Record cleaning, like most any other type of cleaning, is a matter of degree. You have your daily cleaning and the more rigorous and thorough “Spring cleaning”.
While all records should receive their daily cleaning upon use, don’t perform a deep cleaning unless it really needs it, which is to say that it is either visibly dirty or there is an issue with its playback quality.
Think of a dirty record like a dirty shirt. It will be of more use to you after cleaning than before cleaning, but you don’t typically throw a brand new shirt in the washer, as it is likely that the cleaning process itself will cause some “wear and tear”.
