Margot, I believe in a 'pure' water rinse- how pure can drive you to distraction, but in my estimation, it is good practice- to remove any residue from the fluid and pick up any remaining contaminants.So, yes, separate applicators, vacuum wands/towers (for the rinse step vacuum). There are all kinds of tricks you pick up along the way- for example if a record is pretty nasty, you want to pre-clean before you clean- especially to avoid grinding detritus into the grooves by vigorous agitation/scrubbing. (There are scrubbers and flooders, all different pews in the same 'church').
I wrote an extensive piece on all this, including an interview with the Library of Congress folks on cleaning practices. Happy to send or post, so long as you (and others) appreciate that it is based on my personal experience, and not meant as the last word on the subject-