Cleaning a 90’s Girl’s Set

What needs to be cleaned? Is it just dust from sitting on a shelf? If so a barely damp microfiber cloth or compressed air should be plenty. If there's rust, mold, or something else complex search the forum for older topics as cleaning models has been extensively covered.

For those who may be interested, I cleaned this set today. I used rubbing alcohol on the rust stains and grease smudges and then a bath in water with Dawn detergent. All the cars came out like new, I cleaned the engine with rubbing alcohol to remove smoke fluid and rust using q-tips and wiping the alcohol off quickly with a clean q-tip. Extremely happy with the results!

Still have to clean & deodorize interior of boxes with vinegar and reattach cellophane windows. Lastly will be re-laminate the set box, it’s already been cleaned and deodorized.

So funny this came up.   I just cleaned a 1957 set for a customer.   Had mold and dirt all the cars and engine.  It had the original Madison label on it.   Set box was also here.   It came out beautiful.   Customer was beyond himself in joy.  

Glad the alcohol worked well for you, but I'd be careful about using that. Alcohol is a common method to strip paint off models so it can damage the finish on a model or even take off the lettering.

While I agree it is risky, if you are going to use rubbing alcohol use the cheapest (70%) stuff you can find, which is less likely to strip paint than the stronger 90% stuff.

@Will Ebbert posted:

What needs to be cleaned? Is it just dust from sitting on a shelf? If so a barely damp microfiber cloth or compressed air should be plenty.

I have found that compressed air does not remove dust much at all if it has been in place for awhile, but only is effective for the light top fluff that is very recent. Also, using a cloth should be avoided, as dust is an abrasive, and rubbing it can cause tiny scratches in finishes.

The best, I've found, is using Dawn and warm water. The water and soap provide a lubricant, so no damage is done to the finish. A very light rubbing with your fingers and a gentle cloth soaked with the dawn and water lubricates the surface, and removes all the dust and grime, and leaves a finish that looks like new (assuming the item's finish was like new before it became dusty).

Just my experience with cleaning.

@Vinny26 posted:

So funny this came up.   I just cleaned a 1957 set for a customer.   Had mold and dirt all the cars and engine.  It had the original Madison label on it.   Set box was also here.   It came out beautiful.   Customer was beyond himself in joy.  

Vinny, what was your method of cleaning?