Koetsu Rosewood - Best/safest way to clean stylus

I already own a onzow but stopped using it after I tested it against the Magic Eraser using a USB microscope and realize the onzow how did not clean the needle at all it just seemed to remove dust. The Magic Eraser however appears to clean the stylus completely so it's like one of those pictures you see on forums where the needle is perfect and clean.

I did not realize that magic eraser has chemicals embedded into it but rather thought it was just an extreme abrasive that cleans the needle through friction.

But I am worried as you are about the liquids because I read bad things.

Does anyone have first-hand knowledge of what koetsu recommends?

MillerCarbon, love the Woody Allen reference. Lot of truth there.

Mulveling, you are gutsy the way you use ME. Yes I use only the white one.

So many people use the liquid but quite a few warn against it. The warnings usually seem to be theoretical though, with very few actual stories of damage it seems. The manufacturers must have a clear position on liquid, I would think. Maybe I will email the Koetsu distributor.

My experience is the same as LewM. I used a usb microscope and the ME makes the stylus spotless, unlike liquids or Onzo. Having someone else repeat that result makes me even more confident.

I guess the remaining question is the reality that ME can probably pull a bit on the stylus as the cueing is raised. as Larry mentioned. I think a possible way to reduce the risk would be to use a smaller patch of ME -- so lightweight that it could be picked up by the stylus if it got stuck. This would reduce the maximum pulling force possible on the stylus that might occur in the worst case, and would serve as a warning that the cartridge is getting stuck. I imagine the ME would release quickly once it moves a tiny bit as the stylus pulls it up. And it may never happen anyway.

I may cut a very tiny square of ME and weigh it to ensure it is a fraction of a gram or something ... Then cue the needle up and down a bunch of times to see if it picks up such a tiny patch of ME. Maybe there is an optimum weight of ME that allows the stylus to release but has little enough mass to avoid pulling too hard on the stylus.
(Who knows what "too hard" is though).

In the past I have watched to see if the cantilever is "pulled" downward as I raise the cartridge out of the ME, but have been unable to spot that movement.

Also: I asked the Koetsu distributor and he said there is no one best way that he knows of. He personally uses MoFi or Lyra SPT and worries that anything you dip the stylus into seems "too aggressive" to him, given the potential stress on the cantilever.

Millercarbon, don't worry. Duane can take you to the airport.

Lewm: Yes there can be no more than VTF force while it's going down. It is going up we are wondering about. You would think there would be nothing to "catch", given the shape of the stylus. Unless the cantilever gets below the surface of the ME. Not sure. I feel a little like Slaw in that I do seem to sense a catch when I raise the cueing. But it may be the sound that creates that illusion for me, not something physically catching. I'm going to do the experiment with a very small square of ME and see if it catches and picks up the square, even momentarily.

Amazing and pathetic I am willing to spend time on this, but I am!

Fjn04... I was kinda thinking the opposite -- that it might be better to give the ME less inertia, not more. If the stylus sticks due to friction I am guessing it would be less damaging if the ME lifted slightly rather than presenting an immovable anchor while the cueing lifts up... Because then the only thing that can give is the cantilever/suspension. 

But there is a limit to my approach too. We would not want a small piece of ME to lift up and twist or turn, thereby damaging the cantilever. Maybe there is an optimum mass of ME that allows some "lift" without allowing the whole ME pad to shift around. Just hypothesizing here of course.

Magic Eraser comes in rectangles...  Shaped like a sponge. Be very careful using them. I would not try to use them like sandpaper, moving the Eraser against the stylus. It is extremely porous and will grab onto the needle. I keep the Eraser fixed on the turntable plinth and lower the stylus in and out of it with the cueing. Others have raised earlier in this thread the potential risk of the Eraser grabbing onto the needle when  it is raised, which could pull on the cantilever. I personally am willing to take that risk but I don't think anyone can say for sure that this concern is unfounded. So proceed at your own risk. But many veteran audiophiles use ME and I know it works amazingly well to clean the stylus.

I think using a gold coin is a great idea because we all know that the more it costs the better it works.

But on a serious note and getting back to my earlier point in this thread I am in the other camp on weighing  down the Magic Eraser. If on occasion the friction between the stylus and the Magic Eraser is great enough to potentially lift up the Eraser a bit I would rather have the Eraser lift then have it be completely stationary and the full force of overcoming the friction is handled by the cantilever. Now if someone were arguing that the fact that the Magic Eraser is weighed down solidly actually reduces the amount of friction needed to pull it loose that would be another matter. But I kind of doubt that's true. So I am leaning toward using a smaller piece of Magic Eraser and if it lifts up a little bit that might be a good thing to jostle it loose without putting the full force needed to release the stylus on the cantilever. My thinking is that if the Eraser tilts just a few degrees as it lifts up that may be helpful in releasing it from the stylus. This part is pure conjecture. But I think it is safe to say that anchoring the Magic Eraser down could potentially increase the forces that are put on the stylus in case the stylus catches.

As always I look forward to any other opinions!