Interesting information from Analog Planet on Stylus Cleaner Onzow Zero Dust.

Yes! This is certainly disconcerting news for those of us vinyl heads who never liked free-handing stylus brushes. Every time I did that, I channeled a special ops sniper holding his breathe before squeezing off a round! The Onzow and some of the other goop stylus cleaners, handled appropriately (i.e. not free-handing, as some instructions advise, but locating a safe, non-movable spot at the correct height so as to allow just the tip of the stylus to contact the goop; not the cantilever and using the TT cueing device to lower & raise the stylus into & out of the goop), seemed like the perfect solution! DAMN! Now, it's back to channeling the special ops sniper?

Some have criticized Mr. Fremer and WAM Engineering for this sort of half-baked alarm. However, half-baked notwithstanding, I would rather know about stuff like this before continuing to use my Onzow. The first article stated: "An analysis of the residue shows it is not silicone but rather a polymer of some sort." Then, in the follow-up article Wally Tools said: "I got more news from the lab yesterday (it is coming in slowly) and the material is an oligomer, not a polymer, so it can't be polyvinyl chloride." I'm not a chemist. So, I Googled "oligomer". Some sites say it is a polymer. Some say it's a polymer intermediate. Well, is or are the residual deposit(s) still "not silicone"? Isn't the Onzow and some of the other goop cleaners silicone or silicone-based? If it's "not silicone" would it be reasonable to conclude these residues are not coming from the Onzow and silicone-based goop cleaners? Is it possible use of these goop cleaners cause, in some or any way, the build up of these deposits? Seems, to me, we need to know where this or these deposits are coming from and exactly what they are. At this point, we are all chasing our tails. It also would be instructive to know if this or these residual deposits are all the same from one stylus to the other. There are simply not enough controls, thus far, to come to any hard & fast conclusions. It would be great to hear from Onzow, DS Audio and the others.

Just thought I'd post this as a follow-up, for what it's worth. I got tired of waiting for people like Michael Fremer, WAM Engineering and J.R. Boisclair to do the obviously right thing under the circumstances (i.e. ask the manufacturers or makers of Onzow Zerodust and other gel stylus cleaners for their feedback or response). So, I took a stab at it. I was hoping for more detail. However, I'm just some guy, some audiophile out there in the great ether asking general questions about their product. I would assume someone with considerably greater stature in audiophile circles would get a more substantive or in depth response. I would think Michael Fremer, at least, owed that to his readers & followers. I hope Onzow Labo takes the time to read the articles published in Analog Planet and respond directly. Anyway, here's the response I got from Mr. Akira Ishibashi of Onzow Labo of Yokohama, Japan:

"Thank you for your inquiry:

We carefully select resins that do not build-up residue from the beginning of develop ZERODUST. No residue build-up to the stylus. The materials are completely different from the products of other companies. ZERODUST has no adverse effect on vinyl records too. This is because ZERODUST is made of material with the same properties as mold release agent used when pressing records. Please use it with confidence.

Sincerely,

Akira Ishibashi

Onzow Labo"

@oldaudiophile thank you for your follow up.

Still have my reservations. And I am going to pull a stylus and take it to our lab in Ohio to see if we see any residue. 

An "oligomer" is nothing more than a short "polymer". So, all oligomers are polymers but not all polymers are oligomers. Further, the distinction is vague; the number of units or "mers" that define an oligomer is not specified by the term. One dictionary definition says an oligomer contains from 2 to 100 units, for example. So, to say that a molecule is not a polymer but is an oligomer, does not say much, and it’s technically incorrect. It just means the chains are shorter than long.

I am still wondering about Peter Ledermann’s beef with Magic Eraser. Maybe because of this controversy about Onzow, I just examined a few of my cartridges that have been regularly exposed to ME under my Olympus laboratory microscope, and I see absolutely no problems. Further, the areas of the cantilever that do come in contact with ME are much cleaner than the top side of the cantilever (between the cantilever and the cartridge body), where the ME cannot reach.

In the old days, I used to clean styli with Stylast.  I never had a problem, but I did not own the Olympus Microscope or even think about close examination of the styli back then. I do think it's prudent to avoid liquid cleaners.

This is a recommended cleaning practice from U Turn.