Koetsu Rosewood - Best/safest way to clean stylus

I used LAST for many years with no problems. But then I got a very nice table top microscope. Examining the stylus tip after cleaning by various methods  reveals to me that magic eraser is much better. However , I think it would be very dangerous to use magic eraser if you attempt to move either the cartridge body or the magic eraser itself while there is contact between the two.  I place the magic eraser under the cartridge body then I use the queuing device on my tonearm to drop the cartridge down on top of the magic eraser, making sure that the magic eraser is completely steady and motionless. Then I use the queuing device to pick up the cartridge. That’s all you have to do. There should be no need to rotate the stylus while it’s in contact with the he ME. That is the evidence based on using my microscope to examine the cartridge before and after. Probably ME will never be fully accepted  by audiophiles  as a way to clean the stylus, because it is too cheap, too easy, and too effective . And has no risk if done correctly.

@mijostyn,

If LAST is nothing but Freon, why has there not been a ban on it’s use? Also, why hasn’t it’s price skyrocketed over and above it’s already high price? Why no warning labels on the product?

I’m just wondering?

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.

As I said before, while I have no evidence the "catching"/that occurs when using ME causes any negative stylus life, it doesn't seem to be a normal issue a cartridge manufacturer would account for.

I don't need to see the "catching" effect, I can feel it.

 The force between the magic eraser and the stylus and cantilever should be equal to the VTF . Unless the stylus snags the magic eraser. But I don’t think that can happen, if you don’t move either the stylus or the magic eraser in the horizontal plane while the two are in contact. And the contact can be extremely brief. One second is sufficient.Like I said, it’s really too simple for most of us.