If you are an old music guy from the 70s and 80s, you have probably listened to the music on turntables and I am sure, you still own that turntable.
If not, you may have got a semi-modern or a modern turntable in your house to fascinate you and get a peace in your mind.
Modern music lovers may just have heard of the idiom of Old is Gold, but you are the actual one, who really tests it yourself.
Turntables give more beautiful sound but If you remember that awful and offensive sort of sound due to glitches around the CD path, you may have shut that down due to noise.
One thing you would definitely know; None of the modern devices can beat the class of turntable for you if you keep them maintained by cleaning them out properly.
Do you want to hear the beautiful and peaceful voice instead of the noisy one, without any glitches, pops and teasing clicks?
We are here to help you with how to clean the turntable needle, without complications, without spending a lot of time or money.
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Why You Should Clean Turntable
Those clicks, glitches and distorted sound you hear when listening to your turntable is the needle or stylus, which keeps hitting dust particles on your device.
A tiny needle or stylus, whatever you said, keeps going on through the grooving or slots on your disk which is extremely small and you can’t even see that from your naked eye.
Whenever a dust particle enters that groove, it messes up with the needle and starts scratching the path which causes an unbearable noise.
Moreover, these tiny dust particles can cause damage to your sensitive stylus which is expensive to get another to fix that existing one.
How To Clean Turntable Needle – Follow These 4 steps
1: Use a Carbon Fiber Brush
Using Fiber brushes are one of the most effective ways to clean your turntable, if you know how to use it properly.
First, get a smooth fiber brush and turn your table on. Now place your brush on the record’s surface gently and a bit inclined.
Let the record spin for a while and later, bring your brush in the center of the record slowly and finally lift it straight up, so it will discharge the static energy that your brush has generated.
You can also bring your brush toward yourself and this will throw the dust particles at the side, but it will not discharge the electricity. Keep repeating the same steps, until all the dust particles get removed.
Carbon Fiber is a durable and safe material to use on your record. The reason why we use carbon fiber brushes are, this material is thermal and scratch-resistant, so it won’t let you make some scratches if you put a little effort into it accidentally.
Besides this, carbon fiber has thermal and electrical properties which doesn’t let the record heat up immediately and stores the static charge. This is because the record is made up of vinyl material which is not that durable and it can melt, but good in sound.
If the vinyl gets heated up, it can start melting and once it starts melting, the grooves on your record get contracted and the stylus cannot run inside that groove. This will harm your stylus and some time; it can cause injury if it breaks and hits you up.
2: Stylus Brush
The stylus you will be seeing on your record is not that simple as it looks. Sometimes, even if you have cleaned your record with a carbon fiber brush, you are still unable to hear a clear sound as it is supposed to be.
This is because on the back end; your turntable consists of a cartridge and a sort of stylus arm that connects your cartridge to the stylus and makes sound.
If your record attracts dust which almost every record does, your stylus will also attract the dust particles, which you can easily see from your eye.
Instead of using a record brush just like the carbon fiber brush above, using your stylus brush will help you get rid of it safely and they are cheap as well. But first keep in mind that your stylus lever and cartridge both are sensitive, so always be careful.
Politely rub your stylus brush on the back of the cartridge in back to front direction instead of side to front or side to back. Repeat this for at least 05 times and you are all set. Try to clean your needle or stylus before every play, so it will not let your record get damaged.
3: Cleaning Eraser
These erasers often refer to magic eraser due to their instant cleaning ability which you have probably seen somewhere. This is some sort of sponge that you will have to place it on record, then pull the needle above it and press the needle slowly on it.
This is not that magical, because when you put this eraser below the needle and press it a bit, all the dust on your needle will hold on this eraser and you are all done. Once, you pull it up, you will be seeing a clean needle.
Always avoid touching your record’s playable surface on your hands because it can damage your recorder and needle as well.
This is because, when you hold your track from a playable surface, your dirty hands, which you may not think of, can transfer the tiny dirt particles on its surface.
4: Use Liquid Removals
Now some of you may not agree with this method because they think liquid can rip off some of the grooves, or the water can come into the cartridge, but this is a myth. Nothing is going to happen.
Instead, using a liquid is more beneficial for your record, if your record has something stuck inside one of its grove.
When you use a carbon fiber brush, this lets you clean the dust particles from grooves, only if they are located over the top of that grove.
This is because your carbon fiber can’t rip out all of the dust that is seated at the plain in the groove. You need something liquid, that helps you to flow out all of the dust particles even from the bottom as well.
Most of the dust removal liquids consist of alcoholic material, which doesn’t harm your record chemically as water does and this is what you should want always. Just put a drop or two of this liquid on your needle brush and rub it on your needle.
The bottom Line: How to clean turntable needle
In this guide on how to clean turntable needles, we have discussed 05 effective, cheaper, and easier ways with some expensive ones as well. You can check out each of them and figure which one works for you.
Try to clean your stylus before every play. Most of the time, you will be cleaning your stylus after every 50, 70, or maybe 100 plays.
This may ruin your cartridge and cantilever if not your stylus, which again, results in a poor sound or uncleaned sound.
