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JUST HOW DIRTY IS YOURS?
Stylus-cleaning is an often overlooked part of vinyl replay. For many vinyl-users, it may consist of a cursory brush or a quick blow when the build-up of dust dirt and cat hair becomes visible.
Whilst good record-handling and using a great cleaning system like the Pristine Vinyl ViVac machine can help reduce the build up of dirt and dust on your stylus, it’s inevitable that, from time to time, you’ll play that just-bought second-hand record that may not be as clean as it should be.
Once there is a build up of contaminants, the stylus is no longer able to track the record’s groove correctly, which can lead to a dull woolly sound or, in the worse cases, cause the stylus to skip. Not only that, but it can be akin to dragging a piece of sandpaper along the groove, which is not good for the record and not good for the stylus.
Introducing a stylus cleaning gel into your regular cleaning regime is important for anyone who loves their vinyl. It’s quick, simple to use and, just as importantly, if used correctly it’s a very safe method to ensure your stylus is kept in tip-top condition.
Whilst specialist brushes work well, they are reliant on a steady hand and, given the delicate cantilever nature of the stylus, which is easily bent or damaged, they should not be the first choice when it comes to keeping that all-important diamond tip clean and doing what it was designed to do.
Using the stylus cleaning gel is simple and safe; in doing so, you are simply replicating cueing up a record by using your tonearm’s lift-and-lower mechanism to bring the stylus into contact with the gel’s tacky surface.
By lowering the stylus onto the gel, the tracking weight of the head-shell results in the stylus tip pushing gently into the soft, yielding gel material before raising the arm again. The tacky nature of the gel’s surface ensures that any dust, lint and micro-debris remains stuck to the gel’s surface rather than remaining on the stylus’ tip.
Whilst it’s obvious, it still needs saying: to use the gel cleaner, ensure the turntable is turned off and place the gel container directly on the platter. With the tonearm in the raised position, move it across, above the gel, then lower the tonearm using the lower/lift mechanism. Once it has touched the surface of the gel for two to three seconds, raise the arm and then repeat the process two or three times, moving the gel container slightly each time to ensure that the stylus touches a clean part each time. Then you’re good to go.
The gel is specifically designed to ensure that no material sticks to the stylus, and once it has been used a number of times it can simply be washed off with clean water, allowed to dry and it’s ready to use again.
The great thing about the gel cleaner is that once you’ve bought it, it should last for years and, if used regularly, it will ensure your stylus and records are protected and they can sound as they were intended to sound.
Pristine Vinyl offers a high-quality stylus gel cleaner for sale at a fabulous price of £12, so what are you waiting for? Buy yours here and keep your stylus and your records sounding as good as new.
Further development took place, based on a thread and vortex vacuum system, which has now been used across the world for almost six decades.
With the ViVac RCS, there is no need for a pre-clean. The automatic clean fluid application arm is supplied by a medical-grade peristaltic pump that delivers the perfect amount of fluid each and every time.
Whilst a felt-strip cleaner is effectively a motor and a vacuum normally housed in a chipboard box, and an Ultrasonic cleaner is simply a metal container that utilises a Piezoelectric Transducer that can be purchased at low cost, the thread and vortex cleaners are a whole different proposition.
