Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

[flavio81]

The guy was a genius, from Zappa spawned a few vinyl threads to George Duke, Jean Luc Ponty

Zappa fanatic here!! (Ponty & George Duke also did great records too)

For stylus cleaning i use a PVA chamois (the one used to wash cars, very soft and does not leave any lint) wet with glass cleaner, stylus cleaner, or water. Any of these works very well. I only make sure the chamois is wet (so it gets very soft) and then very lightly touch the stylus and pull in my direction. Works immediately.

[maco]

As a proponent of RTFM for all of my gadgets / equipment, I'm in pure heaven perusing the VE library.

HOWEVER, how is the Magic Eraser used as a stylus cleaner?

Wet or Dry?

Fred and used wet as that's what the instructions of the ME tell me....

The Magic Eraser should be used dry for cleaning the stylus. Also notice that one shouldn't use a wet Magic Eraser on chromed metal.

Cheers,
Mario

[Superbarands]

Interesting reading chaps!

Does anyone have a link to buy both the Sticky Hands and Magic Eraser solutions in Europe?

[aardvarkash10]

available in New Zealand even, so probably at a store near you.

Great tip lir. I'll give it a go to and let you all know. God knows there is enough dust in my house to hide a small mammal - a sheep even! So if this stuff is the duck's nuts I'll be the ultimate crash test dummy.

[Axon]

There are all kinds of contradictory instructions given about the Magic Eraser.

Some people swear up and down that you should never use the ME wet, even though that is exactly how you should use it, at least when following the instructions for its intended purpose.

But IIRC, another guy claimed that the ME actually cleaned the stylus right off of his OC9. I think he was using it dry...

What I personally do - and do not take this as any kind of recommendation - is to very gingerly and very lightly press a small block of ME straight up against the stylus, just enough to deflect it. That's normally done dry but I have wetted it on occasion.

FWIW, I have seen visible clumps of dirt come off onto Magic Erasers during use.

[stevec325]

Every report of folks using the ME states that one should use "the white side" of the ME. I just purchased a 2 pack of ME's and the entire thing is white.

Did they change the formula? Has anyone else experienced this?

[classicstylus]

It's always been a white block as far as I am concerned. I cut a very thin six inch sliver and brush the stylus gently. I use it dry.

Michael.

[pivot]

Every report of folks using the ME states that one should use "the white side" of the ME. I just purchased a 2 pack of ME's and the entire thing is white.

Did they change the formula? Has anyone else experienced this?

There are different types of Magic Erasers. The type that is all white is the correct type for stylus cleaning.

I do not "brush" the stylus through it - I just dip the stylus gently into the dry, stationary, block of ME.

[stevec325]

Thanks for the replies.

I just cleaned my stylus using the ME. I simply cued it up/down a few times into a block of the ME. What a big difference!!!

Previously, I had been using a soft artist brush to remove regular dust/dirt build up. Every dozen (+/-) records, I would clean the stylus, using a Q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol. I always thought that the sound improved, following that.

Perhaps, it's because I want it to sound better - but, it really does sound better.

Add me to the list of happy ME users

[bobkpmg]

The original all white magic eraser is the one to use. They now make one that has a blue side. What i have done for 9 months with an AT-120E is this. I took a knife and cut off a 3/8" piece through the eraser on the short side. ( a piece about 2.5" ). I hold the eraser at the end and drag the other end starting about a 1/2" from the other end, in a back to front direction, using almost no pressure. Just touch it and pull it forward. I actually think it helps with the rig on, so you can hear the sound of your stylus cleaning nightmare!!!!! It really works, I do this at the beginning of every record playing session. But who knows. This technique could also tear the Elliptical nude round-shank stylus right off. So far so good.

[Fonzy]

Interesting reading chaps!

Does anyone have a link to buy both the Sticky Hands and Magic Eraser solutions in Europe?

Here is Holland it is sold as "Ballpro" (white block)
but also as sponges ; one side is blue sponge,the other side is the white eraser.
The white stuff from each looks the same and imo you can use either.
I've tried both and both work very well.

Best
Fonzy

[Helge Gundersen]

The stuff is called melamine foam and comes from BASF in Germany:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine_foam

I bought 3M Scotch Brite Easy Erasing Pad here in Norway.

[Hippy Hoppy]

Hi everyone!!

I just found this topic and I find it really interesting as my stylus gets a huge amount of dust every playing session (no lid used ). So much I'm able to take it away with my bare fingers but I guess a tiny bit remains in the tip. I own a Reloop stylus cleaning set, but the brush supplied seems too rough to be brushed over the needle.

Are you refering to a white-foam-sponge that looks something like this:



In my country the bald guy used to be called "Mr. Proper" but several years ago it changed to "Don Limpio".



So it has a pink zone in between the white ones but as the instructions claim is meant only for better gripping when white wears out; are we talking about the same product?
Can it be used without tearing any piece of it just by cueing the needle into the whole sponge?

Thank you all for this great piece of advice!!

Best regards,

REC

[pivot]

The stuff is called melamine foam and comes from BASF in Germany:

Cool info on the melmine foam - thanks for posting it!