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I don't think LUGNET has had any discussions about this in quite some time.
How do -you- clean your LEGO parts?
I'm interested in learning people's techniques, particularly ones that clean a
lot of parts at once with little effort.
LEGO that's been on display just a short time can be cleaned with compressed
air. But for displays that have been sitting out for long periods, the dust
tends to stick, so you need to get more aggressive.
Then there's the issue of cleaning large quantities of parts that you bought
from your neighbor's garage/rummage sale or from eBay. I'm always concerned
about how dusty/sticky/whatever those foreign parts could be.
How do you dry them after they're cleaned? Water usually stays trapped in the
small crevices because of surface tension and takes forever to evaporate. This
can also leave soap marks.
I've tried the warm soapy water and toothbrush method and the
swish-around-in-a-bathtub method, but they're both time-consuming and hard to do
with small pieces. It seems to me that using a washing machine or a dishwasher
could work, but I've never tried it due to scratches the parts could acquire and
potential heat issues.
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In lugnet.general, Jordan Bradford wrote:
> I don't think LUGNET has had any discussions about this in quite some time.
>
> How do -you- clean your LEGO parts?
>
> I'm interested in learning people's techniques, particularly ones that clean a
> lot of parts at once with little effort.
>
> LEGO that's been on display just a short time can be cleaned with compressed
> air. But for displays that have been sitting out for long periods, the dust
> tends to stick, so you need to get more aggressive.
>
> Then there's the issue of cleaning large quantities of parts that you bought
> from your neighbor's garage/rummage sale or from eBay. I'm always concerned
> about how dusty/sticky/whatever those foreign parts could be.
>
> How do you dry them after they're cleaned? Water usually stays trapped in the
> small crevices because of surface tension and takes forever to evaporate. This
> can also leave soap marks.
>
> I've tried the warm soapy water and toothbrush method and the
> swish-around-in-a-bathtub method, but they're both time-consuming and hard to do
> with small pieces. It seems to me that using a washing machine or a dishwasher
> could work, but I've never tried it due to scratches the parts could acquire and
> potential heat issues.
Tooth brush is what I use to be very careful, and an old electric tooth brush.
For large amounts I use the dish washer on delicate, cold water, bricks in a
girly stuff bag, no drying. I take them out and put them under a fan after
laying them out on a paper towl. Works real well for me and no drying marks
left. For really dirty parts I toss them out, as time is worth more than the
parts.
John P
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Jordan Bradford wrote:
> I've tried the warm soapy water and toothbrush method and the
> swish-around-in-a-bathtub method, but they're both time-consuming and hard to do
> with small pieces. It seems to me that using a washing machine or a dishwasher
> could work, but I've never tried it due to scratches the parts could acquire and
> potential heat issues.
I use washing machine. I pre-sort the parts, plates longer than 8 go
out, anything printed/glass/stickered/electric goes out, and also the
things from softer plastic should go (trees, clips etc.). Then I put it
in cloth bag (old pillow), carefully knot and then I add very little
amount of powder, low temp (30C) and I use short program with moderate
speed and no [missing word - de-waterification] at the end.
The bricks are clean, shiny and they dry very fast.
On the other hand the sound is terrible ;)
Jindroush
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In lugnet.general, Jordan Bradford wrote:
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How do -you- clean your LEGO parts?
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I run them in the dishwasher, on the top rack in mesh bags. I even use the heat.
It’s never been a problem.
To dry the bricks, I put them in the food dehydrator. It’s one of those
stackable models with a big pile of trays. I distribute the parts out so they
aren’t piled on top of each other, then leave the dehydrator running on low temp
overnight. It works like a miracle; all of the tubes get dried out with
absolutely no work.
Allen
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In lugnet.general, Jordan Bradford wrote:
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How do you dry them after they’re cleaned? Water usually stays trapped in the
small crevices because of surface tension and takes forever to evaporate. This
can also leave soap marks.
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The same way you dust them - blast the crevices with canned air. This can be
expensive given that canned air is not cheap and bricks will go flying if you
don’t hold them down, but it’s fast and easy.
EJP
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In lugnet.general, Jordan Bradford wrote:
> I don't think LUGNET has had any discussions about this in quite some time.
>
> How do -you- clean your LEGO parts?
I would think that an ultrasonic cleaner as used in the jewelery business would
work very well for cleaning LEGO parts-especially small ones. I have been
thinking of buying one for my mineral specimens.
