Koetsu Rosewood - Best/safest way to clean 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!

“Friction “ is not going to happen if ME Is used correctly. The only way that ME could stick to the stylus is if the stylus tip were to penetrate below the surface of the ME such that it gets enmeshed. When I drop my stylus on ME using the cueing device it literally bounces on the surface of the ME. This suggests to me that there is no way the stylus is getting trapped in magic eraser. But obviously if you move either the stylus or the magic eraser laterally, that is, in the horizontal plane, while the two are in contact, then you could have a problem. Which is to say, don’t do it.

I also own and occasionally use an ultrasonic stylus cleaner. The thing about it, is that it is not ultra sonic. These devices vibrate at somewhere between 200 and 500 cps. That is in the audio range, and it is very unlikely to damage the stylus. I think the sonic cleaners are effective at shaking out dust that has crept up into the mechanism of the cartridge, which magic eraser cannot do.

One question for the ME users here.....

Do you see any evidence of dirt on the ME once you have dipped the stylus down into it?

I have not as yet.

lewm

... I also own and occasionally use an ultrasonic stylus cleaner. The thing about it, is that it is not ultra sonic. These devices vibrate at somewhere between 200 and 500 cps. That is in the audio range, and it is very unlikely to damage the stylus.

Yes, that has been my experience, too. As I recall, the old Signet cleaner that I use was marketed as an "electronic" cleaner, not ultrasonic, although I notice that some of the similar modern devices claim "ultrasonic." I think that's a misnomer.

My Magic Eraser gets stuck to stylus about half the time I do my thing. I use a small cut-off piece with no appreciable mass, so to kick it off with a gentle downward nudge means no harm done. The key is to keep forces below what the stylus/cantilever would encounter during normal playback. When you ham-fist it, or your cleaning lady goes to town with a duster - those forces are orders of magnitude greater than any of these normal cleaning forces, and THAT’s what it takes to truly destroy the cartridge. The abrasion of the ME isn’t going to do jack to the diamond, or even glue/metal, except polish it. All you need to worry about is the pulling/pushing forces involved, which is small even for a careful "rough" cleaning. And the original ME is also very compliant, which means there's some absorption of the forces involved. 

The way some of you guys think, I’m surprised you even play vinyl at all for fear of damaging your stylus. You ever drop on the long lead-in groove on a 12" 45, and see what kind of forces that involves? Yikes.