Back many years ago, I wrote the users' manual for the VPI HW 16 (and later the 17) record cleaning machine. At the time I must confess to being very skeptical regarding the machine's abilities. Wet washing using mild, diluted detergent and a Cecil Watts Wash Brush worked pretty well.
To my pleasant surprise, the HW16 was wonderful. It saved a disc I was ready to throw out.
It is essential to remove any cleaning fluid -- along with suspended dirt -- throughly and quickly to avoid re-depositing dirt in the groove. The cleaning fluid must never be re-used.
Please be aware that it is very important not to use the same implements to clean both vinyl and shellac records. Some shellac records had abrasive in the formulation to "properly" shape the needle to the groove. This abrasive must never be transferred to a vinyl record.
VPI-design machines have the virtue of allowing the user to have a separate brush and vacuum pick-up tube for each type of record.
