The dead of winter is the perfect time of year to get back into LEGO, the greatest hobby in the world. But before we dive into reviews of individual LEGO sets, I want to talk about taking care of LEGO!
In this article we get into cleaning LEGO. While this can be one of the more time consuming and frustrating parts of Lego collecting, you must remember, a clean Lego set, is a happy Lego set! So let’s dive in.
Another one bites the dust.
Dusting is a tricky part of caring for your LEGO as you can’t just wildly wave a duster at them, and absolutely should not use a vacuum to clean your sets. There is nothing worse than the sound of a Lego flying into the vacuum. I use two different methods to dust off my Lego display, but let’s first talk about the displays themselves.
The first step is to save yourself some dusting. If you primarily display your sets rather than use then for active imagination play, then you should invest in some cases. Dusting your LEGO collection takes forever, and we will get to more specific tips on that.
If you use your sets actively, then you will have to worry less about them collecting dust. However, if you are only displaying them they will collect dust, and I promise it is easier to dust a display case than a LEGO set.
For example, here is a case designed for just displaying figures. And here is a display case for larger sets, but shop around but there are tons of options. Now, let’s talk about dusting without a case.
A: The first tool is one of those air-in-a-can dusters that you typically use for cleaning a computer keyboard. They are effective and if a piece does unfortunately come loose it doesn’t get vacuumed into the Lego abyss. But I do recommend doing this dusting method in a place where you can contain flying Lego pieces, just in case. (If you want to go pro and save the environment, consider a rechargeable duster.)
B: Second, if you have hard-to-fight dust, use a Swiffer duster sheet. These are pretty good at lifting dust from clingy surfaces. I also will do the surface then start removing parts to get down to the nitty gritty! LEGO really does collect dust like nobody’s business!
Sanitizing
I buy a lot of bulk LEGO when I can find a good deal. (Generally, if it is $3 a pound I am all over it, and if there are mini figs in the mix you might be sitting on a gold mine if you get into to the LEGO flipping game…but that will be an article for another time.)
When you are buying bulk LEGO it might come in pretty grimy condition and honestly Lego needs to be sanitized! I recommend dusting first so you don’t make a mess of easy to lift dust. Then you must clean it more thoroughly.
A: I have a pretty heavy duty mesh bag, like for washing delicate laundry, and use this to hold the LEGO while I use the dishwasher to do the heavy cleaning! It comes out clean enough to eat off of, but don’t eat off of your LEGO cause you will just be cleaning it again.
B: f you do not have a mesh bag, or a dishwasher, I also have used piping hot water and dish soap or vinegar to soak them. Do not use bleach, it will wash away some color from your Lego, especially mini figures.
I also like to do it outside with plenty of sunlight if you can! This will also be important if you ever need to restore color to Lego and I will do a post on that with a great video I found on Youtube!
Well, I hope this inspires you to take hold of the rapidly growing collection and get organized and clean. Thanks for reading and keeping looking for Lego posts as I want to help you build your dream Lego layout, brick by brick. Just search Nerds on Earth!
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