OK, so I went out into the garop and tried cleaning the belt. Turns out that Goof Off works, and so does paint stripper. I used the paint stripper on almost all of the belt, including the taped seam. It doesn't appear as though the stripper, the Goof Off, or the water rinse with a jet of water from the hose did any damage at all. That belt looks so nice and clean that it literally looks new again. Doesn't appear that any of the binder that hold the grit dissolved and I think everything will be good to go. The real test will come in the next few days when I actually get around to using it.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Wayne
P.S. Yes, the big eraser thingy was a crepe block. :-)