Static electricity can also cause the crackles. I remember this weird little gun that some company (Ronco?) used to sell - when you took the LP out of the sleeve and placed it on the turntable, you pointed the gun at the disc and pulled the trigger. It made a weird little pop which was supposed to electrically negate the static charge.
They also used to sell anti-static turntable pads - it was basically just an LP-sized felt pad that you kept on the turntable to absorb the static when playing a record. I never owned the gun, but I did own a static pad, and it seemed to help.
As far as record care for dust and the like, I had a friend who used Armor-All to clean his records and keep the vinyl from drying out. I never used it tho. I always hate it when you get into cars and someone hasn't wiped that stuff off completely, and you get that greasy crap all over your hands. ICK. And I always wondered if it had any adverse affect on his turntable needles, but never found out for sure...
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