ks6349

How would you clean used Lego?

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used Lego from other people / sellers. How would you clean it?

What is the cleaning agent I can safely use with Lego? soap? dish-washing detergent?

Can I wash the bricks with washing machine?

And how would you dry them the most quickly and convieniently

Edited by ks6349

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DO NOT use a washing machine!  Hot water can warp pieces.  Prolonged agitation can add scratches or other damages to pieces.

I clean used Lego by putting a few drops of un-scented, clear liquid dish soap into a glass bowl and then filling the bowl with cool or warm water (do not use hot water).  I then put the pieces into bowl.  Use a soft toothbrush to gently scrub pieces.  I place scrubbed pieces into another bowl.  Once pieces are scrubbed, I rise them with clean water several times.  

To dry pieces, shake water off, and place them stud-side down on a clean towel to dry overnight.  A salad-spinner can also be useful for getting excess water out of bricks before placing them out to dry.  

 

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I am impatient and lazy with cleaning bricks. If the condition is simply "used" so it is dusty and maybe smells a little like storage spaces then I use a nice sized tub of warm water with dish-soap liquid and a wooden spoon. Add handfuls of the LEGO and stir it around in the water, then take them out to dry (as suggested above). 

If they are really nasty? Uh, maybe rinse them a lot in a cold water and disinfectant and then hope for the best? 

I mean, unless a part is really rare, there are some states I would rather leave the brick...

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For my current built LEGO, I have an extension for vacuum cleaner that leads to a smaller garden hose type extension I can put small pipes with a brush on (1 cm round, and 2cm oval), and the brush is fine enough not to scratch the LEGO and it removes the dust between studs just fine.

I know other people use compressed air to blow the dust away but that just moves the dust eventually to return, while a vacuum cleaner actually removes it from the room.

That said, my main sets on display are in a display cabinet with glass windowed doors.

If it was second hand LEGO I'd wash it in warm soapy water first, if it's not too hot, warm water is fine.

I also had the case where warm water actually can aid in fixing newer warped plates back to normal. 

Edited by TeriXeri

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Washing is simple - dishwashing liquid plus water. Drying bulk is much harder due to the space and time needed.

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Definitely dishwashing liquid and warm water. As for drying: during the summer its relatively simple. scatter it out on a plastic try and put it in front of a fan. Turn every few hours. Of course no direct sunlight, so definitely not outdoors. :classic:

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What material of cloth is safe for rubbing lego bricks without leaving too much scratches?

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Take care on printed parts. A quick wipe is fine, but too much wiping and the print can be removed. Use soapy water first.

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On 8/14/2019 at 10:04 PM, Littleworlds said:

Definitely dishwashing liquid and warm water. As for drying: during the summer its relatively simple. scatter it out on a plastic try and put it in front of a fan. Turn every few hours. Of course no direct sunlight, so definitely not outdoors. :classic:

Hi. Why no direct sunlight? Yellowing of white colored bricks? Otherwise than this, any other harm to the bricks?

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56 minutes ago, ks6349 said:

Hi. Why no direct sunlight? Yellowing of white colored bricks? Otherwise than this, any other harm to the bricks?

Exactly. A couple hours exposure might be ok, but personally I don't want to risk it and it is simply not necessary to put them outside, so why bother? :wink:

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3 minutes ago, Littleworlds said:

Exactly. A couple hours exposure might be ok, but personally I don't want to risk it and it is simply not necessary to put them outside, so why bother? :wink:

If I do not mind yellowing of white bricks (just appearance), can I dry them in the sun (near the windows)? will the heat cause easier breakage of the bricks in the future??

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2 minutes ago, ks6349 said:

If I do not mind yellowing of white bricks (just appearance), can I dry them in the sun (near the windows)? will the heat cause easier breakage of the bricks in the future??

I have no idea.

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Sunlight doesn't dry, airflow does. Heat of course is good, so long as it is not humid. Drying time varies so much due to local conditions. Warm and dry with airflow in the shade is ideal.

 

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Washing machine on a 30C cycle.  Batches of Lego in a lingerie / delicates bag.

Dried in the airing cupboard on a towel and agitated a couple of times a day.

I bought a load off eBay which was disgusting.  Included alien plastic building blocks as well as fluff, bits of tissue (clearly used for something), moss, dried insect abdomens, hair, some which appeared to be head hair and some left me hoping that the batch had been played with by a curly headed child.  But I suspect that it hadn't.  Plus a couple of other unpleasant items - see if you can spot what they are.  Centre right in the photo.

This got sorted with the Lego thrown straight into my bath which had a Jeyes fluid solution in it.

After a trip through the washing machine - with a couple of towels in there too for padding - it's come out pretty well.

Edited by Herts Womble

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Just coming out of the dark ages, I decided to rescue my old lego sets and picked them up at my fathers house.
Started cleaning them brick by brick and they do look lovely again (do use the hydrogen peroxide method on white and grey bricks as well).

The bricks do tend to feel a little sticky after cleaning them with some dish soap, is that something you would recognize?
I clean them with a toothbrush in soapy warm water, move them into clear water and then rinse them off before put them down to air dry.

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19 hours ago, Deivit said:

Just coming out of the dark ages, I decided to rescue my old lego sets and picked them up at my fathers house.
Started cleaning them brick by brick and they do look lovely again (do use the hydrogen peroxide method on white and grey bricks as well).

The bricks do tend to feel a little sticky after cleaning them with some dish soap, is that something you would recognize?
I clean them with a toothbrush in soapy warm water, move them into clear water and then rinse them off before put them down to air dry.

that seems like a lot of effort - i put my old pieces in a big bucket of soapy water, then rinsed it out and laid it out to dry for 3 days. They didn't really get sticky.

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haha yeah it is an effort, but do want want to clean them thoroughly after 25 years before they can join the collection.
Just started with my bricks and minifigs from 80/90's castle and pirates. Not sure yet what i'm gonna do with the old city and trains collection, that might be too big of an effort.

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I naively put a bunch of large grey and white plates through the washing machine in a net bag and forgot to turn to cold wash. They are now warped and unusuable and replacements on bricklink are a pretty penny. :sad: prevention being better than cure, a fine soft brush on the vacuum cleaner once in a while is the way forward.

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Scrub water-sensitive parts with a dry towel or toothbrush. Set aside any pieces with stickers or printed patterns, as well as any multi-part units that are not meant to be separated, such as turntables. Scrub these with a dry towel, or remove serious grime using a new toothbrush. Delicate electrical parts can be cleaned using alcohol wipes instead. 

Agitate in soapy water. Place the separated LEGO bricks in a container. Add lukewarm water and a little dish soap or other mild detergent. Agitate the bricks gently, stirring them around with your hand. Never use a cleaning product that contains bleach. Never use water above 104ºF (40ºC).

I hope it's help you :D

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