Do Stylus cleaners and treatments work?

[S0und Dragon]

I was using the stuff that came in my Kirmuss set and the bottle is just about done. It did work in cleaning my styli and did no apparent harm. I am thinking of getting another bottle as it’s not expensive. But then there is the Lyra product as well as LAST. Anyone have any experience or recommendations?

 

[Rudy]

LAST was more of a treatment for a clean stylus than an actual cleaner. I used to use it all the time but I have no clue where that bottle is anymore. I don't even know if it really did anything either. If I believed the audiophile press back in the day, it was probably hailed as some stunning improvement in playback. I never heard a difference. 🤷‍♂️ Same with the LAST treatment for records. These days I'd rather just have no crud or chemicals back on my records, thank you. That said, I never heard any negative effects on the records I treated with LAST back in the 80s.

I clean the stylus with a similar substance to Blue Tac and one or two dips later, that's good enough. With the records already cleaned, I don't get much on the stylus.

There are some "ultrasonic" stylus cleaners out there that don't cost much. I'm tempted to take one for the team and try one.

 

[JohnVF]

I use an Onzo Zerodust followed by a Nagaoka liquid stylus cleaner. It works well as a combo. I also have an old stylus brush from empire edr.9 packaging. Each seems to help in its own way.

 

[Rudy]

Advice--no 80 grit sandpaper. No bueno.

In the old days when my folks had consoles in the house, it was just a finger under the needle to clean away that hunk of dust. 😁

Discwasher used to sell this really dense, short-bristled brush pad, and that always did an admirable job. The flip side was a small mirror. Still have that here.

 

[JohnVF]

Advice--no 80 grit sandpaper. No bueno.

In the old days when my folks had consoles in the house, it was just a finger under the needle to clean away that hunk of dust. 😁

Discwasher used to sell this really dense, short-bristled brush pad, and that always did an admirable job. The flip side was a small mirror. Still have that here.

I have one if those stuff brush/mirror things somewhere. It might be with my discwasher brush, I recall the brush had a little slot for it.

 

[MrEd]

I have been using the magic eraser for a few years now. I also have some of the Nagaoka fluid.

 

[pvillemasher]

FYI I just got a new cart from Soundsmith and Peter Lederman says to use blue tack (I believe he calls it blue stick) and dry clean by dropping the needle on some blue tack about every record.
Link:

https://www.sound-smith.com/how-care-new-or-soundsmith-rebuilt-cartridges

 

[Rudy]

FYI I just got a new cart from Soundsmith and Peter Lederman says to use blue tack (I believe he calls it blue stick) and dry clean by dropping the needle on some blue tack about every record.

I've been doing that for a while and to me, I feel safer using this method than using a brush. My dexterity isn't what it used to be. Lowering a stylus into Blu-Tack may also be easier on the suspension of delicate moving coil cartridges than running a brush under the stylus.

I have one if those stuff brush/mirror things somewhere. It might be with my discwasher brush, I recall the brush had a little slot for it.

I had that in Discwasher kit from back in the 80s. The whole thing may have cost $24, and included the record cleaner, stylus brush, fluids for both, the Zerostat, a neon bulb to test the Zerostat with, a brush to clean the record cleaner, and a wood base with a smoked plastic cover. Nowadays the Zerostat alone is $$$. Still amazes me how cheap those used to be.

 

[JohnVF]

I've been doing that for a while and to me, I feel safer using this method than using a brush. My dexterity isn't what it used to be. Lowering a stylus into Blu-Tack may also be easier on the suspension of delicate moving coil cartridges than running a brush under the stylus.


I had that in Discwasher kit from back in the 80s. The whole thing may have cost $24, and included the record cleaner, stylus brush, fluids for both, the Zerostat, a neon bulb to test the Zerostat with, a brush to clean the record cleaner, and a wood base with a smoked plastic cover. Nowadays the Zerostat alone is $$$. Still amazes me how cheap those used to be.

I have two zerostats and I’m pretty sure one came with the big wood record brush and stylus brush. It came with this giant stereo package I bought with HPM-100s, an SX-1280, PL-570 turntable and other goodies. I whole car load. Back in the “scroe” days. The funny thing is, the brushes and zerostat are all that remains here.

 

[S0und Dragon]

I've been doing that for a while and to me, I feel safer using this method than using a brush. My dexterity isn't what it used to be. Lowering a stylus into Blu-Tack may also be easier on the suspension of delicate moving coil cartridges than running a brush under the stylus.


I had that in Discwasher kit from back in the 80s. The whole thing may have cost $24, and included the record cleaner, stylus brush, fluids for both, the Zerostat, a neon bulb to test the Zerostat with, a brush to clean the record cleaner, and a wood base with a smoked plastic cover. Nowadays the Zerostat alone is $$$. Still amazes me how cheap those used to be.

 

[Rudy]

👆 That's the critter right there.

 

[MrEd]

I've been doing that for a while and to me, I feel safer using this method than using a brush. My dexterity isn't what it used to be. Lowering a stylus into Blu-Tack may also be easier on the suspension of delicate moving coil cartridges than running a brush under the stylus.


I had that in Discwasher kit from back in the 80s. The whole thing may have cost $24, and included the record cleaner, stylus brush, fluids for both, the Zerostat, a neon bulb to test the Zerostat with, a brush to clean the record cleaner, and a wood base with a smoked plastic cover. Nowadays the Zerostat alone is $$$. Still amazes me how cheap those used to be.

I wore out my first dishwasher brush.
I don't think the new ones are as good.
And I miss my zerostat for sure, lost when my house burned, still can't quite come to grips with today's cost... yes I know I'm a cheap bastard.😏

 

[Rudy]

I wore out my first dishwasher brush.
I don't think the new ones are as good.
And I miss my zerostat for sure, lost when my house burned, still can't quite come to grips with today's cost... yes I know I'm a cheap bastard.😏

I also don't think the Discwasher clones are much good either. What they seem to miss is that the original Discwasher pad had directional fibers that would lift the dust off of the record. Some of the newer ones are microfiber, and all they do is push the dust around. I think the Discwasher brand is still around, but I don't know who owns them, or if the quality is as good as the originals.

I had a Radio Shack clone from the 70s. It didn't have directional fibers, but it was filled with glass beads that supposedly kept the pad very slightly damp so it could pick up dust without getting the record wet.

Yeah, the Zerostat is insanely priced these days. I think it was nothing more than a piezo crystal to create the charge and a metal rod to transmit the energy outward, with a trigger to activate it. Can't be all that expensive? I rarely use mine but when I need it, I need it. They do get weaker with use, though, which is why the kit included a neon bulb to test it with.

 

[MrEd]

I used the my Zerostat a lot, never noticed that it got weaker. I did zap my son a few times with it 🙂

 

[S0und Dragon]

I used the my Zerostat a lot, never noticed that it got weaker. I did zap my son a few times with it 🙂

Perfectly acceptable use…..

 

[Fran604g]

I used the my Zerostat a lot, never noticed that it got weaker. I did zap my son a few times with it 🙂

When I got mine years ago, I had to test it on myself. Yeah, I guess I'm some sort of sadist? But, considering the audiophile world, maybe we all are.