Hello!
To use the forum, login or register above.
(If you are already logged in above, please click here)
I ramped up in piece count quicker than I thought
I wasn't here too long before I estimated that my collection of pieces to build with would be around 60,000 before the summer. Well, between value sets I got, additional orders here, using up all my VIP recently with the PaB at the LEGO store and the local bulk purchased of used bricks I got I'm now at an estimated 126,000 bricks and will only need to buy hard-to-find or rare, and the special colors that we all know are harder to source.
The only downsides to ramping up so fast is that my time is being spent mostly organizing the bricks for easier building as well as cleaning the used bricks I got in bulk. By far the most painful time suck is cleaning, and it made me decide to focus only on cleaning the white and light-colored bricks (yellows, tan, sand green & blue, light/stone grays). I'll probably try the hydrogen peroxide & UV process to whiten the small number of yellowed white bricks. It's just too daunting to clean somewhere on the order of 30,000-40,000 bricks, even if I would focus on just simple cleaning to disinfect. It's easier & cheaper in terms of time cost to just separate the few super-dirty bricks and then just do simple cleaning as the rest are sorted.
So... yeah. I bought an average of 30,000 bricks per month for 4 months and there's almost nothing I would need now except for special large builds that might need a certain color or certain brick type in bulk. Nothing I plan to build any time soon will need more than a few thousand pieces.
Thankfully my local bulk sources have reasonably clean bricks. If I make any more purchases that way I won't be sorting through or cleaning the bricks ASAP, only when I need what might be in there for adding to a build. Also, buying that way is super-cheap but you end up with a large amount of certain colors and shapes and not as much of the desirable colors and shapes. But that's OK - it's just the cleaning that becomes daunting. There is really no way to clean LEGO properly that is quick or cost effective in terms of time. Spreading them out & waiting for them to dry also takes at least 24 hours for each batch cleaned and uses up a lot of surface space.
The only downsides to ramping up so fast is that my time is being spent mostly organizing the bricks for easier building as well as cleaning the used bricks I got in bulk. By far the most painful time suck is cleaning, and it made me decide to focus only on cleaning the white and light-colored bricks (yellows, tan, sand green & blue, light/stone grays). I'll probably try the hydrogen peroxide & UV process to whiten the small number of yellowed white bricks. It's just too daunting to clean somewhere on the order of 30,000-40,000 bricks, even if I would focus on just simple cleaning to disinfect. It's easier & cheaper in terms of time cost to just separate the few super-dirty bricks and then just do simple cleaning as the rest are sorted.
So... yeah. I bought an average of 30,000 bricks per month for 4 months and there's almost nothing I would need now except for special large builds that might need a certain color or certain brick type in bulk. Nothing I plan to build any time soon will need more than a few thousand pieces.
Thankfully my local bulk sources have reasonably clean bricks. If I make any more purchases that way I won't be sorting through or cleaning the bricks ASAP, only when I need what might be in there for adding to a build. Also, buying that way is super-cheap but you end up with a large amount of certain colors and shapes and not as much of the desirable colors and shapes. But that's OK - it's just the cleaning that becomes daunting. There is really no way to clean LEGO properly that is quick or cost effective in terms of time. Spreading them out & waiting for them to dry also takes at least 24 hours for each batch cleaned and uses up a lot of surface space.
Powered by Vanilla
Comments
This did a good job on cleaning most parts, I had some really dusty parts that came up really well.
On a fun side its interesting to see what the washing machine can create, yep washing machines like putting Lego together as well!!
An extra spin at the end to helps. I then lay out on a towel. I've heard of people using salad mixers to spin the Lego dry, although not tried this.
I recently brought my misses a Led/UV nail thing, going to give it a try with peroxide for more controlled results, rather than putting it outside hoping the UK weather will clear!
I'm still hesitant to do the washing machine method, though it might be faster I agree for the initial washing.
I did another batch today with the hydrogen peroxide in sunlight, this time tan and transparent parts along with a bunch of white ones. Another good result, only a few parts didn't get restored. For anyone reading this, it's not the same as cleaning - you will still need to do a cleaning step if the bricks are dirty. Or, mix a bit of Oxy Clean in with the H202+H20 mix. Oxy Clean is like crystalized hydrogen peroxide so it turns into H202 when it dissolves but it has a detergent mixed in with the powder which bubbles & cleans surfaces as it dissolves.
I saw Target was selling 32 oz 3% hydrogen peroxide bottles for $0.97 so I grabbed 10 bottles today. Each one is enough to clean at least 600-800 parts in the plastic bins I'm using, should last me quite a bit to restore any remaining bricks or if I get more local used bricks.
The main way I've been cleaning bricks is to mix about 1/3 to 1/2 vinegar mix with water the remaining portion, and add unscented/clear dishwashing fluid. Then agitate/stir the bricks regularly over a few hours, let them sit in the liquid overnight. Gets most of the dirt off.
I did try also "Scrubbing Bubbles" which is bleach-based, on a small portion of white & tan bricks. It's pretty diluted so not like pouring actual full-strength bleach onto the bricks, and then I mixed in water. What I did was put about 100 or so parts into PaB cups, sprayed into the bottles to well cover the bricks, let it foam for a few minutes, then poured water to fill the cup 2/3, covered it with the PaB cover and that makes it pretty near water-tight which allowed me to mix every 10-15 minutes like I was mixing a drink. That gets the bricks VERY clean in about only an hour so is the fastest to do the cleaning, but I was a bit concerned with the use of a bleach to do the cleaning.
Note to anyone reading who doesn't know much about home cleaning chemicals:
NEVER NEVER mix:
Bleach + ammonia (a lot of surface cleaners have ammonia)
Bleach + vinegar
Bleach + hydrogen peroxide (or isopropyl alcohol)
Hydrogen peroxide + vinegar
All the mixes above create either a corrosive acid or harmful gases, of which significant doses may cause major nerve damage and even death. Clean LEGO is not worth dying for.
For any bricks that remain yellowed or so dirty or with mold that my normal cleaning process didn't clean up, they get tossed. I'm not going to waste my time using a tooth brush to clean such pieces unless they are rare pieces worth $1 or more (like lamp posts) or rare scenery parts.