Koetsu Rosewood - Best/safest way to clean stylus

“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.

To answer @uberwaltz’s question about what ME is exactly, it is melamine foam. It was originally developed as a soundproofing material and I’ve used it as such --in large sheets combined with mass loaded vinyl- this is not ’acoustic treatment’ this is’ kill the sound from emanating’ kind of stuff.
To my knowledge, it was @dougdeacon who first started employing ME as a stylus cleaner. I have used it in the past and it is very effective, far more than dry brushing or those gels, like Onzow/Oznow. I’ve also used the Blu stuff that Peter recommends. Never an issue with either, but I make sure to dry brush afterwards, particularly with the ME, which can leave abrasive residue.
If you look it up, it’s all these tiny fibers and the cleaning action is, I think it is fair to say, a type of friction on a very small level- like scraping the edges of the diamond. Perhaps my terminology is wrong but that’s how it seems to work. It is abrasive-- you can use it to scrub household stuff but I will remove finishes. Never wet it- the fibers will bind and you will be in XXXX-ville.
I’m really liking a long brush I found because it accomplishes what @mulveling was describing- not only cleaning the stylus, but the cantilever too. I have very clean records and try to keep my playing environment dust free (an endless battle even with good HVAC) but there was a lot of crud deposited on the top of the cantilever of my last cartridge, which is now out for rebuild. I’m currently using a Koetsu Jade Platinum and loving the hell out of it.
PS: I also use a pair of illuminated magnifying glasses that help me see the stylus when I’m brushing. I may look like a complete jerk but I can see exactly what I’m doing. The magnification isn’t very strong, like 3X. I have jeweler’s loupes at 10X and digital microscopes, but those get kind of tricky to work with when you are doing something other than taking a look.

Question for @montaldo- you said you spoke to the Koetsu distributor and he uses a liquid? Was that the US distributor? Just curious. I used to use liquid on the Lyras since it was meant for it, but so far on my Koetsu, which is brand new, I haven't done anything but dry brush yet....