With the ultrasonic cleaning machine, you don't need to vacuum out the grime for each record you clean, because the machine shakes all the gunk off for you. It collects at the bottom of the basin, so you just need to make sure it all gets dumped out when you empty the liquid from the machine between uses. Once your records have taken their bath in the diluted cleaning solution mixture, place them on the drying rack.

If a record (or, more realistically, stack of records) is especially dirty, I clean them two times with either method in progressively cleaner fluid. In my ultrasonic machine, I do all my records once, then change the fluid and do them again. Be sure to have a clean microfiber towel ($5) handy so that the record is fully dry before returning it to its packaging.

Some people prefer to also rinse the clean records in distilled water at the end of the cleaning cycle to remove any remaining solution. If you do that, just dry them the same way before putting them away.

Scratches or Warps?

These cleaning methods can't repair scratches or effectively fix warped records. The only way to prevent those things from inflicting your collection is store your records properly: in an upright, clean environment. Records stacked on top of one another or stored sitting diagonally can warp from their own weight. Don't store your records somewhere especially hot or cold, or anywhere where tem...