They have come down in price over the years, but are still a bit expensive.
Especially for the larger ones.
Tommy Armstrong
wwww.brickengraver.com
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Jordan Bradford wrote:
> I don't think LUGNET has had any discussions about this in quite some
> time.
>
> How do -you- clean your LEGO parts?
>
> I'm interested in learning people's techniques, particularly ones
> that clean a lot of parts at once with little effort.
>
> LEGO that's been on display just a short time can be cleaned with
> compressed air. But for displays that have been sitting out for long
> periods, the dust tends to stick, so you need to get more aggressive.
>
> Then there's the issue of cleaning large quantities of parts that you
> bought from your neighbor's garage/rummage sale or from eBay. I'm
> always concerned about how dusty/sticky/whatever those foreign parts
> could be.
>
> How do you dry them after they're cleaned? Water usually stays
> trapped in the small crevices because of surface tension and takes
> forever to evaporate. This can also leave soap marks.
>
> I've tried the warm soapy water and toothbrush method and the
> swish-around-in-a-bathtub method, but they're both time-consuming and
> hard to do with small pieces. It seems to me that using a washing
> machine or a dishwasher could work, but I've never tried it due to
> scratches the parts could acquire and potential heat issues.
I've always washed my parts in soapy water. I will usually put the parts in
a bucket of soapy water at least overnight (sometimes several days). I
separate out the chrome and stickered parts. I usually do some sorting, with
the tiny parts and most interesting parts washed in a large plastic
container with a lid (such as a large peanut or cookie container, about a
gallon in size with a 6" lid, preferably round). The round container allows
good swishing of these parts.
After a good soak, parts are then washed a 2nd time in warm soapy water. As
I wash the parts, I watch for things that need an extra scrub. The parts are
rinsed and drained in a wire mesh colander and then dumped on a thick bath
towel. I pick up the corners of the bath towel (to make a sack) and give the
parts a good tumbling to drain them off more.
Then parts get laid out on towel covered trays, shaking larger parts out to
get any last water out. I then set the trays in the sun (out on the deck in
nice weather, otherwise near a window). As I lay the parts out, some will
need additional cleaning. Sometimes I will take the parts back to the sink
and use a toothbrush, other times they will go back in to soak. Some parts
may need to be turned or given another shake after a period of drying.
If parts smell smoky, the soak is in anti-bacterial soap, otherwise I just
use liquid dish soap.
As to cleaning dusty MOCs, if they need more than a simple brushing or
vacuum, then you may need to disassemble and go through the soak process, or
you might be able to soak the entire MOC.
Frank
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Actually you have you clean your pieces for one time. Mostly I used a nail
brush. Off course time consuming but very effective. Just with hand warm water
and soap is not necessary.
I only wash my pieces when I just bought a party of used pieces. You never know
what's between it (some people really are very dirty!) and I don't like unclean
stuff. I keep all my pieces sorted in closed drawers. And when there's a
littlebit of dust on my MOCs I use a paint brush to sweep it off. Or the vacuum
cleaner (just for larger plates :-)
Dennis
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In lugnet.general, Jordan Bradford wrote:
> I don't think LUGNET has had any discussions about this in quite some time.
>
> How do -you- clean your LEGO parts?
>
> LEGO that's been on display just a short time can be cleaned with compressed
> air. But for displays that have been sitting out for long periods, the dust
> tends to stick, so you need to get more aggressive.
I use a simple paint brush to clean off display dust. I've found that the kind
with fairly soft bristles work pretty well. The brush I use most often is about
2½" wide.
> Then there's the issue of cleaning large quantities of parts that you bought
> from your neighbor's garage/rummage sale or from eBay. I'm always concerned
> about how dusty/sticky/whatever those foreign parts could be.
>
> How do you dry them after they're cleaned? Water usually stays trapped
> in the small crevices because of surface tension and takes forever to
> evaporate. This can also leave soap marks.
Like others have said, soapy water works well. I have a large bowl that I put
the LEGOs in. I let them sit in the soapy water for several hours, stirring
every so often. Then I dump them into a colander and spray rinse them several
times. If the parts are ones with deep crevices &/or cavities, I give them a
full water-only soak in the bowl before the colander rinse.
You're right that water can get trapped in the crevices. You can set them out
on a towel to dry. Once they're dry except for the water in the crevices, pull
up the corners of the towel like a hobo bag and shake them around, then let them
dry again.
David
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