How to Clean a Turntable Stylus

By eHow Electronics Editor

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To preserve your stylus and your records, and to get the best possible sound quality, clean your stylus often.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

  • Stylus Cleaning Brush
  • 70% Isopropyl Alcohols

Step1
Follow instructions in your cartridge manual, if any.
Step2
Be very gentle when cleaning the stylus tip.
Step3
Use a stylus brush or a stiff, short-pile brush for dry cleaning.
Step4
Brush stylus toward you (back-to-front of stylus).
Step5
Clean stabilizer brush, if any, in same motion.
Step6
Repeat each time you play a record.
Step7
Use a stylus brush or a cotton swab dipped in a 70% isopropyl alcohol solution for wet cleaning.
Step8
Brush stylus toward you (from back to front of stylus).

Tips & Warnings

  • Experts disagree about the merits of wet cleaning vs. dry cleaning. We recommend dry cleaning regularly and wet cleaning occasionally to remove grease and grime.
  • Some cartridges come with cleaning brushes. Discwasher, Last and Stanton also make stylus-cleaning brushes.
  • Save your old stylus when you replace it, and use it to play very worn records or newly acquired used records.
  • Do not attempt to concoct a stylus cleaning solution yourself; you will probably end up leaving solution deposits on the stylus. There are commercial cleaners, but sticking to alcohol is probably safest.

Comments

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Aelfric

Aelfric said

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on 6/15/2008 Witch hazel is not a good idea for vinyl records (and probably not for shellac either) due to the other chemicals mixed into it. If you're unwilling to buy a commercial record cleaning fluid, try three to four parts demineralised water mixed with one part of isopropyl alcohol. Add a few drops of a basic dishwashing liquid (no perfumes, no moisturizers). After washing the records with this mix, rinse them in straight demineralized water.

audie

audie said

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on 5/26/2008 Please tell me if I'm wrong! In aquiring a bunch of 33-1/3's and 78's which have been in storage for years. I set out to find a cleaning method and deducted that witch hazel and a microfiber cloth work well.

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eHow Article: How to Clean a Turntable Stylus

eHow Electronics Editor

eHow Electronics Editor

Category: Electronics

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