Materials & Supplies
There are likely as many methods for cleaning your stylus as there are audiophiles.
We seem to be in another vinyl renaissance, and I'm encountering wave of audiophiles who are returning to vinyl playback after two or more decades of chasing digital.
Setup and stylus maintenance are two areas which can send a cold shiver up the back of the new vinylphile.
First, a "Mute" Point
When I'm performing an onsite setup, I operate with the phono stage "live" (unmuted). The scratchy sounds of using a protractor, measuring tracking force and (worst) cleaning the stylus invariably make the customer uncomfortable.
For some reason, they consider the scratchy sound of a stylus to be somehow harmful to their speakers, where in contrast, a rim shot on a snare drum doesn't bother them in the least.
I fail to understand this head in sand approach. Why you wouldn't want audible feedback when you're working with such a fragile device?
Pull Your Head Out of the Sand
I would never clean my stylus using several of the methods below, if I couldn't hear how much pressure I was exerting on the cartridge's suspension.
With that rant out of the way (click all of the images to expand them) ...
Method 1 - a Soft Brush
Soft Brush - Light "Dustup"
The safest, quickest, and least effective.
Any sort of soft brush will do. Many individuals use a sable paint brush.
If this is your only cleaning method, by all means do this after every record side.
As with all methods, brush from rear to front (toward you).
Handling Notes
When using stiffer "tools" (the stiff "Ortofon style" brush or Mr. Clean Magic Eraser):
- Position your tonearm so it can float upward. Don't lock your tonearm in place with an arm rest lock. You want cleaning force on the cantilever to "move" the tonearm.
- If you're at all jittery, brace your hand on something to stabilize the tool. I rest my hand on the stabilizing / cueing pillar we designed for our turntables.
When using the Soundsmith "Dip 'n Clean" method, stabilize the platter to keep it from moving. A small strip of masking tape will suffice. You don't want the platter to move when the stylus is buried in the Blu Tak.
Stabilizing Pillar
Method 2a - Stiff Brush
Stiff Brush
Many cartridge manufacturers (including Ortofon) supply a brush like this with their cartridges.
Move the brush from rear to front (toward you) and make two or three passes. As noted above, don't lock your arm in the rest.
- With a stiff brush like this, I work it upward and toward me.
- My left hand is braced on the stabilizing pillar and supports my right hand (which holds the brush).
- My phono stage is unmuted so I can hear when I'm making contact with the stylus.
Method 2b - Magic Eraser
This works similarly to the stiff brush. As above, make certain that your arm can move freely to prevent excessive force on the cantilever.
The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is a microfiber sponge.
Cut a square about 1/8" thick - thin enough so it flexes like a soft brush, and "wipe" from rear to front as you would the stiff brush (above).
Be gentle with this and leave your phono stage unmuted.
Magic Eraser is sold in several varieties. Select the all-white ones which have no detergent.
Magic Eraser
Soft Brush - Light "Dust-off"
The Magic Eraser leaves small microfiber flakes behind. Finish off with a quick swipe with a soft brush.
Years ago, we've heard of a few instances of people blaming the Magic Eraser for their stylus falling out.
They were so rare that this was likely user error (Muted phono stage? Too aggressive?) or a faulty cartridge.
We see no evidence of this method being any more aggressive than the stiff brushes recommended by Ortofon, and the audible feedback from an unmuted phono stage supports this.
Method 3 - Magic Eraser "Mini" Brush
For the faint of heart, you may find this method a bit easier to control than a Magic Eraser square.
Cut a tiny, thin wedge of Magic Eraser and "Crazy Glue" it to a toothpick.
As with all of these methods, brush from rear to front (toward you). Did we mention to leave your phono stage un-muted?
Finish off with a soft brush to dust off the microfiber particles.
Magic Eraser "Brush"
Method 4 - the Soundsmith "Dip 'n Clean" Technique
Peter Lederman of Soundsmith recommends the following method to clean their cartridges.
Note: no cleaning method is without risk. If you follow the method below, please ensure that your platter does not move while the cartridge is cued down!
Blu-Tack Method
Quoting Peter:
"To clean, get some BLU-TAK and press a thin layer out on a quarter or similar coin.
Place on platter and cue down into it 3-4 times every play."
Further quoting Peter:
"The cleaning method above is good – but also do the wet clean below infrequently. (BTW – do NOT use the clear GEL (cue down into them) type cleaners – too aggressive and will snap cantilevers and dislodge styli)"
Isopropyl / Paper Towel
"For a wet clean – do NOT buy stylus cleaner liquids. Some are dangerous for elastomers. Find a record you DON’T love, (Montovani is a good choice) and cut a 1” square of paper towel and wet it with ISOPROPYL (rubbing) alcohol."
"Place the square on the record and cue the stylus down for 2-3 minutes, then cue up and down a few times. You are done. Apologize to Montovani."
"Do about every 20-30 hours on any stylus design, but especially for the Soundsmith OCL stylus, used on the Hyperion, the SG-6 with the strain gauge, the Sussurro, and The Voice models."
"This will keep them spotless. I do NOT like wet cleaning often – so depending on condition of records, you will have to observe how often it is needed."
Method 5 - Cartridge Manufacturers' Products
Two caveats about using generic fluids are:
- The possibility of the fluid migrating into the suspension and attacking the elastomer damper, as Peter L. writes, above.
- The possibility of the fluid attacking the bonding agent agent and loosening the stylus.
Lyra SPT
It's fairly safe to assume that a trusted cartridge manufacturer like Lyra will market a product that takes these issues into account - at least for their cartridges.
As of this writing, Lyra claims that when used according to instructions, their SPT product is safe for all cartridges.
We know one thing: that Lyra sources their cantilever/stylus assemblies from Ogura and Namiki. The majority of Japanese cartridge builders source their assemblies from either of these two suppliers. Take this for what you will, and know that this says nothing about the elastomers.
