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Stylus Cleaning

As above. Can't recall the last time I needed to clean the stylus since only playing cleaned records. I do keep a very fine sable paintbrush to hand just in case anything is picked up during playback as I don't use a cover but that seems to be a rare occurrence even with dogs in the house.
 
White Zombie said:
what's the forum's best recommendations on how to clean a stylus
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Have a search - plenty of threads, some very long.

Actually clean one? From how bad?
Most popular, probably, in order from major build-up removal to removing a bit of fluff -

Ultrasonic cleaner, magic rubber, jewellers' blue putty, soft bristle stylus brush.

Personally, I've never been brave enough to use one of those short bristle brushes supplied with cart's, which is pretty insane really.

Keep one clean - carbon fibre record brush used at least once each side, every side played. Record washing completely unnecessary in terms of stylus cleanliness.
 
Various jewellers loupes, lots of bright lighting, a clean piece of white paper (again to reflect more light)

I use deionised water on a very small paint brush. The brush isn't 'wet' just about damp.

Using delicate strokes brush stylus tip, whilst observing under high magnification, brush in the direction a record would spin under the record.

The idea is to 'just' dampen the dirt/debris, but not soak the tip or use so much water it tracks up.

I hold the stylus with tip down so as not to aid any syphoning effect.

I have used this method for years, never had an issue. I can hear when it needs doing before I can see the dirt (with the naked eye)

Current cart. is ortofon 2m black. The diamond comes up nice and clean.

(I have used this method on the 2m black many, many times. Happy to demonstrate if you live nearby)


I can hear folks already saying that if your records are clean, you will not have a dirty stylus...

I live in the real world though.
Learning to clean a stylus is common sense, and should be one of the first things to consider if a previously jump/stick free record starts to skip.



note: I have a gel dustbuster, but it has no effect on the 2m. It does work very well on an old AT 95 though
 
Start with clean records. I use a ProJect record cleaner, it’s one of the cheaper wet/vacuum cleaners out there, but does a great job.
Clean records means less need to clean the stylus which means less chance of accidental damage to the stylus.
For cleaning the stylus, I use either the small Ortofon carbon fibre brush, A strip of the old Linn green paper or the AT (637?) vibrating gadget. I do have some Lyra SPT cleaning fluid but it hardly ever get used.
A carbon fibre brush for a light sweep of the record if I see any dust on it as I’m putting it on the turntable & that’s about it.
 
I have a record brush 2+2 from years ago that i use before using the stylus brush from back to front.Does anybody know if that brush is still available been looking for one for ages no luck!
 
Audio Technica AT637 here for at least 40 years now. Never had any issue with it, if it broke I’d hunt another down. I have both the AT fluid and more recently bought some Nagaoka fluid as I use a MP-500 with a tip bonded to a boron cantilever and assume their own stuff is safe to use. I just put a drop on the AT637 pad, never the tip itself. I have a couple of nice Belomo loupes and a vintage Olympus microscope for checking now and again (made far easier due to my arm’s removable headshell).
 
If you hunt, the Decca 2x2 is listed on a small number of sites, all state unavailable/out of stock.
 
Cheers for the recommendations, to be honest at the moment my stylus looks in pretty good nick. My records are always brushed before I put them on and anything I buy that doesn't look the best are giving a good clean with Near Mint.
 
Tony L said:
Audio Technica AT637 here for at least 40 years now. Never had any issue with it, if it broke I’d hunt another down. I have both the AT fluid and more recently bought some Nagaoka fluid as I use a MP-500 with a tip bonded to a boron cantilever and assume their own stuff is safe to use. I just put a drop on the AT637 pad, never the tip itself. I have a couple of nice Belomo loupes and a vintage Olympus microscope for checking now and again (made far easier due to my arm’s removable headshell).
Click to expand...
I've got two AT637s, including an unused boxed one for back up. I use it dry after five or six LPs, and with a teeny drop of Lyra SPT after about 20 LPs. Even then, I think that is overkill as most of my records are wet-cleaned and vacuum-dried with a VPI-16.5. I have not suffered the effects of a dirty stylus since my university days.
 
I wet clean and vac most records with an Okki Nokki, but sometimes still get the occasional dust ball on the stylus. A quick wipe with Linn "green paper" does the trick! I have a carbon fibre record brush but don't typically use it as it seems to increase static on the record. Once I had a real problem with jumping and mis-tracking, the stylus turned out to be covered in crud, seemingly baked on, I had to clean it with a dampened (record cleaning fluid) stylus brush. The image below is after cleaning, wish I'd taken a shot before.

30270735952_0374d13613.jpg
 
Tony L said:
Audio Technica AT637 here for at least 40 years now. Never had any issue with it, if it broke I’d hunt another down. I have both the AT fluid and more recently bought some Nagaoka fluid as I use a MP-500 with a tip bonded to a boron cantilever and assume their own stuff is safe to use. I just put a drop on the AT637 pad, never the tip itself. I have a couple of nice Belomo loupes and a vintage Olympus microscope for checking now and again (made far easier due to my arm’s removable headshell).
Click to expand...

I have what looks like an Ortofon branded version of something similar. I probably bought it at a hifi show decades ago - so long ago I can’t really be sure. Oddly enough the battery died last week - I can’t remember when I last changed it before then.
 
I'm a recent convert to using that green putty stuff. Can't recall what it's called at the moment.
Lower the stylus onto it, gunk removed, shiny clean diamond.
 
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