In our first episode of On The Record, I (Bob Hazelwood, Director of Engineering & Product Development at Andover Audio) break down why record care matters a lot more than most people think—and why dust is the quiet killer of vinyl. Dust is everywhere, and as a record plays, static electricity attracts it right into the grooves. The problem isn’t just that dust looks bad; once it gets ground into the groove, it can be hard to remove and can cause real, permanent wear. I also explain what’s happening at the stylus. Even though a good turntable tracks at a light force—typically 1 to 4 grams—the stylus tip is so small that you’re creating many hundreds of pounds per square inch of pressure in the groove. That’s a diamond pushing into soft vinyl, so if you’re not consistent with cleaning, you’re effectively grinding contaminants into your records. My baseline recommendation is simple: use a brush before every play. But if you really want to protect your collection, add wet cleaning with a well-designed fluid that won’t leave residue. I walk through two record-care systems we trust—Audio-Technica’s AT6012 and GrooveWasher kits—and I show how I approach stylus cleaning (always back to front). Done right, your records can still sound great 10, 15, even 20 years from now—mine from the ’70s and ’80s are proof.