Pro-Ject Clean it Stylus Brush

The Pro-Ject Clean it — Carbon Fiber for the Diamond, Not the Record

A stylus brush with thousands of soft carbon fiber filaments. It is for the diamond rather than the record: a few light passes lift the dust and debris a stylus picks up as it tracks, with nothing wet involved.

Carbon fiber is the standard material for this job because it is conductive, so it does not build the static charge a synthetic brush would while sweeping across a cartridge.

How It Works

Direction Is the Technique

Brush from the cantilever toward the tip — the direction the record travels beneath the stylus. A cantilever is a thin rod on a compliant suspension, and force applied backward or sideways loads it in a direction it was never built to take.

A few passes is the whole procedure. There is nothing to dry and nothing that can run down into the cartridge body, which is why a dry brush is the only stylus cleaning method safe to use between every side.

What It Will Not Remove

Loose material comes away readily. The hardened film that builds up over months from mold release compound and airborne grime does not — that has effectively been baked onto the diamond, and it takes a fluid or a gel to break the bond.

Who Is the Pro-Ject Clean it Best For?

• You want a between-sides habit — a few passes costs seconds and prevents most of the problem
• You would rather keep liquids away from your cartridge — nothing here can run down the cantilever
• You play second-hand records — those shed the most onto a stylus
• You already own a fluid or a gel — a dry brush is what you use between them
• Your stylus has a hardened film — brushing will not shift it; the fluids and gels are in stylus cleaning

How Do You Use It?

Lower the cue lever so the stylus sits at a workable height, hold the brush beneath it, and draw it from the cantilever toward the tip two or three times. Check the diamond under a bright light afterward — it takes about as long as changing sides.

Stylus care is a sequence rather than one product. A dry brush used between sides can be used on its own and will keep most of the problem away — or, for better results, as part of a full treatment program with the fluids and treatments in stylus cleaning.

Pairs Well With

What most owners keep alongside a stylus brush.

• Stylus cleaning — a clean record deserves a clean stylus
• Record cleaning solutions — the fluid the machine is there to remove
• Record brushes — for the dust that never needs a machine
• Record cleaning accessories — the rest of the spares and consumables

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should I use it?

Between sides is reasonable, and there is no reason to ration it — a dry brush is the safest form of stylus cleaning there is.

Which direction do I brush?

From the cantilever toward the tip, matching the direction the record travels. Never backward, never sideways.

Do I still need a fluid?

For the hardened film that builds up over months, yes. A dry brush handles what is loose; it does not dissolve what has bonded to the diamond.

Why carbon fiber?

It is conductive, so it does not build up a static charge while sweeping across the cartridge, and the filaments are fine enough to reach around the diamond.

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