As I mentioed, just plug the end with rope caulk or whatever after you cut a longitudinal slot on the flat of the wand and glue the paint pad refills on either side.

I wet the brush on the first cleaning with the REcord REsearch Labs Super Vinyl. Once it's wet, you don't have to do that again on subsequent records.

I put about 3 dime size drops of fluid on, hold the brush to the record and spin it a few times to distribute the fluid. Then I "scrub" back and forth as I continue to turn the record.

The Audioquest brush tends to flatten as it gets wet so the bristles need to be dressed by wiping them on a dry towel to get them to return to their original shape.

Then vacuum about 3 revolutions and place the record in a dish rack to thoroughly dry.

Works great and costs peanuts. I've cleaned over a hundred records and used less than 1/2 the bottle. Sometimes I repeat the process for really nasty ones from Goodwill.

Lately, I've begun to notice fingerprints in the cleaned surface of some, evidence of what skin oils and acids do. I'm about to order either RRL Deep Cleaner or perhaps the Bugtussel stuff to see if that removes more grundge as a pre-cleaner.

Works great. Very little gunk comes off the needle onto the Magic Eraser after a cleaning. The records are far quieter and 'sound better'.

I've had the chance to observe the VPI 16.5 in action and the DIY method works just as well. Probably better 'cause, unless you spend $$$thousands, the RCM's have wimpy vacuum motors.