What devices have you found useful when inspecting your stylii for cleanliness?

It is interesting to read the diversity of routines that everyone has developed to address this simple task.  I have three main TTs, two with fixed (i.e. non removable headshells) and one with a removable headshell feature.  In all cases I check the stylii for wear using a Wild-Herrbrugg microscope.  In the case of the non-removable headshell arms the cartridges must be removed for inspection.  In all cases the microscope inspection is performed bi-annually, so it is not too burdensome.  For every day cleaning I do many things: in all cases before every play of every side I very lightly apply Stylast to the tip of the diamond only.  The record itself is brushed.  After each side is played the stylus is inspected and if there is any debris collected it is removed.  I have a soft brush provided by Audio Technica, I have a stiff brush provided by Ortofon, I have the gel thingy from Ozow or whoever, and I have an ultrasonic brush that when used with a drop of distilled water does the best job of all.  I bought it from Amazon for not much money.  BTW, I used the microscope to evaluate all these brushes and such plus blue tack.  The ultrasonic brush, made by Hudson if memory serves, did the best job by far.

I use stereo microscope with led illumination, currently Carl Zeiss STEMI 305 w/ 10x, and 25x oculars. It helped me to root cause “funny sound” issues, including dirt on moving magnets, not perfect needle azimuth etc. 

@billstevenson Thanks for the great tips.  One mystery remains: "After each side is played the stylus is inspected".  What, if anything, do you use to do this?

Hi Richard,

After each side I inspect the stylus visually.  I do have a lighted magnifying glass that I use sometimes, but my eyes are still good enough for this purpose most often.

Dear @noromance : I know that with that Decca cartridge even as the Ikeda 9 have compliance ( very low ).

Now you as many other audiophiles ( I made it in the past too. ) makes that stylus clean after each side with out really make an inspection, just we do it we are accustom to.

In the other side @richardbrand was or is looking for a device to inspect the stylus at the end of each side where that " inspect device " makes a quality difference between what he is looking for and what other gentlemans normally make: no inspect devices.

@richardbrand " One mystery remains: "After each side is played the stylus is inspected".

I can’t be sure if @billstevenson do it in the way I do where I only " inspect " the stylus by my eyes looking mostly for debris/dust threads ( he posted that the true inpspection of the stylus is twice a year. ) . This is the " inspection " I do: only by eyes. I like to listen MUSIC and don’t lost time that often with a " inspection device ", time is to short and is " gold " to take advantage of it.

R.