Stylus cleaner

Home brew stylus cleaner experimentation strikes me as an endeavor ripe for future regret. As I'm sure you know, many cartridge manufacturers advise against any wet cleaning at all. That said, I've used Stylast for many years with no ill effect (Grado woodies and Ortofon moving coils) Having inadvertently spilled it, I know it evaporates very, very fast. It evaporated so fast it was more like ether or acetone than alcohol. Anything that doesn't evaporate fast has greater potential to migrate into places it doesn't belong. If it is too aggressive a solvent it can soften the adhesives some styli are glued with. A $35.00 bottle of Stylast lasts me for two years of daily use, not a significant expense in the grand scheme of things. Especially considering what a cartridge replacement or retip costs.

I might also mention that I had one occasion to use a home brew stylus cleaning solution. I'd purchased a used Garrott Optim FGS cartridge whose condition was wildly misrepresented by the seller. After it arrived and I looked at it under a loupe, it appeared to have never been cleaned. The stylus was buried under what looked like a ball of welded on black tar. Seeing it was basically useless as it stood and I had nothing to lose, I removed the stylus assembly and fastened it with a gob of blu-tack under a dissecting microscope. Using 100% isopropyl alcohol on a small brush, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, and tiny strips of 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper, I slowly cleaned off the tar ball. After about 45 minutes of cleaning, it looked like new again.

I have read and tried the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser without ill effects . Not real sure what Kind of job it does .

Happy Tunes

Magic eraser. Search the archive.

The best is Audio Technica AT-637.