Lost stylus seeking similar experience

Bill,

Maybe, after years of playing, it simply vibrated out of a laser cut hole, and Steve just mentioned the most frequent cause he sees, due to cleaners (not Stylast).

Steve will be using adhesive to hold the MicroRidge into the Boron, and he will warn you not to use stylus cleaners.

Maybe I hit the edge of my platter, and knocked my tip loose/out, or I loosened it's glue, because I was using Stylus Cleaner, not Stylast. Like lewm, I have a very old bottle of Stylast, but don't use it.

It seems that the confusion concerning Stylast is related to what it is, by that I mean the purpose of the stuff.  It is not a cleaner.  The stylus must be clean before it is applied.  The purpose is to increase the life of the stylus.  It does so by reducing the friction created at the interface between the stylus and the vinyl as the record is played.  There is a lot of heat generated that would allow the state change from liquid to gas that the manufacturer describes in their product description.  This would be a different mechanism than simple evaporation at room temperature.  Without knowing the chemical composition of the compound we cannot know exactly what the vapor pressure is or the boiling point is or any other pertinent details that would account for it's stability in the bottle vs. it's behavior on the stylus under dynamic load.  I can attest that it does usefully extend stylus life.  By profession I am, or was before retirement and befuddlement, a chemical engineer, but this is well outside my field of expertise.  FWIW, to clean my stylus I use a little vibrating gadget that Hudson makes that works like magic.   

You are right, Bill.  And I was incorrect to refer to it as a cleaner. Still, I wonder what is the active ingredient. In reference to what Elliot wrote above, is there some other trademarked product called "Stylus Cleaner"?  I thought the subject was LAST, and then I assumed the particular product under discussion as a possible cause of bond failure was Stylast, whether it's a cleaner or a lubricant or a candy mint or a breath mint (to quote a very old SNL gag).

You guys are aware there is LAST Stylus cleaner and companion product STYLAST which is claimed to be a stylus preservative. Just making sure everyone is on the same page.

I've used LAST Stylus cleaner for decades and never lost a stylus.

Yes, two things Elliott mentioned above are pertinent and perhaps prescient.  LAST does make a stylus cleaning liquid.  It is powerful stuff and there is no doubt in my mind that regular use could degrade adhesive.  I have a bottle here in Florida, but rarely use it.  Most importantly it had never been used on my AT ART20.  Inadvertent fumble fingers or some such is by far the most likely root cause of my missing diamond.  I don’t know how I did it, but the cartridge was untouched by any other human since I acquired it.  I believe mishandling is the answer to the mystery.