How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Discussion of general LEGO topics
User avatar
Count Blacktron
Sheriff
Posts: 1412
Joined: Sat Oct 14, 2006 6:20 am
Location: Cave of Caerbannog
Contact:

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by Count Blacktron »

Bluesecrets wrote:I can tell you NOT to put them in a lingerie bag and then load them into your clothes washing machine. That is a HUGE mistake. Its BAD BAD BAD. It doesn't work..and I think it eventually kills your clothes washer. Nope..stick to the dishwasher and the lingerie bag if you are going to do anything like that. (And although I can not prove this was the cause..I did have to buy a new washing machine less than a year after attempting that horrible experiment.) Just say NO!
I suggest you cut back on the spirits :wink:

Duster wands and air-puff devices work around most objects, and often I have been known to soak my bricks in a tub of mildly soapy warm water, and to just give them a quick brush-over in there. But I do NOT join them. That would be awkward. :woo:
There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be. -Willy Wonka, 1971-
User avatar
Bluesecrets
High Priestess of the Vermillion Order
High Priestess of the Vermillion Order
Posts: 2184
Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2004 6:21 pm
Location: On the girls side of the castle.
Contact:

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by Bluesecrets »

I suggest you cut back on the spirits :wink:
Excuse me?!

What does that have anything to do with the fact that I was giving good feedback about the fact that putting LEGO in a lingerie bag and putting it into the washing machine is a really bad idea? I did it. The small pieces got out and all over the washer..inside the washer. I had LEGO in my laundry for over a month..and my washer did burn up within a year of that incident. It is not a good idea at all to try it...unless you want to have to pay for another washer.
BrickshelfFlickr

Queen of Tan

Any building, is good building. Build for the fun of it!
User avatar
porschecm2
Councilor
Posts: 1057
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2004 5:31 am
Location: Texas
Contact:

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by porschecm2 »

Bluesecrets wrote:I had LEGO in my laundry for over a month..
That's got to come as quite a surprise when you're getting dressed. :lol:

Cm2
[img]http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/porschecm ... onal.1.png[/img]
Think twice. Post once.
Constructum excellentia!
User avatar
KarenJ
Foot Soldier
Posts: 231
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:10 pm
Location: Northern Illinois

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by KarenJ »

Yeah, I tried that lingerie-bag-in-the-washing-machine thing as well. :( Very bad ju-ju... especially for the very small pieces that leak out of the easily ripped apart bag and disappear. Bad.
Karen

Left dark ages Jan '07
Storm
Villein
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2010 10:38 am

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by Storm »

So, I recently found a 2008 Castle troll/ogre that had been buried in sand for, by my guess, about a year. It is coated in sand and I really want to clean it, but I don't know how to do this with the least amount of damage. Help!
I'm Storm, and you've just read my post.
A kind word and a gun will get you farther than a kind word alone -Al Capone
User avatar
Count Blacktron
Sheriff
Posts: 1412
Joined: Sat Oct 14, 2006 6:20 am
Location: Cave of Caerbannog
Contact:

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by Count Blacktron »

Storm wrote:So, I recently found a 2008 Castle troll/ogre that had been buried in sand for, by my guess, about a year. It is coated in sand and I really want to clean it, but I don't know how to do this with the least amount of damage. Help!
Try this:
1. Grab a mixing bowl or similar vessel for holding water.
2. Fill the bowl about 1/2 full with warm water that is comfortable to put your hands in without burning.
3. Add a little mild dish washing soap.
4. Drop the troll in the bowl to soak for about three minutes.
5. Gently rub the sand away from the troll.
6. Rinse the troll in clean water and repeat the above steps.

If the sand is in his tighter places and between limbs, try running a gentle faucet of warm water over those parts and let the water carry the sand out. Fine beach sand can really get into places and be annoying, but eventually it will come away.
There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be. -Willy Wonka, 1971-
User avatar
dyntar
Foot Soldier
Posts: 246
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2009 4:05 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by dyntar »

For mild dusting and cleaning i always use a soft paint brush.... it helps castles from building up dust.
i found toothbrushes tend to leave scratches.
BobaFett2
Serf
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2010 12:08 am
Location: The Borg Cube
Contact:

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by BobaFett2 »

I recieved a bunch of LEGO from a friend and a huge portion of the parts were dirty. I only cleaned the dirtiest, but I just tried to wash and wipe-sometimes soap. My cat also pooped on some LEGO, and I left them in a sink with detergent for a day then dried them off and repeated if the poop still remained.
This is not Star Wars-It's real life (not much difference though).
Storm
Villein
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2010 10:38 am

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by Storm »

Count Blacktron wrote: Try this:
1. Grab a mixing bowl or similar vessel for holding water.
2. Fill the bowl about 1/2 full with warm water that is comfortable to put your hands in without burning.
3. Add a little mild dish washing soap.
4. Drop the troll in the bowl to soak for about three minutes.
5. Gently rub the sand away from the troll.
6. Rinse the troll in clean water and repeat the above steps.

