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

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.

Despite my earlier promise to walk away from this one, well here I go....

Dan_Ed, I was not the one who "came out swinging". I believe that was you - read your first post to me, you called me a son of a bitch. If that isn't coming out swinging, I don't know what is.

I simply related my experience. I never once impugned your ancestry or made any rash commnents towards you. I did criticize a cleaning regimen that I think is excessive. After that, you started "swinging" and made it personal. Shame on you.

Calm down, clean a record - and your stylus - slap it on your 'table and chill out, dude....

-RW-

Photon wrote above, with his cleaning regimen, that he has...after a year,... "no accumulation between the stylus and where it inserts into the cantilever. Damn it, I DO get accumulation there, usually of very fine fibers, like from clothing or something, not dust per se. I am so compulsive about cleaning a record before playing it, I have no idea where they come from. At times, it requires a magnifying glass and non metal tweezers to tease these out of the junction between stylus and cantilever...I am not hamfisted, but this is very tricky business.
If anyone is out there still following this thread...Have you ever had this problem, and how do you fix it??
Thanks

Markd51's comment above was a good one.

The day I got my Zerodust, I made a wooden base about 3 inches tall for it. I sprayed this gloss black to match my turntable, and put thin felt on the bottom.

Now it's just a matter of sliding it over and 3 light dunks with the cueing lever. -Done- It takes all of 15 seconds. It works great, and it is right there so I do not forget to use it.

The Zerodust is a proven product and to my knowledge, no one has ever broken a stylus or cantilever with it.
I can't see all the fussing with multiple products when this one works so well..but to each his own..