Stylus cleaner

+ magic eraser.

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.

The best is Audio Technica AT-637.

You got that right. :D

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

Lyra sells a liquid stylus cleaner called the "Lyra SPT Stylus Treatment" that comes with a brush (you can get it on needledoctor--I've used it and I like it) so I wouldn't think Lyra would void the warranty on their cartridges for using that, but I don't know about Zyx or any other manufacturers.

I also use an Onzow Zerodust to get the dust and grime off of the stylus. Works similarly to how people describe the magic eraser (you lower it vertically onto the surface and then lift it back up) but it's a soft, sticky pad that the dust and grime literally sticks to. I've had good success with that too. It's about $35 on ebay.