Aluminum Foil to Clean Track?

Hey, that sounds like a pretty good idea, as long as you keep turning it so as not to redeposit the grease.  The "Hints from Heloise" newspaper column printed this idea many years ago, as a way of rejuvenating corroded metal.

I've not heard of that one before!  I'm gonna give it a try.  Thanks for the interesting idea.

I'm back.  I tried both sides of the aluminum foil (high shine and dull shine).  Absolutely zero dirt picked up.  From dirty Fastrack.  Nothing detectable on the foil, but a paper towel following the foil comes away dirty.  Myth Busted!

Perhaps it would be useful if the track were aluminum?

Yep, I just tried it myself on some old Gargraves and O-31 track with visible rust. Didn't do squat! It really worked on my bike though.

Oh well...

Outside of being metal, there isn't much that an old bicycle wheel has in common with O guage track.

Stick with the alchohol, it WORKS. Outside of that a mildly abrasive block like a "bright boy" or the eraser in Lionels maintenance kit will help more stubborn areas of oxidation.

The last time someone tried a "new type" of track cleaner the results were disasterous to say the least.

I have tried wine corks, they work.

It would probably be a more electrifying experience at about 10v.

Gerry

VERY TRUE - I recommend sticking with the tried and true - particularly since it works well enough.  

Of course, if you really want to make aluminum foil transform old track fast, you can coat it with a little Simple Green first!

How about Bar Keepers Friend?

Anyone tried that yet?

It is great for cleaning up oxidized chrome and lots of other metals.

Not sure I want to be the first to try it though.......

Rod

Bar Keeper's Friend has way too much water in the formula.  You can use it to remove rust, but you MUST wash it off totally or it'll corrode the track.  It's not the recipe for cleaning the layout track.

I tried it for de-rusting track, but it doesn't work as well as I expected.