1. Very soft - like a velvet texture. No risk of scratching.
2. The water naturally follows the grooves of the record, so the label doesn't typically get wet at all. If you do spill a droplet or two, just use your drying cloth to dab it dry.
3. Spin clean solution has always worked well for me. Some people swear by their own mixtures though. I've never felt compelled enough to try something else, personally.
3a. No smell whatsoever (my wife is extremely sensitive to odors - she would have let me know by now if it was bothersome)
4. When I bought mine, the included rags were kind of thin, so I bought these (also from Spin Clean), and they are much more absorbent. Some people also use various other micro-fiber cloths.
I was intimidated at first, too - watched some youtube videos that helped me gain some confidence, haha. Spin Clean is still the best bang for your buck, cleaning-wise.
Just to add to this. You really can’t use another solution with spin cleans. Their solution has an agent in it that causes the debris that comes off the dirty record to sink and so not recontaminate or contaminate the next ones up. The home brew solutions tend to be more the arena of the vacuum cleaning brigade.
but otherwise completely agree.
