How often, and how, do you clean your stylus?

@mojo771 

Wow. Assuming he is not playing albums 8 hours a day, there is something very wrong. I have never replaced a stylist and only had two cartridges in the last twenty years. I probably played one album a day when home… so about 200 hours a year? 

The best and safest way to clean a stylus effectively.

Get a 1/8" wide artist brush and with a very sharp scissor cut the bristles halfway down and across at a right angle. This stiffens the bristles a bit. You can use it dry to knock of dust or wet to clean off residue. I use a little spray bottle of eyeglass cleaning solution. You do not want the brush too wet, just damp is fine. With an artist brush you can safely brush the stylus in any direction. 

Blue Tack is dangerous and ineffective. It will remove dust but not residue. One false move and you snap your cantilever off.

Lyra Stylus cleaner is awful especially when you consider the price. The eyeglass cleaner is way better and cheap to boot. It removes deposits quickly with just a few brush strokes. The Lyra frequently did not work at all. Alcohol will not effect the cement used to fix the stylus. Prolonged exposure to acetone would and perhap lacquer thinner. I once took an old broken cartridge  and tossed it in brake cleaning fluid overnight and the stylus was still well cemented in the morning. I have also done this with records with no noticeable ill effect.

I clean the stylus about once a week. I use a conductive sweep arm during play and the dust cover is always closed. I hardly ever have dust on the stylus, but a small amount of residue will collect above the contact patches. It does not affect play until it is severe enough to see with the naked eye.

I cut a round piece of Magic Eraser (lots of praise for this product used for this purpose) to fit into the cavity of a trimmed rubber furniture foot, which then sits on my turntable plinth between platter and tone arm rest. I lower the stylus onto the Magic Eraser as I'm cleaning the vinyl with an Oracle brush. Do this every side. Stylus is always perfectly clean, and the procedure takes no effort whatsoever, nor does it risk harm to stylus or cantilever. 

I do similar as @snilf only with the Japanese Onzow device on a little purpose-built riser. Volume on, to listen for contact.

Seconding @mijostyn ‘s concern for blue tack. There’s also a greasy component to that stuff (why you should also never use blue tack on paper / posters you plan to re-use or keep in clean shape) and I’m not sure whether that would affect the stylus (whether for better or worse).

I clean only when it sounds like it needs it. Couple of times a year with many hours of playing in between. With this hobby, I don't look, or listen, for problems that aren't there.