Cleaning Phono Stylus- white residue

If the white detritus seems to be a build up of very small white dust and flakes it is worn vinyl - yes, from the record. If you magnify it, then watch a tiny drop of acetone when dripped on it, you'll see it melt together.

The vinyl comes up in little "rods" when you play a record, and without magnification, it looks like pretty fine dust without color. In such small pieces the vinyl is not opaque, you can really not see any pigment. This is the way any dyed material that is not super dense in dye appears when you get it thin enough.

In my experience heavily profiled stylus tips seem to pick up more vinyl dust and flakes. In any case, if you imagine the miles of groove that the stylus travels it is pretty amazing, and this represents a small amount of vinyl relative to that tracing distance.

Thanks for all the helpful advice gentlemen!
Need I clean the bottom of the cartridge (white buildup Kiddman states is vinyl dust from the record grooves) or just leave it be?
What type of magnifier are you using....I know my eyesight isn't good but I can hardly make out the stylus with 5.0 readers....I find it difficult to avoid the cantilever when cleaning with a dry stylus brush.
Does anyone use the long bristle brush included inside and built into the cap of the RRL or Mobile Fidelity LP#9 liquid stylus cleaner, to clean the stylus?
Thanks!

Brian- even a cheap jeweler's loupe should give you the magnification you need. You can buy one on Amazon. I'd keep any liquids away from the cantilever, cartridge underbody or suspension. If you have a dry brush, like a small painter's brush, see if you can't remove the dust from the cartridge housing using that; then use one of those stiffer stylus brushes (or ME, if you are inclined, but I'd dip, not scrape~ you should read up on using ME as a stylus cleaner before you deploy b/c it is basically a bunch of tiny fibers and you don't want to snag your stylus/cantilever in it and you still need to brush afterwards to remove any residue from the ME). I've gotten away from using liquid stylus cleaners and just use dry methods, but each to their own- Lyra obviously believes they are ok, and I used its stylus liquid when I ran their cartridges without a problem. I never used the RRL liquid- one concern I'd have is if the stylus is already dirty, whether applying a liquid to it would make it worse. I guess you should take a close look and try some dry cleaning first, in any case, no?

+1 to Whart's comments. Good post.

Man, do I have a tone of it right now, the result of months. I only clean it when the cart is out of the arm, sitting upside down, under bright light, with a tiny brush and toothpick with alcohol on it, very carefully!

I do not use usually use liquids on stylii, I do not use those sticky things, just the little stylus brushes with some alcohol if something on the stylus is stubborn. After 1000 hours the stylus still gleams under 400 power magnification, so my occasional brushes with the stylus brush, and very occasional use of alcohol on the short stiff brush (as opposed to dripping liquid on those longer applicator brushes) is sufficient. And safe!