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How to Clean a Turntable Stylus

Contributor
By eHow Contributing Writer
(10 Ratings)

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

Difficulty: Easy
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • Stylus Cleaning Brush
  • 70% Isopropyl Alcohols
  1. Step 1

    Follow instructions in your cartridge manual, if any.

  2. Step 2

    Be very gentle when cleaning the stylus tip.

  3. Step 3

    Use a stylus brush or a stiff, short-pile brush for dry cleaning.

  4. Step 4

    Brush stylus toward you (back-to-front of stylus).

  5. Step 5

    Clean stabilizer brush, if any, in same motion.

  6. Step 6

    Repeat each time you play a record.

  7. Step 7

    Use a stylus brush or a cotton swab dipped in a 70% isopropyl alcohol solution for wet cleaning.

  8. Step 8

    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  

michael-h said

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on 7/25/2009 I have a question:

Is it OK to use one of those blower-brushes to clean the stylus?
In one of my record-players, one of those automated Marantz players, there is already a similar brush that automatically cleans the stylus.
So I guess it's alright if I do it with a similar handheld brush myself on a different record-player?

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 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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