If the sand is in his tighter places and between limbs, try running a gentle faucet of warm water over those parts and let the water carry the sand out. Fine beach sand can really get into places and be annoying, but eventually it will come away.
Thank you SO much! It worked, and my troll army is now one ogre/troll stronger! :orc:
I'm Storm, and you've just read my post.
A kind word and a gun will get you farther than a kind word alone -Al Capone
Frank_Lloyd_Knight
Steward
Posts: 516
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 4:53 am
Location: Corpus Christi

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by Frank_Lloyd_Knight »

BobaFett2 wrote:My cat also pooped on some LEGO...
That might be enough to put me off of buying secondhand Legos ever again. :twitch:
User avatar
Sir Prog
Laborer
Posts: 138
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:15 am
Location: The Yukon Plains of Oklahoma

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by Sir Prog »

Since I first began this thread, in the few spare opportunities I've had to do leisure Lego cleaning, I've had GREAT success cleaning the bulk of my childhood Legos, thanks to the thoughtful advice for many of you. However, I have a new question or perhaps a more specific one. While I would soak, re-soak, and re-soak again if necessary in hot water w/Dawn detergent, I purposefully kept out larger pieces with decals on them. I am afraid these classic pieces, like the Old West "Bank", "Sheriff", "General Store", and other genre decals will peel and eventually come off if they soak. What are your experiences with Lego stickers, etc.? Thanks!
For the King's Castle!
User avatar
JoshWedin
Chevalier de Chèvre
Posts: 4995
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2003 2:35 pm
Location: Pondering what you are pondering
Contact:

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by JoshWedin »

Sir Prog wrote:I purposefully kept out larger pieces with decals on them. I am afraid these classic pieces, like the Old West "Bank", "Sheriff", "General Store", and other genre decals will peel and eventually come off if they soak. What are your experiences with Lego stickers, etc.? Thanks!
They will come off if you soak the pieces. There really isn't any way to avoid that, as far as I know.

Josh
AFOL and his money are easily parted.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/ak_brickster/8 ... hotostream][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8252/85336074 ... 2a10_t.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.Brothers-Brick.com]The Brothers Brick[/url]
User avatar
Sir Prog
Laborer
Posts: 138
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:15 am
Location: The Yukon Plains of Oklahoma

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by Sir Prog »

JoshWedin wrote:
Sir Prog wrote:I purposefully kept out larger pieces with decals on them. I am afraid these classic pieces, like the Old West "Bank", "Sheriff", "General Store", and other genre decals will peel and eventually come off if they soak. What are your experiences with Lego stickers, etc.? Thanks!
They will come off if you soak the pieces. There really isn't any way to avoid that, as far as I know.

Josh
Hmm, good to hear for sure on that. Do you have a method for attempting to clean around the decals then? Just individually with more care?
For the King's Castle!
User avatar
JoshWedin
Chevalier de Chèvre
Posts: 4995
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2003 2:35 pm
Location: Pondering what you are pondering
Contact:

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by JoshWedin »

Sir Prog wrote:Hmm, good to hear for sure on that. Do you have a method for attempting to clean around the decals then? Just individually with more care?
I've never had really dirty pieces with stickers on them, except for one lot I bought that smelled really smokey. The other pieces I soaked and the smell went away. The stickered pieces I figured were a loss and I soaked them as well and threw out the unattached stickers. However, if you have caked on grime or such, you might try making up a soap solution and using a Q-tip or small toothbrush and carefully scrubbing around the stickers. Like I said, I've never done it, but that is what I would try first.

Josh
AFOL and his money are easily parted.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/ak_brickster/8 ... hotostream][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8252/85336074 ... 2a10_t.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.Brothers-Brick.com]The Brothers Brick[/url]
User avatar
Lobberuno
Laborer
Posts: 104
Joined: Mon May 23, 2011 9:24 pm
Location: Palma Sola, Veracruz MX
Contact:

Re: How do you efficiently clean your LEGOs?

Post by Lobberuno »

I use to clean my Legos with brushes or Scotch Brite yellow sponge (I never clean minifigures or painted bricks with the green fiber, only plain color bricks and plates). Also, I use Body Milk for light cleaning, the effect provide is a shining and clean lego piece.

In this PDF, I explain how I do it:

How I clean Lego Pieces
Last edited by Lobberuno on Wed Nov 07, 2012 8:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- "If you know the Formula, apply it"
Post Reply