Hello rlwainright, You may want to read some archived threads about the Mr Clean ME if you haven't, to help understand what actually is being done, which I don't see as excessive.
What has been suggested, is that first, the Stylus is lightly brushed with a Stylus Brush to remove any light fuzz-loose dirt (total time takes to do this is about 5 seconds at most). Then just cue the Stylus onto a thin cube of the ME positioned on the Platter once, or twice (another 5 seconds) Then lastly again a very ight brushing to insure no dust loosened by the ME, or any micro-particles are left on the Stylus by the ME (another 5 seconds at most)
No Cleaners, Liquids, Alcohols, etc used in this quick 3 step process, and the reason why it is suggested to be done after every LP side, is that it doesn't take long for baked on crud to stick to a Stylus from heat, and once a substantial amount of deposit is stuck to the Cartridge, it becomes much harder to get off.
This method above pretty much insures you don't give those nasties much chance of accumilating. Many of these newer Cartridges, with thier ultra small Stylus' are said to play deeper-better in the groove-groovewall, extract more information with less groove surface noise, and the downside I understand, is they also get dirty faster as well.
As an aside, more, and more manufacturers it seems caution-warn against the use of wet cleaning, especially any which might contain alcohol, due to the possible use of hollow Boron Cantilevers, and the possibility of alcohols attacking the adhesive holding Stylus to Cantilever. To see how small these Stylus', and Cantilevers are, one can only imagine then what very tiny amount of adhesive bonds Stylus to Cantilever.
Lastly, the beauty of ME, and a Stylus brush is the cost. $2-$3 gives you a virtual lifetime supply of the ME. Hope this helps. Mark
