when trying to extract/rescue the sound from old 78s I washed them in washing up liquid and warm water, dried the side I did not want and then played them wet - the first time was part of the cleaning process, so I cleaned the stylus and then recorded onto a cassette.
It was probably pretty dire for the stylii, but they all survived many recording sessions - I think that the detergent solution softened the impact of all the crud. It also reduced the 'tssssss'noise and crackles.
The sound quality between the original played dry and the wet recording is often the difference between audible words and nothing discernable plus a stuck stylus.