Best way to remove dust

Jackad7

So over the summer I spent three months working at a summer job and thus had no authority of my Legos. When I left I had everything important put in drawers or boxes, including my UCS Tumbler. When I returned I found that someone had moved most of my boxes/drawers which included the unit that had my Tumbler. Luckily they had the sense to take the Tumbler out of the drawers for moving them so it didn't destroy itself but unfortunately they didn't think to put it back in, so it sat on my Lego table for about two months. When I returned home I nearly had an aneurism from the dust that built up (there was almost no dust but I am very OCD about the light white film on my Jet black tumbler). I put it away after making an attempt to clean it off with little success but recently was prompted to take it out and am now bothered yet again by the gray-ish tint. Does anyone know a good way to remove the dust? I tried warm water and a tooth brush but I couldn't get around the bases of the studs very well. 

blogzilly

I'm anxious to see what people suggest. 

madforLEGO

Fairly certain that this is a topic that already has a thread or two or three....
One is this one:
http://bricksetforum.com/discussion/comment/464517#Comment_464517

gmonkey76

For light dust I use a can of air for computers. for heavy dust I have a small hand held shop-vac with a computer cleaning kit. If those don't work I take it apart and use a toothbrush with bar soap. you can also put the bricks in a  garment bag for washing machines on the top shelf of the dishwasher. Just make sure there are no printed, plated, or sticker parts.

Jackad7

gmonkey76 said:

For light dust I use a can of air for computers. for heavy dust I have a small hand held shop-vac with a computer cleaning kit. If those don't work I take it apart and use a toothbrush with bar soap. you can also put the bricks in a  garment bag for washing machines on the top shelf of the dishwasher. Just make sure there are no printed, plated, or sticker parts.

Those all sound like good ideas. Thanks for the advice!

Steve_J_OM

Copying my comment from a different 'dust' thread:

This is what I've taken to doing. I use a paintbrush to take any excess dust off the set, then break it down. I put it in a dish of warm water and suds, and let is soak for a few hours. I take the pieces out a handful at a time, drain the water in a sieve, and spread them across a big towel on a table. Repeat for all pieces (I recently did this with 10212; it can take some time!) and try to have them spread as thinly as possible across the towel. I then run a hair dryer with a low heat over all the pieces. 

Of course, this isn't the most sustainable strategy unless you want to rebuild your collection every month. I'm only doing it now because I'm getting ready to move my collection out of my family home. 

josekalel

There needs to be a master thread on how to clean LEGO.

xwingpilot

^ Agreed. But for the sake of repetition, I use a camera cleaning blower and brush. It's a very cheap and effective solution.

Rainstorm26

josekalel said:

There needs to be a master thread on how to clean LEGO.

There was: http://bricksetforum.com/discussion/69/cleaning-lego#latest

Rainstorm26

There were also several offshoot threads including one about restoring the color of faded lego

JudgeChuck

I've just bought one of these:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/mini-vacuum-cleaner-lg61r

It's probably cr*p, but for £4.99, I thought I'd give it a go... I'll report back on findings when it arrives.

josekalel

Rainstorm26 said:

josekalel said:

There needs to be a master thread on how to clean LEGO.

There was: http://bricksetforum.com/discussion/69/cleaning-lego#latest

Let me rephrase myself..."There needs to be a master thread on how to clean LEGO that's also stickied" under the Collection subforum (since I don't think it should go with the Building one). This thread should also include restoring faded colors. 

blogzilly

These are all good ideas. I'm curious about the science on UV light, sonic cleaning, etc.  I buy a lot of used sets to save money. I get a shitload of other people's neglect included with that. Since I'm allergic to dust you would think I would stop this. Instead I want to figure out a method to drop the offending bricks into something that can gently clean them with little dust going into the air. I'm going to come up with something that works for me.

Paperballpark

Dynamite gets rid of dust. Guaranteed.

AllBrick

Air purifiers. 

More of a dust prevention.

Sanex Zero shower gel, toothbrush and warm water for my grimiest orphan elements.

blogzilly

I got one of those. A good one. Does work good for dust particles, I'll give you that. Need to order a new set of filters. They ain't cheap. 

Trikkyr

Probably not helpful but I have a handy Ultrasonic Cleaning Bath at work which i use for any particularly dusty/dirty used lego I buy, not exactly practical for home use though unless you're regularily dealing with scruffy used lego. Other that just a handy VAC and a brush attachment every now and again.

