Is it true records are sealed to look better....

Records are sealed so you know they are new.
I have never cleaned new records. Used records often need a quick vacuuming. That’s it if they are reasonably clean. IT may be true ultrasonic cleaning makes records super clean... I have never needed superclean. If the record is dirty, IE has noise when played, washing it by hand is good enough.

Just to be clear the guy was saying the record surface  itself is treated  prior to sale at least in some cases for the explicit purpose of hiding imperfections and looking better than actual condition and cleaning for 45 minutes with the ultrasonic cleaner was needed to remove this gunk. 

I recall he claimed this was common practice possibly by vendors selling used  and/or new records.  It was news to me.  

Just as they put wax on apples destined for the supermarket.

@elizabeth ,

You've never cleaned new records?
WOW! my friend, you have a whole other world waiting on you.
Good luck.

@mapman

I don’t think new records are "sealed" with a coating to hide imperfections. However, new records may have mold release agent and other contaminants on their surfaces. Cleaning new records to remove all traces of contaminants that were deposited during manufacture and packaging is a good idea. But I don’t think it should take 45 minutes.

I clean nearly every record that comes into my house, new or used, with the handy dandy spin clean. It’s good enough for me and it only takes a couple of minutes.

BTW, I hope I'm correct and it is not a common practice to treat damaged records to make them look better.