Cleaning and Care of your figures

Just curious, how do you guys clean your figures if you need to? Is it with a very mild dish soap etc?
Do you clean them periodically or not at all? I'm a believer in the whole over cleaning can take from and possibly eventually damage figures so the littlest amount I do with them is probably the best. I personally don't clean mine, just lightly dust them every now and then.
But if they did need to be cleaned, how do you guys do it? Is it with warm water and light soap or something else? Or are there any other tips for cleaning toy figures?

Depends on the situation for me. Any kind of dirt or grime (whether purchased used off ebay or I take my figures out for photography sessions [sea water is a good example here]) I rinse them off with plain water, soap if needed. Sometimes I do scrub them gently with a designated toothbrush if dirt is clinging inside sculpted details like eyes, mane or other long hair, hooves, ears...

When my collection was on display I dusted them twice a year (took 2-3 days to clean my entire collection with a few thousand pieces). But now that they live in boxes I don't have to (probably the only positive of that change).

I would agree Saarlooswolfhound, I have one designated toothbrush too but I barely ever need to use it as I tend to only dust mine every so often

I believe we have a topic about it on forum and it depends a lot of the kind of figure you want to clean as Paige pointed.
Those modern ones like your Schleich jaguars, you can even take them for a bath, just using water, it won't damage them. However, I use kitchen towels or paper, dry or slightly wet to clean the few figures being displayed. If it is a used figure bought from E-bay with some dirt, I really use a little of neutral soap.
Vintage figures I really avoid to clean. The old plastic ones easily get the painting damaged if cleaned with erosive materials and composition models cannot even be cleaned with water or they'll get destroyed forever.

Yikes, thats an image! A composition model decomposing in your hands...

With vintage figures or anything of a sensitive material, obviously you have to consider that. I would imagine metal models would have the potential to rust or corrode if submerged in water.

Believe me, I seen this on YouTube and Google about figures being severely damaged due to cleaning. It freaked me out, got me thinking and then lead to this topic...

I find the most effective way to get rid of dust is with a bit of synthetic fleece fabric, this seems to catch and hold it better than the old fashioned yellow cloth dusters.
If they need more than dusting (probably cos it can be five or six years between dustings in my house ), I give my collection a 'bath day' and work my way along the shelves. No need to cart them to the bathroom or mess about with hot water and soap - I just hold them in a bowl of water, give them an underwater rub over with a little chunk of the same fleecy stuff, then shake them off and lay them on the bed to dry - drying them with something tends to put fluff back on, but air-drying doesn't. And by the time I've filled the entire bed from head-end to foot-end, the first ones are dry enough to go back on the shelf to make room for more washing.

The only ones which are exempt from bathed are the custom repaints - for anything painted I stick to dry dusting, and being very careful not to rub the colour off any pointy bits, like ears and noses and tips of tails.

Yes George, mine don't often get bathed as such either.
Good tip about those little cloths I think I know the ones you mean, I agree with the yellow duster type ones leaving fibres stuck everywhere

Mine is actually chopped up squares of a fleece blanket, some of them still have the stitching along the edges I got them in a parcel - the seller had wrapped each little horse in a square for protection, so they recycled the fleece and I'm re-using it, all very environmentally friendly!

As already mentioned, it depends on the model. Many of mine are old, second-hand Britains models that are nearly always dirty when I get them. For some reason, dirt gets easily attached to the PVC that Britains used and it's hard to clean off. I have literally cleaned thousands of Britains models; it's kind of therapeutic.

I soak them in a warm water bath with natural liquid soap for about 5 mins or so. Warm water because it makes the plastic soft and therefore makes it easier to remove the dirt. Natural soap because it is less likely to damage the paint and is easier to rinse off. Then I use a soft toothbrush and facial cleaning wipes to remove as much dirt as possible. Generally, this doesn't remove all dirt, as some of it is very persistent. I next use my nails to remove specific dirt spots. My nails have the right hardness so that it can remove most dirt while not damaging the plastic. I normally only use my nails on bare plastic, not on paint, because they may remove the paint too.

Once I am happy that all the dirt has gone, I put them in a water bath for another 5 mins and finally rinse them under the tap, removing any soap residue with a soft brush.

This process isn't advisable for all models. For example, the Britains polythene models would be seriously damaged by this, as their paint comes off very easily. Fortunately, the dirt also comes off easily, so I don't put them in a bath and usually only use a facial wipe to focus on specific dirt spots and make sure I try to avoid touching the paint. I then quickly rinse them.

I have quite a few Hausser Elastolin soft plastic models too. Their paint also comes off easily and I'd be very carefully cleaning them. Fortunately, none of those I collected needed a clean.