Boardshorts85

A few weeks back I was tired of the dust that had accumulated on my BL'd 5004590 Batpod, 76046 Batwing, and 76045 Batmobile...

I removed the few stickered pieces (just in case), rinsed the sets under the faucet, and let them air dry.  Good as new!

I've since done the same with the Corner Deli, Mos Eisley Cantina, and a few MOCs.  Pretty happy with the results.

I'm being more proactive about keeping my GBHQ and modulars dust free in the first place...

olkony76

Hi, a great way to get rid of dust is to have a good vacuum system, such as cleanersexpert.com/best-backpack-vacuum/, this system allows you to pick up pellets up to several microns in diameter, this one has been working for us for several years, and there are no complaints about it no.

Brainslugged

olkony76 said:

Hi, a great way to get rid of dust is to have a good vacuum system, such as cleanersexpert.com/best-backpack-vacuum/, this system allows you to pick up pellets up to several microns in diameter, this one has been working for us for several years, and there are no complaints about it no.

Very disappointed to go to the Cleaner Sexpert website to find nothing but info on vacuums.

CCC

Brainslugged said:

olkony76 said:

Hi, a great way to get rid of dust is to have a good vacuum system, such as cleanersexpert.com/best-backpack-vacuum/, this system allows you to pick up pellets up to several microns in diameter, this one has been working for us for several years, and there are no complaints about it no.

Very disappointed to go to the Cleaner Sexpert website to find nothing but info on vacuums.

Have you tried penisland.net, where they specialize in wood? (although obviously a joke site)

autolycus

CCC said:

Brainslugged said:

olkony76 said:

Hi, a great way to get rid of dust is to have a good vacuum system, such as cleanersexpert.com/best-backpack-vacuum/, this system allows you to pick up pellets up to several microns in diameter, this one has been working for us for several years, and there are no complaints about it no.

Very disappointed to go to the Cleaner Sexpert website to find nothing but info on vacuums.

Have you tried penisland.net, where they specialize in wood? (although obviously a joke site)

Wood? Not writing implements?

Marshallmario

Not sure about other areas but here after washing bricks in soap and rinsing them I do a second rinse with distilled water. Other wise regular tap water leaves mineral deposits on the bricks even if you dry them right away. Wouldn’t want to have to use lime away on the bricks!

WillTI

I've bought an air purifier to reduce the amount of dust at home and it works pretty good. I used to dust the furniture and all the stuff in my room once in a week, really boring and unpleasant. Now I do it once in two or even three weeks. And now the amount of dust after 2-3 weeks is the same as after 1 week before purifier. Think about it.

JadenFronto

I often wonder about this myself and don't know the answer :(

Astrobricks

WillTI said:

I've bought an air purifier to reduce the amount of dust at home and it works pretty good. I used to dust the furniture and all the stuff in my room once in a week, really boring and unpleasant. Now I do it once in two or even three weeks. And now the amount of dust after 2-3 weeks is the same as after 1 week before purifier. Think about it.

I tried this. All that happened was the air purifier blew loose cat hair up high enough that it collected on top of the highest shelves (and Lego set boxes).

gratefulnat

Most sets I display for weeks or maximum a few months before dismantling, so I remove dust with a dust rag by hand. All my modulars/Ninjago city/certain Star Wars UCS and so on can be on display for years or indefinitely, and I have found that taking an organic make up brush (I believe horse hair) and attaching the hair to the thin nozzle of a vacuum cleaner works great. Takes time, but I do it once a year with pretty good results. The Duck tape stops the hair from being sucked down the nozzle while cleaning, and I can get into pretty much any areas without a problem. I do use a bag only for LEGO, so if that ominous clinkety clink sound occurs I just cut open the bag and retrieve the brick. This has only happened to me 3 or 4 times in the last 4 years, so it works well for me. It takes me about 2 days per year to clean all models I have on display.

Paperballpark

Use a ladies' blusher brush to dust models.

CCC

I find dusting maybe once every couple of months stops the greasy type dust build up that sticks and is difficult to remove.

