Cleaning Figures

[BigDumbWookiee]

Well generally my stance on this has been preventative; dont let my figures get dusty, and I wont have to clean them. Unfortunately, for as many air filters as I have, it has come time to clean my figures. It took nearly a year for them to get noticeably dusty though.

So, how do you clean your figures? Do you simply whipe them off? It seems like youd need something a little more proactive. Obviously you dont want to damage them, but a simple gentle dusting isnt going to get all the dust off. I washed off my Unleashed collection today under cold water, and am now air drying them. It looks to be going ok so far, with no water sploches.

What other methods would you all suggest? Maybe I should put everything behind glass

[obi_robz]

I’ve just gone through my Episode One and POTJ collections. It took a VERY long time, and has put me off dusting my Saga stuff – all those annoying bits and pieces.

I just used a plain old duster and elbow grease. These things are pretty tough, so I wasn’t worried about damaging anything. Certain things like moulded cloaks took a lot of work because there are so many nooks and crannies for dust to get into. I considered just rinsing anything without soft goods, but I thought this might be a bit risky.

And it’s not just your figures that you have to clean. You’ll probably find yourself generally tidying the whole room, and certainly all the shelves, diorama backgrounds, and display cases than your figures are stored in / on.

I do it every six months or so, but after only a few days, you can see a few dusty surfaces “surfacing”

[jadesfire]

I usually use Q-tips when I do the "good" dusting.  I don't apply anything, just pressing down on the tip usually gets in the nooks and cranies (is that even a word?).

[Dressel Rebel]

Hrmmm...I just get all silly with the feather duster.  Dust alone comes off really easy, you could probably just blow on them.

[Nicklab]

I use a product similar to this one: http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=643923.  It's compressed air in a can.  It's pretty good at getting dust out of the small creases and hard-to-reach places on figures.

[Boba Binks]

As you know I have what I can behind plexy glass. For the out stuff I just dust them with a feather duster every week. If it gets noticable dusty then I will take them down, feather dust them off, wipe the area clean, and blow the figures off to get any last bit of loose dust off. Then back they go. So far I have not had any real accumilation of dust.

I do need to get the house air filter fixed. It crapped out last week and I can start to see little air particles.  

[Vator]

I just wash them with water(no damage done so far)

[Hung Solow]

I believe that a thick protective layer of dust can protect figures from adverse environmental conditions.  Just how many air filters do you have???

[Jedirhino]

I too become busy with the feather duster and if I need to a Qtip

[E.Z.]

While I don't have loose figures I do have a suggestion. A battery operated  mini vacuum that you use to clean the keyboard with. Works like a charm for all tough dusting jobs.

[Force Guy]

Fortunately, I only have to dust my collection once a year.  When I do, I use a can of compressed air (as Nicklab mentioned) & a Swiffer brand wipe.  I have a loose collection, so it takes quite a bit of time  since I like be very thorough.  

[CHEWIE]

About once every few months, I take my collection down and rearrange everything to make new dioramas, new scenes from the movies, etc.  I guess they kind of get cleaned off when I do that.

And that is always at least a full day project.  

 

[DSJ™]

I have no answers to give you. My loose vintage is now protected from dust & any other figures I have are carded & will be for a very long time.  

[Snively Bandar]

I borrow the air duster from my work every several months, and give all the figures a nice blast of compressed air.  Does the trick quite nicely!