Most high-quality modern animal toys don't get damaged very easily by cleaning and can get the Britains PVC cleaning treatment, except that they tend to have less bare plastic so I try to avoid my nails. I'd also rinse them very well because it is possible that in the long term, any soap residue may damage them.

I only display my models behind glass so they can't get dusty. Every time I clean them, there is a small risk that I do damage so I only want to clean them once. I have damaged a few models, but cleaning them has considerably improved the appearance of the vast majority. Always try out new cleaning methods on a similar model that is not valuable.

Thanks for mentioning that composition models can't be cleaned, Rogério. I don't have any composition models, but as a fanatic cleaner, I could imagine that one day I get my first, very expensive composition model and think that it needs to soak a while in a soapy bath

I do agree with the whole, using a very sensitive soap on them alright, I myself would use a very light hand or dish soap on them.
Seems to work well for me

I cleaned one yesterday. The model is atypical because it is an unpainted Britains, but it had quite a typical amount of dirt. It is particularly visible on a white model.
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After the toothbrush and facial wipe treatment. Still a few spots that have to be removed:
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After the nail treatment:
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That's such a subtle difference alright. Just goes to show small job/time you put into him really does pay off.

I clean all my models very thoroughly. You never know where've been or what kind of hands (maybe tongues?) are touching them. Especially in lots off ebay and charity shops :/
And even brand new in bags from Kitan, they get a wet wash too.
And the brand new ones  I occasionally buy from shop shelves still all get a warm soapy bath then rinsed in warm water and left to air dry on a towel laid out on some cardboard. So many hands touching them in their journey to my home!

I use organic/palm oil free Marseille Soap, which is a big cube that comes from France and is made by hand to a 100 of years old recipe. It's very cleansing and does a great job. (it's a miracle soap btw - does everything!)
I always scrub every model I get with a toothbrush. I'm very rough and thorough though I like Roger's method of using his nail. I've done that a few times too but I've an aversion to dirt hahaha, as  long as I scrub my hands well afterwards.
Then I let them rest in the warm water as I methodically scrub all the rest, then I gather them up in handfuls and rinse them under warm water. Shake the water off and place them on the towel to air dry.

And I have news for Roger - yes I've washed my composition models! I wash every one I get. Even the ones with broken legs and metal showing and missing parts and cracks.
They have all had a bath under the water and been soaped up.
I just take one and put it under the warm water for a few seconds to wet it and then take it out and with soapy hands give it a quick but all over massage, then it's rinsed right away. No toothbrush scrubbing though as the paint comes off :) I learnt that and then standing upright to dry in room temperature.

Anyway, I'm precious about my animals but I always clean, no matter what. 95% of my whole collection is packed away, so I only have 1 shelf with them on display. When I pack these away they will get a light handed dry dust with a mircofibre, taking care not to snap any warthog tusks or antlers or horns. Normally some of my figures were behind glass like Roger's collection, but they've all been packed up now.
99% of my collection is 1/32nd scale.

That's very rigorous and thorough Sunny, I'm impressed and interested about that soap.

Thank you Brandubh94, I try to stay away from germs ha ha ha

The soap is great, I use it to wash my dishes in and it's works a treat for me. My bathroom and kitchen are plastic free. I also use it for general household cleaning. It's also for body, face, hair, cuts, rashes and insect bites etc. I've used it on my hair and it came out very soft, but had a bit of a coating on it for me. I might try it again sometime for my hair. It cost me around £5 to £6 a block - Olive Savon de Marseille Cube 600g
and I get it from Pam's website here and I buy the palm oil free one.

Thanks Sunny, I might have seen this soap in some of those trendy gift shop places near me. I had a very similar Greek one ages ago....also with olives? It was a great soap, very clean and harmless

sunny wrote:

I'm very rough and thorough though I like Roger's method of using his nail. I've done that a few times too but I've an aversion to dirt hahaha, as  long as I scrub my hands well afterwards.

I don't mind being dirty - as long as my animal models aren't . You can also use a blunt knife instead of your nails. You just need to be a bit more careful not to scratch the plastic. Though sometimes the dirt is so hard to remove that I deliberately make a scratch. If it is a light-coloured plastic, it's very hard to see and better than a spot of dirt.

sunny wrote:

And I have news for Roger - yes I've washed my composition models! I wash every one I get.

Good to know. If I ever get a composition model and it is dirty, I'll be very careful though.

There are good reasons not to clean your models too. No risk to do damage, real animals are often not clean (a few exceptions like cats) and it shows the individual history of the models (how they have been played with). For the latter reason, I have never cleaned the animal toys from my childhood.

Rogerpgvg, I'm mostly in that mindset, a bit afraid of cleaning them too hard in case I scratch off some paintwork or damage them.

Yes, a knife on paint is not advisable, even nails are risky. Just on light-coloured bare plastic it is usually fine.