Cleaning old Lego bricks, especially removing stickers

dansuri

Hello, I recently retrieved my old Lego from my parents. Very exciting. It's grubby so needs cleaning. Soaking in warm soapy water (ie washing up liquid) will do the trick I guess? Anyone have any good tips? Particularly interested in how to remove plasticine (my sister's doing!) and old stickers? Cheers, Dan

Jay37

I find Sticky Stuff Remover is good for stickers and other miscellaneous 'residue'! As you're in the UK too Wilkos and Robert Dyas are your best bet for that (possibly Hobbycraft?). I tend to do that first, then I soak in a weak disinfectant solution first for an hour or two, then wash in soapy water. I'll use a small soft bristled art paintbrush for awkward areas. Then rinse in a weak white vinegar solution before towel drying. Finally I'll stick them in the airing or boiler cupboard overnight to make sure little nooks and crannies are dry.

tons_of_bricks

lemon oil does miracles for removing sticker residue, or any stickiness in general.

dansuri

Thanks for your comments!!

Calibrick

We soak used bricks in very, very hot water and dishwashing liquid overnight (or even for 24 hours), occasionally giving them a gentle stir, then rinse them well (cullenders are great for this; and salad spinners are great for drying them). We actually have them inside a food-grade bag with drain holes (what beer makers use to clean/drain hops) to make it easier to remove from the bucket and rinse. We then lay them on towels on the floor to air dry under a ceiling fan, though larger clear parts we hand dry as we have very hard water in our area, which leaves spots.

If old bricks have odors, e.g., cigarette smoke, we follow up the cleaning with an overnight soak in 2 parts water, one part white vinegar (if really bad, we go 50/50 on the mix), then rinsing well. You'd be amazed what a great job vinegar does in odor removal!

For sticker residue, we do the same as other folks, cleaning that off by hand (we have a product called Orange that does the trick here in the US <s>).

dansuri

Great, thanks for the suggestions!

Robboblox

WD40 is great for sticker residue!

pippyblocks

Another great sticker removal tool is gorilla tape, keep dabbing it on and off it works wonders. Used it for a long time now.

dansuri

Great, thanks for the suggestions!!! I have masking tape and WD40! And I found a website selling replacement stickers for old sets (https://www.brickstickershop.com).