Posted April 12, 201410 yr I pretty much just lost my whole collection of classic castle minifigs:( some years ago my basement was flooded, and the dirty water got into a bag containing most of my armies. I haven't had time to clean them till now, so last night I put them in some water with a little bit of toilet cleaner because if the sewage, and let them soak overnight. This morning I woke up and learned the hard way that, apparently that mix dissolves the paint used for metallic print. So pretty much all black falcons and scaled armors are gone. So don't try that at home....
April 12, 201410 yr I pretty much just lost my whole collection of classic castle minifigs:( some years ago my basement was flooded, and the dirty water got into a bag containing most of my armies. I haven't had time to clean them till now, so last night I put them in some water with a little bit of toilet cleaner because if the sewage, and let them soak overnight. This morning I woke up and learned the hard way that, apparently that mix dissolves the paint used for metallic print. So pretty much all black falcons and scaled armors are gone. So don't try that at home.... Toilet bowl cleaner can be pretty harsh. Wouldn't soak anything printed in it, personally.
April 12, 201410 yr I understand your pain :( Some years ago I had the brilliant idea to clean up my old bricks using bleach. My intention was to remove that old yellow effect. The white bricks seemed brand new however the coloured bricks loose part of their colour. The paiin! ooooh the pain...
April 12, 201410 yr Author It was the mildest stuff I could find, but still to strong:( after having a second look the black falcons will be ok, the first ones I looked at turned out to be old and just worn down. But all the armor is still gone on the others...
April 12, 201410 yr Yikeeees! That sounds painful! When I was cleaning my bricks, I simply used soap and water- did the trick to my surprise. However, I am not sure what I'd use in your situation...
April 12, 201410 yr That's a real shame, however toilet bowl cleaner is way to harsh to clean anything but, well toilet bowls, I normally clean my bricks, with warm water and washing up liquid, it works for anything
April 12, 201410 yr Oh, no! I'm sorry to hear - er, read it. :( You may want to repost this as a cautionary tale in one of the threads about cleaning LEGO over in the General forum, to save others from this.
April 12, 201410 yr I find a weak solution of Milton fluid is the best thing to soak pieces in if I need them sterilising. I've needed to do this on many occasions as the sets I buy are mainly secondhand & being disabled and having to build by mouth I need the pieces to be clean. I've not lost any paint or stickers from any pieces yet. I hope this helps.
April 12, 201410 yr Author Nooooooo! How many figs are we talking about? Sorry to hear that. It's about 20, but they were some of my favorites:( That's a real shame, however toilet bowl cleaner is way to harsh to clean anything but, well toilet bowls, I normally clean my bricks, with warm water and washing up liquid, it works for anything Yea I know it's some harsh stuff, but they were covered in a layer of calcium from the water I soaked them in 3 years ago, so I thought it would be perfect. I find a weak solution of Milton fluid is the best thing to soak pieces in if I need them sterilising. I've needed to do this on many occasions as the sets I buy are mainly secondhand & being disabled and having to build by mouth I need the pieces to be clean. I've not lost any paint or stickers from any pieces yet. I hope this helps. Thanks, I will definedly try that next time:) and you certainly have my full respect for building by mouth!
April 13, 201410 yr It's about 20, but they were some of my favorites:( Yea I know it's some harsh stuff, but they were covered in a layer of calcium from the water I soaked them in 3 years ago, so I thought it would be perfect. Thanks, I will definedly try that next time:) and you certainly have my full respect for building by mouth! Thank you for your very kind words. I mostly build Technic sets but have built the 6085, 6086, 7946 and 10176 Castles and the 6276 Eldorado Fort as well as a couple of Pirate ships for my 2 young Grandsons. All these sets and most of my Technics have been purchased secondhand and have all been cleaned by soaking in the Milton fluid with no harm caused to paints or applied stickers.
April 15, 201410 yr Ouch ... that sounds horrible. The only thing I use toilet cleaner (apart from cleaning the toilet) is to clean the rims of my car. But that's really the only other thing.
April 16, 201410 yr Milton is also the tried and tested solution for cleaning secondhand bricks in our house. It has worked every time with no harm to the bricks.
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