Assuming at least 2-man:
Normally if the plate isn’t very dirty I just take a passing ‘swipe’ at the plate, I do not call time. I do make sure that the action is over and that my partner(s) appears to have everything under control then I quickly clean the plate. Sometimes I just kick the dirt off as I walk by. BUT if the plate is hidden after a slide I will call time to clean the plate because it’s going to take me a few seconds.
With all that said, I was taught to always call time when cleaning the plate.....but