Best record cleaner

The best of course is a wet-vacuum cleaning machine.  But I assume you meant just a brush?

Well, I use the original Discwasher for that and really like it, but all my records have already been RCM cleaned, so the job of the brush isn't too tough.  A lot of people like the Hunt carbon-fibre brush.

The only way truly clean the dirty LPs are using some type of wet/vacuum like skylab said. I bought record labels savers sometime ago through Ebay. When it is engaged, you can literally completely soak the records in the water and that is how I clean my records using soft brush to scrub the surface. And for the solution, I use home made cleaner (alcohol, demineralized water and dash of dishwasher solution in spray bottle). It is slow manual process but it sure cleans the dirty records. Once I am satisfied with the scrubbing, use microfiber rag to wipe off the excess moisture.

And to answer your original question, I really like Hunt carbon-fibre brush also. It does decent job dusting off between playing times.

Ive read that it is wood glue.  No personal experience, though.  Because of this I moved to digital.  Thats the best solution, I think.

http://digitanalogue.blogspot.com/2008/08/wood-glue-deep-cleaning-vinyl-records.html

Many years ago, the best record cleaner pad system out there was Signet's (the high-end division of Audio Technica).  Unlike the simple felt pad of the Discwasher, the Signet pad was made up of a felt pad with small, semi-stiff nylon bristles that were slightly longer than the felt interspersed within.  The nylon bristles got very deep into the grooves and did a simply fantastic job - it was [our] pad of choice for playing a demo disk when we didn't want to take the time to crank up the VPI HW-17.

Signet no longer markets the pad, I see...but Audio Technica still has a pad in their catalog and, if it's even close to the design of the old Signet, you should give it a serious shot.

The new Discwasher by RCA are junk. The pad is lousy, just a cheap piece of material. The old pads had black, angled brush fibers that get into the grooves. This is fairly common knowledge, so I bought a used Discwasher off ebay. You see them all the time. Look for one where the brush fibers appear to lay flat and in the same direction. Ones with fibers pointing in all directions are more worn out. I see ones in near mint condition sell all the time for under $10. I bought a carbon fiber brush and there's no way in hell it works even close to the original discwasher for retrieving dust and dirt. I did a direct comparision and the old discwasher digs out SO MUCH MORE DUST it isnt even funny. You can't beat the original discwasher.

Yeah, I have and love the original Discwasher brush.  Too bad the new ones suck.

I can verify that the wood glue method works very well.  As long as you don't mind waiting waiting at least 2 hours to listen to half of an album.

Just out of curiosity, I looked at the new Discwasher brushes.  They all look just like the old ones to me.  By "old" I mean from about 10 years ago. 

I've been using the Discwasher brush since the late 70's/early 80's, and continue to use it to this day.  I feel (if used properly) it cleans better than either the Hunt or AQ carbon fiber brush.  To me, those two brushes are a waste, except to remove miniscule amounts of lint, etc, after a record has hit a RCM.   

Are you using the Discwasher brush as instructed, with a few drops of the liquid dripped across and smeared on with the bottom with the liquid dispenser?  If you're using it dry, it's just as worthless as any other dry brushing. 

And, if your records are extremely dirty, then nothing except a bath in the sink (or RCM) will get it clean. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioDwebe 

Just out of curiosity, I looked at the new Discwasher brushes.  They all look just like the old ones to me.  By "old" I mean from about 10 years ago. 

 

I've been using the Discwasher brush since the late 70's/early 80's, and continue to use it to this day.  I feel (if used properly) it cleans better than either the Hunt or AQ carbon fiber brush.  To me, those two brushes are a waste, except to remove miniscule amounts of lint, etc, after a record has hit a RCM.   

 

Are you using the Discwasher brush as instructed, with a few drops of the liquid dripped across and smeared on with the bottom with the liquid dispenser?  If you're using it dry, it's just as worthless as any other dry brushing. 

 

And, if your records are extremely dirty, then nothing except a bath in the sink (or RCM) will get it clean. 

I completely agree.  I personally don't like the carbon-fiber brushes - I use the Discwasher brush to pick up the small amount of dust that may have landed since I did the deep-clean with my VPI RCM.  I use the Discwasher dry for this - much better than carbon-fiber.  But I am using "NOS" Discwasher brushes

If you don't want to spend the bucks for a Vacuum record Cleaner then how about the new "SPIN CLEAN RECORD WASHER" (about $59.99) The needle doctor has them...If That is still to many dollars try the "ORBITRAC 2 System".......I use it inbetween wet vacin' my lps.....Remember, a record cleaner purchase is a one time deal and will be the best piece of equipment that you'll ever buy!!! and will save your LPs and Cartridges..