A while back I wrote an article on cleaning lego. The photos are since gone so I’m republishing it with updated media. The outdated article http://brickblog.net/2006/10/30/cleaning-lego.
Taking the lead from my history of buying Lego by the pound, my folks bestowed on me a large bin of Lego they had acquired at a yard sale this summer. The Lego was all in great shape but through the years of play clearly needed oils and dust washed away. Still having my equipment from washing 40+ pounds of Lego in the past, I knew right away what needed to be done.
Things to remember when cleaning your Lego:
- This stuff is plastic. Using excessively hot water can and will damage the Lego.
- Cleaning painted and or sticker parts should be done so carefully. I don’t care for stickers, so I didn’t care if they came off. Any painted pieces were cleaned with care. This method did not result in any damage.
- Lego suggests luke warm water and a mild soap. My method in the past was to eliminate smoke odor. It also worked to eliminate oils and dust from the bricks.
At the time of the original 40 lb cleaning, the first step was to determine how to wash the Lego without losing any of it down the drain. It just so happened that I had several of the Creator red buckets, and pleasantly, they stack inside of each other. Having just gotten a Dremel for my birthday, it was painfully obvious to me that I could use one of these buckets and cut thin slots in the sides to use it as a strainer. I removed the sticker label from the bucket and cut a series of slots in the sides of the bucket.
Remember, when working with any power tools, use appropriate safety procedures. In the process of cutting these slots, I did break a fiberglass wheel, sending pieces throughout the kitchen. I found the metal wheel to do much better, as it was not adversely impacted by the heat produced in this process.
If you don’t have these buckets, it’s also possible to float your Lego in anything that holds water. I did a second batch in a bigger bin that I then used a strainer to fish out the bricks with.
With my strainer made I took another bucket and put the strainer in it. I then filled bucket about 2/3 with the dirty Lego and added warm water with a bit of ammonia.
Using a cheap spoon I stirred the Lego a bit to ensure that the ammonia water would be applied to all surfaces. Once this was done, the power of the strainer became evident.
Lifting the inner modified bucket out was similar to using a deep fat fryer basket. The water drained out while retaining the Lego, even the little tiny pieces. This also allowed for much more lego to be cleaned at once then an ordinary kitchen strainer. You could then move the outer bucket to the side and proceeded to rinse the Lego, still in the inner bucket, under the faucet. I chose to use a seperate strainer to see how well it would work. If you are like me, BE SURE TO RINSE THOROUGHLY. Ammonia is a nasty chemical, and by rinsing well, you ensure that you don’t get any on things, or in your mouth when you build later. . .
Once rinsed, I moved the Lego to a table with a towel on it and let it dry. I was able to speed the process using a small space heater sitting on the table top, and by placing the table under a ceiling fan. This allowed the procces to be completed within a few hours.
Using this method I was able to remove any odor of smoke and reuse the same ammonia water a couple of times before it cooled.
