[gooberdude]

If the stylus tip is kept ultra clean, say with the Magic Eraser, my guess is cartridges will last a long time.   2000 - 3000 hrs  a few years anyway if you are careful.

rather than worrying about diamond tip wear, only the suspension in the stylus will age/degrade.

[TheChairGuy]

I gently brush my stylus with a product made long ago from Trackmate....little tufted cotton threads clean my needle perfectly each time. I clean it about every three album sides...and then add a little Stylast to it for (according to maker) longer life and reduced wear.

This is the Trackmate cleaner...the black fibre brush on the left side is the stylus cleaner part:
http://cgi.ebay.com/TRACKMATE-Record-LP-Cleaning-System-NR_W0QQitemZ280129799115QQihZ018QQcategoryZ48648QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I bought that bottle of Stylast for $25 in, I think, 1988, and based on recent look-see - I have enough left until year 2020...so it's a dang good investment 

According to the founder of Trackmate, who tested all of the LAST formula's long ago, they work exactly as described.   

[gooberdude]

What is that John??     the description reads LP cleaning system & doesn't say anything about the stylus.

Is the white plastic dealy what you use on the stylus???

[TheChairGuy]

GooberMatt: Trackmate is a record cleaner/brush...with astylus cleaner on top.

The stylus brush is the small rectangular black patch you see on the left 'fork' of the cleaner (that's the top of the cleaner you see).  The side you don't are the cleaning brushes that are used on the record itself.

[TONEPUB]

I concur with BobRex on cartridge wear.  The better cart mfrs have all told me 5-10000
hours if you dont hurt the stylus assy cleaning it.

We'll see!