Steam Cleaning - RCM or not?


I posted a couple of times yesterday about this over at AudioKarma, but thought I would ask here as well since Audiogon seems to be at the center of the steam cleaning information.

I tried steaming in earnest a few nights ago; I did an LP I've had for years that had had some minor mold on it, which I removed a long time ago with my RCM, but the spore pattern remained. It was gone in a minute with the steam, which I somewhat expected. What I didn't expect was how lifelike this 3rd pressing, orange-label Dynaflex LP suddenly sounded. Amazing!

My question is this; I'm really drawn to the idea of not using my 20+ year old RCM at all because of the noise, which I'm getting tired of hearing after all these years. I'd really like to be just steaming, lint-brushing with my home-made fluid I've been using a while, steaming again and wiping with a couple of microfiber cloths. That seems to work very well, except that I seem to be getting some gunk on my stylus now and again which may be lint from the cloths.

Is this a concern? I actually did this routine a couple of times to one side of an LP and then did the same thing but RCM'd and not microfibered the other side, and I would swear the non-RCM's side sounded slightly more real in each case. Sonically I'm completely okay with the cloths only, but am a little concerned about possible residue and whatever that is showing up on my needle—although my ears are telling me this is the way to go. Anybody else come to this conclusion?
vanmeter
I just started steam cleaning records with a hand-held Shark-- a great little $40 1000W steamer from Target on-line-- and a VPI 16.5 RCM. I can't imagine using steam without a RCM to ensure even application of steam and vacuum dry afterwards.
I have noticed that the buildup problem seems to be totally random, too, so static issues would make sense. I was drying with three different microfiber towels and then giving a quick wipe again before play to remove dust, but it seems I have less dust buildup on the stylus if I don't do that last step.
I tried steaming and mirofiber-ing one side of an LP last night, and steaming and RMC-ing the other, then played the towel side...big blog of white (and this isn't a dust bunny, it's a congealed blob) crud on the stylus that needed wet cleaning to get off - the ME wouldn't touch it.

Then, I played the other side, 45 minutes to an hour later, and after being face down on the mat. No gunk. Sad to say I think I'm answering my own question yet again...but I still feel like I'm losing some of that airiness when I RCM. There's got to be an answer to this (that isn't spelled Loricraft, which is out of my price range)...
How are you using the ME? I've never found anything that the ME won't get off.

The loss of airiness is most likely increased static that can be sometimes caused by vacuuming as others have already posted. I don't experience this with my rcm. Have you tried to restrict the airflow through the vacuum? Cutting down on the air velocity a little may help with this. Also a Zerostat or some other device used just before putting the lp down on the platter may help.
I have seen one stylus and cantilever (out of 15-20) so badly gunked up that even aggressive scrubbing with an ME wouldn't clean it.

To revive that cartridge I used ultra-fine sandpaper, Linn's old trick. That loosened the crud up, then the usual ME + dry brush finished the job.

It took months of play with no cleaning for the cartridge to get that stubbornly dirty, but it is possible.

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FWIW, our (steamless) LP cleaning regimen (slow, costly and with expensive RCM) "never" leaves anything in the grooves. I do sometimes find a trace of dry, loose fluff on the stylus at the end of a side, but since any given LP will sometimes leave a trace of fluff and sometimes not, it's presumably airborne fluff attracted by static during play.

Should there be any fluff buildup during play we hear the degradation of HF extension, speed and "air" near side-end. That might be what you're hearing, and if you don't de-static before play (as Dan_Ed correctly advised for its own sonic benefits) it's more likely to occur.

It's even more important to de-static and dry brush *after* play before returning the LP to its sleeve, else dust collection is pretty much guaranteed.