OK, record is now clean, how about the Stylus?

To Mark, this has been my experience with the Zerodust. If I lower the cartridge into the Zerodust with 2.5 gm of VTF on my Denon 103R cartridge, the whole stylus and cantilever dip into the gummy stuff; when I lift it out gently, you can see the stylus "pull away" from the cantilever slightly, and that seems to me to be "bad". If I raise the Zerodust into the stylus, I can, with a magnifier, get everything off the stylus, not touch the cantilever, and the stylus hardly budges..so in my simplistic brain, that seems safer to the cartridge. It takes a gentle touch I guess, but I haven't broken the Denon yet.

Sjungdahl, I'm trying to be as civil as possible, and asked you some sensible questions. There were no answers, meaning you refuse to answer. Who's then uncivil?

This is not unlike the Cleaning Fluid Posts, in that everybody seems to have the right answer, the right formula, and of course thiers exceeds all others, and those who shell out respectable money for good trusted cleaners are stupid gullible fools, who let themselves be suckered by snake oil salesmen, correct?

Yet, there are some who would believe that we are trying to "snake oil sucker" people here to buy a $2 Box of Mr Clean? And that these many users "dream" this product works most effectively? Then you must then believe everybody here, and other too numerous to count believers of the ME must then have brass ears, or are just plain stupid?

I fully understand this camp's train of thought/mindset, that many in this camp are unswerving in thier beliefs, and regardless if folks like J, Carr of Lyra and the many other "true-real" experts came in here, told you "no, don't use any liquids, then what would one do"? Again disbelieve this person, and say, "oh, what the heck does he know"? Of course! lol That's how some people really do think, don't doubt it for a second.

Within the last 10-20 years, Cartridges have made considerable advances. As well, they have also become considerably more delicate, and easy to damage.
One wouldn't take a Lyra Skala, a ZYX UNIverse, Dyna XV-1. Koetsu, Miyabi, throw it on a Technics 1200, and start doing the Herbie Hancock "Rock-It" tune. They wouldn't last 30 seconds.

As I close, the best "civil" advice I can give to you, RW, and all others wishing to further investigate, is to invest some time here, and there, read some of the archive posts on liquid cleaners, in the various forums, read about Mr Clean ME, Stylus Damage, etc, read what manufacturers of modern Cartridges suggest.

I am sorry if it has appeared that I'm somehow talking down to you, or any other poster in this thread. I don't profess to be a rocket scientist, or any smarter than the regular average guy. Yet I use the product, and will continue using the ME, as I personally feel this is the best choice I can make, regardless of cost.

After shelling out considerable money for two new Cartridges in the past four months, a Benz Ruby 3, and a ZYX Airy 3X SB, would you think I actually care about the relative "minute" cost of a bottle of Stylus Cleaner? Mark

Perhaps we should ditch what has been written above, and wipe the slate clean, ok? If I've hurt anyone's feelings here, I truly do apologize.

Now let's start again, please.
This thread was about how to clean the Stylus, so I won't wander off on a different tangent. Some have asked, and I'll share what I know, and keep this info in layman's terms.

There are many good liquid Stylus Cleaners on the market, that usually do the required job, and are generally not thought to hurt most Stylus', Cantilevers, or Suspensions. LAST, Lyra, RRL, and perhaps the Discwasher as well. There's probably a couple I missed, sorry for this.

Those that do use the Mr Clean Eraser, I wouldn't exactly say have grimy records, and it is not just dirt-groove contaminants that cake up-contaminate a Stylus. RW is by no means dumb, and should know this quite well. The largest proponent-discoverer of the ME, is Doug Deacon. Doug uses a Loricraft RCM, uses state of the art analog front ends, and I assure you, as others will here, Doug is one of the most knowledgeable, and seasoned contributors in this group.
There are many others as well, and I thank them all for thier contibutions. It's one reason I visit this group on a daily basis, I'm always learning something new here. This group is da bomb!

Some Cartridge Manufacturers do strongly advise not to use liquid cleaners. On many Cartridges of today, gone are Metal Cantilevers of some sort, being replaced largely by Synthetic Materials. Also, many use Hollow Tube Cantilevers, and liquids can travel by capillary action, very possibly damaging components in the process.

Used properly, the ME is very good, regardless that it's use wasn't originally intended for Stylus Cleaning. In truth, somebody had thier thinking cap on when they discovered this wonderful, and cheap product.

Again, all I can say, is it boils down to a matter of personal choice. If there are those who choose not try try it for whatever reasons, that's fine, you haven't committed any crime. ;-) But as others have discovered, it works well, it is fast, it is easy to use, it is easily gotten, and does maintain a Stylus in pristine condition without worry of possibility of damage to Stylus Adhesive, or Suspension components.

I hope this post reflects better civility, and again, I only wished to help those here find an alternative choice. Mark

and other carts, i cringe now of thinking about using alcohol. for years after, i uses stylast and sc4. THEN i tried ME.

DAMM. that left the diamond cleaner than i had ever seen one through a 40-50s 'scope.

techniique:

i may or may not use a sc2 or stylast brush first. i pick up the arm with its fingerlift and allow the vtf to put pressure on the ME a couple of times and then the same process with the sc2 brush, to remove any possible detritus from the stylus.

i dont view it every time as those steps can wear on the universal headshell connection. however, viewing a stylus is SOOOOOO much easier with a removable headshell as is cartridge mounting.

the first time performing the ME process revealed such a clean stylus that i never went back to another method.

by allowing the vtf to do its job during the cleaning stages is key to not damaging the suspension of the cart. nether the ME nor the sc2 are endangering to a stylus.

i realize that others will disagree, and thats OK.