How to get the most mileage out of your vinyl

Keep your Records AND your Needle CLEAN:

#1  Make sure your needles aren't worn. Keep an eye out for your needle picking up excessive dust and producing distortion. By this time it's already too late, the needle is worn, and it needs to be replaced. You can check a worn needle under a simple microscope, check the sides of the tip, check to see if the needle appears to be sharper. As the sides of the needle wear, it becomes THINNER and digs deeper into the grooves of your records: pulling up More Dust!

#2  Use the correct tracking force: 99% of cartridge manufacturers recommend a tracking force between 2-4g. Anything over that is excessive, and although your records may seem to play Fine: your tracking force may not be correct:
Keep in Mind: The scale on  MOST tonearm/counterweights is NOT static: 
It must be 1st calibrated, THEN adjusted.

#3  Make sure your anti-skating is set correctly. When your turntable is setup correctly, your anti-skating should be set equal to your tracking weight (for normal play) and when scratching it should be set to 0. (The reason for this is that scratching involves a lot of movement up and down over the same point.) Anti-skating exists to compensate for the drag forces on the needle. 

#5  Make sure the height of the tonearm is setup correctly.

#6 Keep your records clean and dust-free: Remember: In the best of all worlds, 
a well pressed record is good for about 200 plays Maximum,
-before producing Noticeable distortion due to wear: 
Each time you play a Dusty record cuts that number down Significantly!