Cleaning black streaks/smudges?

[Jacob C.]

Unfortunately, no. The printing has rubbed off permanently

For your black falcons, just print out some stickers (cc has the template you need for their torso's)

For cleaning, I usually just use a soft rag & hot water. Usually the marks aren't bad enough to where I would want to wipe them off.

[Drucifer]

How about white blocks in general, i have a lot...and most of them seem faded or turning a shade of yellow. I wonder if bleach would help...or melt?

There's a few threads on LUGNET about restoring white (and other colors) bricks from yellowing. I couldn't find them quickly, but search and you'll find them.

One suggests soaking the bricks in a mixture of bleach and water for about two weeks. I forget the proportions, but they are given in the post.

Another suggests rubbing the pieces with Brasso. I personally have tried this and it does work. It does require a lot of patience and a lot of elbow grease. The Brasso seems to remove the yellowed layer of plastic revealing the fresh white plastic underneath. As a side note, I tried speeding up the process by using a Dremel buffing wheel with Brasso at a very low speed, but this removes the yellowed plastic too quickly and leaves gouges in the brick.

Good luck with the cleaning.

[LusiferSam]

I just can't image how soaking your bricks in bleach could work. Nor do I think its a good idea to it use or Brasso. Yellowing is a chemical break down of the plastic caused by UV light. Bleach just can't undo that. I'm guessing Brasso is just removing the top layer of plastic the brick to make it white (or little gray) again, not a great thing for your brick long term health. Best thing, just except fact that plastic ages. You think yellowing is bad wait till your bricks start to sweat or turn sticky.

[ottoatm]

You think yellowing is bad wait till your bricks start to sweat or turn sticky.

This is what I'm afraid of... also, I'm afraid that if I did this to my... white/tan(?) horses, their eyes and etc. might come off.... is this possible?

[LusiferSam]

And what about this sticky thing? How do the Legos melt?

I'm not completely sure ABS does this, but as some plastics break down various components come out and can leave a sticky film on the surface. Sometimes its a powdery dust. Others its a crystal looking substance called frosting. Or a liquid called "tears" by vintage Barbie collectors or "sweat" by vintage GI Joe folks. ABS will do something as it ages. Yellowing is just the first step.

[doctorsparkles]

I'm guessing this takes many many years considering I have Legos that are at least 10 years old and only a few have even turned yellow yet.

I've gotten some used ones that had a sticky residue on them. For the most part, it eventually rubbed off and they seem as good as new.

[porschecm2]

I've tried the bleach/water thing on a large number of my old white bricks, and after soaking for quite some time(days), there wasn't really any noticable effect. Sure, some of the dirt and grime came off, so they looked a little better, but that's as easily achieved with just the water. The bleach didn't seem to harm the bricks though, so don't worry about melting them. I've also tried it on other colours of bricks(red, yellow, grey, green, brown, and black), and had the same results. No harm, but no improvement.

Cm2

[Stephen]

One of the best ways I've found for cleaning LEGO is, believe it or not, toothpaste! I use a kind that's meant for whitening and a piece of flannel from an old shirt. It will remove grime and most marks easily, it will buff out minor scratches, and even helps a little with yellowing bricks (not completely though).

But be careful because it will also remove the printing. I have used toothpaste to make Harry Potter envelopes into plain white tiles. It took about 5 minutes of rubbing, but the piece was smooth and shiny when I was done. Wash it in plain water to remove the toothpaste, and you're all set.

Stephen