While hardly the most riveting topic, the humble record brush remains key to analogue fulfilment. The carbon fibre variant, first introduced in the seventies by Decca in England, is the accepted standard. The advantage of carbon fibres is they reach deeper into the groove for that pesky dust while conveniently discharging static. There have been myriad of different manufacturers down the years and we routinely stock four versions.

The Rekkord LP brush is what I consider to be the bare minimum. It employs two rows of carbon fibre bristles that gently lift the dust. It is cleaned by passing the bristles over the attached bracket. It is simple, very affordable at just 20 bucks, and effective. The Audioquest refines this basic design by employing a whopping 1,248,000 super-conductive carbon fibres (unconfirmed at the time of writing) and an uncoated gold grip making you the static-eliminating ground. Neat!

Things get a little more interesting with the designs from Ortofon and Kirmuss Audio. The Ortofon Record Brush ($51.00) employs those same two rows of bristles but these are much more tightly wound. This allows you to be a little more vigorous, resulting in more effective debris removal. Also, the stylish injection molded handle contains a conductive plastic to help disperse static.

The Kirmuss Audio KA-B1 “2-in-1” record brush ($67.99) has clearly been designed by a person who has given day to day record care plenty of thought. One side of the brush features those soft carbon fibre rows, spaced slightly further apart than the AQ or Rekkord offerings, and is designed for static elimination. On the flip, is a parastatic wet/dry velvet “strip” to pull off deep seated dust. Also, this side may be used as a “buffer” at the final stage of cleaning with a record cleaning machine. An extra step but it’ll be worth it to some. Lance noted the KA-B1 to be particularly efficacious for cat hair removal.

All four brushes are recommendable and, depending on your requirements, one is likely to land over another. I have been using the Ortofon brush for a while now and it works for me. Maybe it’s that cool Danish industrial design...