Liquid stylus cleaner without solvent

@lewm- I think the concern in general terms (I can’t speak to chemistry as such) was that solvents, including alcohol, could dissolve the glue that binds the diamond to the cantilever. Ortofon in particular was a brand that warned about this at one point, but for the purposes of this post, I did not pull up their current statement on the subject.
Thus, the concern about using a liquid that might cause damage by "ungluing" the stylus from the cantilever. Others may be able to speak more knowledgeably about this than me. I have used liquids in extreme cases, where gunk got on the stylus despite deep cleaning. And I did use the Lyra liquid when I owned their cartridges because it was recommended by the cartridge manufacturer. Beyond that, I guess I’ll let others take the lead. Hope that wasn’t a blithering insight into the obvious.

I too find the Lyra cleaner quite effective.  The instructions state that the solvents in the cleaner soften the glue holding the stylus to the cantilever, so, after cleaning, one should wait something like ten seconds after cleaning before playing a record to allow the glue to harden again.

@whart is correct: Ortofon recommends using just the stylus brush, without any liquid.

Last Stylus Cleaner (it comes with a very dense circle of short bristles on a plastic handle with which to apply to the stylus), followed by an application of Stylast. I’ve been using both since they were introduced in the 1980’s.

If to look from chemistry side in order to dissolve oil based contaminants you can't do it with pure water. You have to have dispersing agent and alter pH to alkaline side in order to make it work faster. Also IMO water based solvent for regular use is better as it's not drying so fast as alcohol based so you can remove residue without allowing it to dry on stylus
For the very sticky contamination I do use isopropyl lab grade but I am soaking tip into it several times. But it's special cases and it not always make good results.