And do it away from the display area. No point brushing dust off but leaving it in the air in the same space.

rockethead26

I just started using a Makita electric air compressor using a low speed nozzle on the wand. I take each set outside and give it a good working over. Sometimes like on the Sea Cow, I need to remove a few less anchored pieces before blowing, but the sets get really clean as I can blow air through the insides as well. No major issues so far and I've cleaned about 50 buildings, trains and vehicles.

lowlead

^^ All those ideas ahh wicked smaaht...have yet to try the makeup brush.

pxchris

I just purchased one of the small keyboard vacuums which is supposed to arrive today. Looking forward to seeing how that works with my displayed LEGO. The brushes, while time intensive, are still my best go-to for dusting though.

Cymbeline

@pxchris Wow, I didn't know that keyboard vacuums were a thing. I would be very interested in your opinion of how it works with LEGO displays.

pxchris

Cymbeline said:

@pxchris Wow, I didn't know that keyboard vacuums were a thing. I would be very interested in your opinion of how it works with LEGO displays.

I got this one specifically - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PVB9YTC/

I'll hopefully get a chance to try using it this weekend.

Switchfoot55

So, I'm the only one that just licks them clean then?

Speedman29

Like painting the Forth Rail bridge, dusting is a never ending process! I have two old soft bristle paint brushes. Pick the highest shelf in the LEGO room, remove all the sets on it, run a swiffer duster over the shelf and then blow dust off the sets before brushing whatever is left over. Refill shelf and move down.
Rinse and repeat for 20+ shelves, then take all the vehicles out of the modular street, remove all upper levels of the buildings to dust. Then dust the remaining levels, then the street. Then rebuild it all, sit back and admire and then pick the highest shelf and.....

Switchfoot55

I've actually taken to dusting sets during Zoom meetings at work now. Works best with camera-off meetings. It's kept a nice rotation of clean sets. 

Astrobricks

pxchris said:

Cymbeline said:

@pxchris Wow, I didn't know that keyboard vacuums were a thing. I would be very interested in your opinion of how it works with LEGO displays.

I got this one specifically - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PVB9YTC/

I'll hopefully get a chance to try using it this weekend.

Anyone ever dare try this stuff?
https://www.amazon.com/Keyboard-Universal-Keyboards-Calculators-ColorCoral/dp/B07GW9TJ3G/

pxchris

I would imagine that stuff would just end up pulling up some of the looser pieces. I could see it maybe working well on sets that are very solidly built with large surface areas maybe, but being rather impractical otherwise (I'm imagining trying to get it in between lots of small detailed areas).

KungFuKenny

I’ve found an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…🙂

but for sets that don’t fit I find that an electrostatic dusting brush works well to remove dust (and not just spread it around to other parts of the room)…

560Heliport

^ I like to rotate my dust. ;)

madforLEGO

I have been looking for such display cabinets, but not at most display cabinet prices as some can get up there in cost.

KungFuKenny

madforLEGO said:

I have been looking for such display cabinets, but not at most display cabinet prices as some can get up there in cost.

Yes, but not too high… the one in the pic is from IKEA and runs $179-199 (with doors), depending on the color you get…

madforLEGO

KungFuKenny said:

madforLEGO said:

I have been looking for such display cabinets, but not at most display cabinet prices as some can get up there in cost.

Yes, but not too high… the one in the pic is from IKEA and runs $179-199 (with doors), depending on the color you get…

That is a nice cabinet for that cost.

Astrobricks

madforLEGO said:

KungFuKenny said:

madforLEGO said:

I have been looking for such display cabinets, but not at most display cabinet prices as some can get up there in cost.

Yes, but not too high… the one in the pic is from IKEA and runs $179-199 (with doors), depending on the color you get…

That is a nice cabinet for that cost.

It’s a Billy if I’m not mistaken.

autolycus

Billy's are a great value if your sets can fit on a standard baseplate, and you don't need to move them around too often. My struggle is with sets that are too deep for cases like the Billy cases. I have one bookcase that's a couple inches deeper, but even it is too shallow for sets like some of the UCS SW, Fairground line, and the Tree House.

pxchris

So I've had a chance to use the keyboard vacuum I bought today... and I can say that it's actually quite good at sucking up all of the dust and was really very useful.
The nozzle attachment on the one I bought is perhaps just a bit too big to get into all of the smaller areas that I'd like to dust, but overall I found it a really great tool for my needs!

arathemis

Yep, Billy case is very food at keeping ddust out, i have 2 of those. I also have 2 Liatorp cabinets for the slightly wider display sets. They also look a lot nicer than billy. 

Astrobricks

Mmmm, very fooood ;-)