Hi Jesse,
I decided to go ahead and post this even though I have already sent it to you. I am sure some others will have opinions that will help you.
Here is a description of what I use and how I go about it. I hope it makes sense I have never tried to explain it to anyone before.
I bought a 12” marble lazy-susan on ebay for about $20 delivered and put two layers of shelf liner on it, this allows any excess water to drain away from the record. I use L’Art du Son cleaner because of its price and it has no alcohol. I had a couple of old Discwasher brushes and like them because they hold a lot of liquid and have a large surface area. The steamer I use is a Shark again because I had it. The only drawback with it is there are two openings in the nozzle so one does not hit the record.
My thoughts on cleaning are plenty of liquid and lots of agitation. So I put a bead of cleaner around the record and using a wet brush cover the record brushing forward and backwards several times around. Then holding the nozzle about 8” away and at a 45-60 degree angle to the record surface work from the outside to the inside.
The vapor that hits the record is not steam at this distance but warm to the touch pressurized water vapor. I do not believe any brush is fine enough to get down into the groove. So I use the brush and steamer to agitate the cleaner that is in there.
After the first steaming I use the brush again then steam and brush. Then I do the other side. I spend about 5-6 minutes on each side.
I put a short screw driver shaft through the spindle hole and take the record to the wash tub where I use a spray washer on it. Holding the record vertical I hit it with just enough force to rotate it. I don’t want to pressure wash it. I do this for about a minute getting it completely rinsed, and then turn the record around doing the other side.
I then lay the record on a lint free towel and cover it with distilled water, putting on as much as it will hold. (This and the water I use to mix the cleaner are the only time I use distilled. Because of the spray wash it did not make sense to use it in the steamer, though if your water is hard it might be wise.) I use the second brush and go around in both directions several times, then stand the record on edge to drain and repeat the distilled water and brushing part.
I use the miracle cloth to dry it and flip it over onto a clean part of the towel and do the other side. I let the record air dry for a maybe ten minutes and put it into a clean poly sleeve.
As you can see I believe in using a lot of water when cleaning just like when I clean anything else, it dilutes the dirt and gives me more chance of removing it. I have never tried holding the steamer close enough to heat the vinyl in order to remove warps. The spray that hits it is just warm on my hand.
I have cleaned over 400 lps this way with no problems and great results. I can afford a RCM but I hate the noise and do not believe that my collection would be cleaner if I used one. I can clean four records on a tank of water and spend on average about 18 minutes on each.
All I can suggest is if you want to give it a try start on some records that have little value to you (though I have never damaged one) and get comfortable with it. This is an area where everyone has strong opinions so all I am doing is telling you what works for me.
Good luck!
Regards,
Todd
