Thanks for the confession!
I was feeling a little guilty at never having thought of doing it. To be honest, I'm fairly lazy and untidy, so cleaning records sounds like a lot of effort. Wiping with a microfibre cloth will probably be as far as I get for now. Besides, I doubt I have a stylus at the moment which is clever enough to notice cleaner vinyl.
But, you know, for someone learning the ropes, the diy approach is good to know. Record cleaning machines are fairly expensive. I could buy better bits of actual music playing stuff for the same price. Maybe one day in the future I'll get one.

For now, though, I shall rest easier thanks to your confession Neil!

Peter