Rough Trade anti-static vinyl brush

Static is vinyl's quiet enemy. It pulls dust into the grooves, fetches it back the moment you've wiped it away, and settles in as crackle between you and the music. Most brushes just move the dust around. This one goes after the cause, and has done since the 1970s.

We made the original carbon fibre brush, and the design has barely changed since. There's a good reason for that. The bristles are conductive carbon fibre, but the part that actually makes the brush anti-static is hidden inside: a small brass pin connecting the aluminium body to the bristles. It carries the charge up out of the grooves, through the brush and away through your hand. Without that pin, a carbon brush will still push dust about, but it won't drain the static.

It's the part you can't see, and it's the part most copies leave out. Drop the pin and the brush is cheaper to make and, however identical it looks, not actually anti-static. Ours has always had it. The same fine bristles reach right to the bottom of the groove and take the grit that would otherwise wear at both record and stylus, leaving a cleaner record, longer life, and the static drawn off rather than just shifted around.

• The original anti-static carbon fibre brush, with a hidden brass pin that draws the charge away
• Conductive bristles that lift dust and grit from the grooves
• Reaches right to the bottom of the groove
• Protects both record and stylus from wear
• All plastic parts are made from recycled plastic

• Number of carbon fibre bristles: 528,000
• Handle: Aluminium
• Brush: Carbon fibre
• Frame: Recycled ABS
• Weight: 31g
• Height: 114mm
• Width: 32mm
• Depth: 18mm