The 3 Best Affordable Record Cleaning Solutions Every Vinyl Lover Should Own in 2024

Sitting in a tequila bar in Mexico (which is basically every bar) in 2023, I met a couple from Florida who lost their home during Hurricane Ian. The husband was a former NASA engineer who enjoyed collecting vintage audio and had amassed a substantial record collection over the past 63 years.

When he told me that they took only his favorite vintage pieces and 250 of his favorite records in their SUV, I felt his pain having lost 90% of his record collection and audio components that he had worked rather hard for.

We both agreed that being alive was far more important in the grand scheme of things.

I’m going to lose a parent soon to Parkinson’s disease and that’s provided me with some sobering thoughts on this race to acquire and hoard too much stuff.

People can’t be replaced — something that one should never lose sight of when it comes to the loss of things. It’s just stuff.

As George Carlin once said, “your home is just a place for your stuff.”

My father grew up dirt poor and realized at a very early age that he was blessed with a brain and this strange desire to never starve. Even with time racing against him, he kept working. Why? Because he wanted to make sure that everyone will be fine when he’s gone.

I have no idea what’s coming but a recent trip to Toronto where we spent some time together led to a very strange conversation about how he raised us and his expectation that we will all take care of one another and not focus on material things that you can’t take with you.

“Do you know why I was so hard on all of you growing up when it came to being organized, clean, and respectful of your things?”

“Because you never had anything yourself and everything we have came from 100 hour work weeks and a genuine desire to enjoy stuff?”

“Being organized, clean, and appreciative of the things you work hard for is the only way to live. Otherwise, we would all live out of suitcases, toss everything in the trash, and wander meaninglessly through life. When I dusted every book, organized every movie, created order on desks and in our kitchen cabinets — I was reminding all of you that someone worked hard for them. That they needed to last.”

Out of respect for my father (and this dates back many years), I have always found it important to keep the things that I worked hard for clean and organized. I don’t always succeed.

My father also hated when things were out of place; he detested when cables were loose or dangling in plain sight, and was a firm believer that records, movies, and consumer A/V equipment needed to be aligned, dusted, and free of fingerprints.

We had a huge stash of white painter’s gloves from Canadian Tire always accessible growing up. And a lot of masking tape to remove my prints from the front panel of his McIntosh gear.

My father would probably like all of this stuff that works rather well keeping everything clean and neat.

Turntable Lab Triple Operation Record Brush

Turntable Lab CEO and Founder, Peter Hahn, very graciously sent me a sample of their new Triple Operation Record Brush and I’ve had a chance to use it for the past few months. It is a dry cleaning solution and something that I alternate with the AudioQuest Anti-Static Record Brush on vinyl after it has gone through one of my wet record cleaning machines.

Do I think everyone should own a wet record clearing machine? Unless you don’t mind the noise and have a substantial investment in your collection — I think most people can survive with something like a manual SpinClean and TTL Triple Operation Record Brush.

Product Details:

• highly-effective brush for everyday, dry record cleaning
• (2) non-abrasive cleaning pads pick up dirt + larger particles, while (2) rows of carbon fiber bristles pick up dust + finer particles
• conductive design adds charge to the carbon fiber bristles to help attract dust
• wide 4.6″ cleaning area 
• convenient dustcover with cleaning brush
• contoured, no-slip moulded handle

I have very large hands so the contoured handle feels very secure as I sweep upwards without fear of ever losing control and watching the brush destroy one of my phono cartridges. A well made product for $25 that has already cleaned well over 200 records effectively.

Where to buy: $24.95 $14.95 at TurntableLab.com

GrooveWasher Vinyl Record Care System

Mitch Anderson sent me a sample of the GrooveWasher Vinyl Record Care System which includes their proprietary record cleaning solution, a removable record cleaning brush that can be used either wet or dry, and a label protector.

The oil-rubbed walnut handle completes the package and is built to last a very long time; it looks far more expensive than it is.

For those who don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a record cleaning machine, the GrooveWasher kit works rather effectively; you spray each side of your record before playing it and clean it with the brush, wiping away all of the fluid from the surface of the record.

Having recently inherited over 400 45 RPM singles from the grandfather of my best friend who passed away and knew that I would appreciate them — I’ve had a chance to clean a lot of records in my spare time.

The cleaning solution and process doesn’t provide for a deep cleaning in the grooves as one might get with a VPI HW16.5 — but that option has escalated to almost $1,000 in price (it was $650 USD less than 4 years ago).

For a quick surface cleaning, which most of my records only require because I’ve already washed them with my Record Doctor VI Cleaning Machine, the GrooveWasher kit is an excellent option.

Where to buy: $49.95 at Amazon | GrooveWasher.com

Spin-Clean

For more than 50 years, Spin-Clean has delivered the best-value record cleaner. It removes dust, dirt, film, grease & fingerprints, while cleaning both sides of the record at the same time. 

There are no harmful agents, alkaline or phosphates, and it’s totally alcohol-free. And it’s simple to use: no batteries or AC required. Acclaimed by both audiophiles & first-time users, the Spin-Clean remains the most effective vinyl cleaning option for the money.

Replacement fluids and brushes are also still rather affordable.

Where to buy: $99.99 $63.99 at Amazon

Related reading: The Best Record Cleaning Solutions: Exit to Vintage Street