to clean a LP Groove.

I took the producing a recommended solution quite seriously and I believe I have the mixture ratio's as per the recommended. 

Today with the new adopted method I don't see the process as a Groove Cleaning Practice but more of Groove Purification Practice.

I make this statement without any reservations. I have had LP's cleaned in the past on what was considered a professional cleaning machine in the day, and have been regularly able to listen to a LP that has been through a Ultrasonic Cleaning process. I also set myself up to be able to clean with a UST.

I no longer see any of the other options as required, I am re-playing LP's that are being perceived as clean, to a standard where the perception of clean has not been witnessed in any past cleaning experiences.

I have brought a few extra disciplines to the process as a result of how I function in a professional manner. The simple to achieve idea of minimising cross contamination offers a extra satisfaction, as well as the simple to achieve pressurised rinses with a controlled Jet.

Most importantly I am unslanted on this subject, there is nothing to be gained for myself by endorsing the method. For me this is 'the method', and one that can be achieved that is not with any unwanted costs attached.         

PACVR-3rd-Edition

I use the VPI 16.5 machine.
Can anyone tell me how long one should scrub the record before drying? 
‘My records are mostly bought new and are not too dirty.

Anyone do a long (hours or days) soak with a label protector for persistently crackly records?

Any success?

pindac,

 FINALLY, someone posted a well written and informative paper that first seemed daunting to read all the pages, but it gets to the real scientific proof of cleaning vinyl in a specific way. All too often people just wipe an album with a brush or cloth and consider it to be sufficient. 

 By looking at the microscopic photos of both a stylus and the vinyl itself, maybe it will become clear that this is not like washing your dinner dishes. The results have to affect the removal of debree on the same level as the stylus encounters them.

  It makes me wince when people use products not remotely intended or designed for the purpose at hand. WD-40, Mr. Clean eraser,  Scotch Guard, blue tack, and so much more used in stylus cleaning and the vinyl as well.

@whart 

Can you please elucidate the method of point nozzle vacuum cleaning?  What instruments are used, and how is it done? 
Thanks. 

Sure. No mystery- just one generic name for the type of vacuum arm that the Keith Monks, Loricraft and a few others use:

That’s the business end of the nozzle- smaller aperture than the wand or slot type vacuum heads; also note the "string"- apparently no longer employed on some of the newest Monks models. The string acts as a buffer to prevent the nozzle from clinging to the record surface through suction and also gets continually refreshed from a motor driven bobbin on mine- thus the contact point with the record gets renewed constantly and old thread is drawn into the waste jar along with the vacuumed fluid or water.

The original and rebooted Monks machines were very Rube Goldberg but cool--mine, a reboot from around 2010, uses a German dialysis pump, is quiet compared to some RCMs. (The machine uses a Mini windshield washer pump actuator too-very British).

Its chief claim to fame is, I think, that is was the "first" record cleaning machine. If you read about the history of Percy Wilson, the tech editor of the old Gramophone Magazine, and his work on record cleaning, you’ll find that the Monks machine grew out of that work from the mid-60s. And there you have it. It does a very nice job. I had mine refurbished at the time I bought it, used.

I put a record in the slot nothing happens I have to reset the record in the slot sometimes more than once before it will start up.

The record sometimes stops prior to seating on the rollers, so I insert the record and let it stop, then I lift a bit and let it down.  This works for me.