Dirt on my stylus.....what to do?

Basement is right. Diskwasher is the best. I use the Stylast preservative and the Record Research, never had any problems with the liquid hurting the cartridge.

Albert is right on with the Record Research LP#9. I've been using it for ten years or more. One bottle will last most of a lifetime.

I'm using the item that MF described and it seems to work quite well. However, I have not tried the alternatives mentioned in this thread.

Someone in these parts said that silly putty will do what the Fremer device does for, obviously, a lot less money. Just gently drop the stylus into it and then lift it out. Voila.

The item Fremer recommended is Zerodust. I have it and it works extremely well with no chance of damage to the stylus or migration of fluid into the cantilever. It's not cheap, but it lasts forever. You can purchase it from amusicdirect.com for $70:

http://www.amusicdirect.com/products/detail.asp?sku=AZEROD

It is a soft gel in a plastic container. Put it on the table and lower the stylus into it. Lift and the dirt is in the gel. There's a magnifying glass attached to the lid so you can see what was removed. The gel can be washed in water.

After getting the Zerodust, I found that extemephono.com has their own version, which is only $24.

http://www.extremephono.com/Stylus_Cleaner.htm

I ordered it for a friend and he is very satisfied with the Exteme Phono version, except that he had some complaints about difficulty in lifting the lid of the case.

i second to the zerodust a truly wonderful piece.

p.s. don't exersise too much to clean your stylus. it's better to leave it dirty than try to "scrub" it.