... Thats exactly what I meant ... a lot of controversy ... whatever one suggests.
I was referring to used/sh records but I dont think you can keep new ones 'clean' however hard you try.
Just taking them out of a sleeve and onto the table will leave dust, skin residue etc over time. Plus there is the issue of left over pressing residue and mould release inhibitors which, apparently, further compromise sound quality.
I wouldn't personally wash records every month but there was a considerable amount of dirt that came out which a simple dry brush would have probably just pushed further into the groves, if at all.
As to acidity, I believe lemon/lime juice and the likes are relatively mild acids which should not chemically react with vinyl but their inherent disolving abilities should be almost perfect for oil and other dirt pushed deep into the grooves. Probably safer than alcohol. That and the subsequent rinsing and dry hoovering should not leave much residue on the record but I'm sure there are folks with far more experience than me which may be able to proof me wrong.
It seemed to work just fine, is cheap and doesnt take long.
regards
PS. A prolonged soak in distilled warm water with a mild cleaning solution of the whole record, stimulated by infrasonic bubbles or jets of water as opposed to any direct contact cleaning ie. brushes ... followed by suction cleaning would probably be the ideal solution but I dont think that is easily and cheaply implemented (plus the label would probably come off)
Found this thread which I guess includes some of my version of cleaning ... with no clear concensus of course ... as everything to do with vinyl seems to lack!
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=204925&page=2