Stylus cleaner

Consider the Magic Eraser. My original post describing its use is here. Wow! It's been over ten years.

Used successfully by hundreds if not thousands of vinylphiles, including those (like me) with LOMC's costing many thousands of dollars. Recommended by Arthur Salvatore (who plagiarized my post, lol).

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Mapman, I described the risk of ME residue and one way to mitigate (use a soft, dry brush). Others dip the stylus into something like a Zerodust, which also works for the stylus (though not for the cantilever).

Any effective stylus cleaner is going to create residue and the best ones create more. That is, after all, the whole point of cleaning. The trick is getting it off the stylus and cantilever before playing a record.

P.S. I guarantee that a proper ME cleaning would remove burnished-on residue that your stiff brush can't. It may not be visible, even with a microscope, but you'll probably hear the improvement once it's gone.

Some cartridge manufacturers (including Lyra and ZYX, I believe) will void their warranty if liquid stylus cleaning fluids are used. Buyer beware.

Chayro, excellent points. The highest risk factor for ME use is indeed the risk of user error. The material itself is completely benign.

Since I use the "brush along the cantilever and faces of the stylus" method, which cleans best, I suppose my cartridge is exposed to the highest risk of user goofup. :-0

It's also really clean. :-)

I am sort of amazed at how many people clean their stylus with every play. I hardly ever need to clean the stylus. I keep my records clean and that seems to be good enough so that I only bother to clean the stylus once every ten or so sides.

I used to think the same, until Jcarr explained why more frequent cleaning is beneficial.

Even if one's LP grooves are perfectly clean, the stylus collects molecular-sized bits of vinyl as it plays. These get burnished onto the stylus surface by heat and pressure at the contact points.

Cleaning every ten sides or so allows this layer to accumulate. The degradation in sound is gradual and subtle, but it occurs (slighly muffled HFs, loss of lowest level detail, diminution of micro-dynamic "snap"). The color of the stylus will also go slightly yellow, compared to the pure white it would be if perfectly clean.

ME after each side prevents this buildup. I've seen and heard the difference on styli that are cleaned less often. Thus my recommendation for more frequent cleaning, based on guidance from one of the world's best and most helpful cartridge designers.