Cleaning Post War Body Shells

For die cast boilers, plastic locomotive and freight car body shells a use mild liquid detergent(Dawn) on a very soft tooth brush.Very gently brush the surface under the running warm water and avoid rubbing the decals and rubber/heat stamped lettering.Air dry. Then gently apply ArmorAll protectant with another soft tooth brush and polish with a lint free cotton cloth.They'll look and shine like new with a factory like patina. I have used this method on Postwar and Modern trains for 40 years with excellent results.

NEVER use a petroleum based solvent like WD-40 to clean the plastic,it will pit the finish over time,and after 20-30 years the paint will become chalky and dull.

Ricky

We do the same as Ricky, wet first, mild dish soap, soft bristle brush(toothbrush, small soft paintbrush), rinse with warm water, shake dry, use blow dryer to ensure dryness, especially where metal handrails, rivets etc are.

Be careful around decals. Use common sense.

Sound advice. A mild dish soap like Palmolive is best for general dirt and dust. Dawn would work better with grease and grime. For drying, I would use a microfiber towel. Armorall would work with diecast but keep it away from plastic shells. The petroleum distillates in Armorall will eat at the plastic.

I would not use Armorall on a train.

Be aware that some of the paints and decorations (lettering, etc) used by the Lionel Corp (both prewar and postwar) will literally rinse off with water. If you post a description of what you want to clean, you probably will receive more detailed answers.

Armor all is NOT a petroleum distillate. WD 40 is. Armor all is a water based silicone based acrylic emulsion/polish with UV protectants.

Armor all original protectant is a harmless to plastics,here is the link to the MSDS:

http://www.armoredautogroup.co...nal%20Protectant.pdf

You don't use much,just dampen a soft cotton cloth.You do need to be very careful using it around lettering on the older trains and decals.

I have used it on postwar Lionel trains since the early 70's.The trains are still in perfect condition with NO adverse effects to the plastics.I have used it on ALL my modern trains(We are talking 1000's)with 100% NO problems.

However,there are several Armor all cleaners that ARE powerful solvents.Make sure you get the "original protectant"

Bottom line-If you are unsure or not comfortable with using a product to clean and polish your trains.Don't use it.

Ricky

The old Armorall of years ago would damage plastics. The new formula is ok on plastics but not recomended on paint.

http://www.armorall.com/faq/wipes.php#answer6

Rob

I have been using ArmorAll protectant on all of my post-war steam locomotives since  1989 using the same procedure as set forth by Ricky in his original post.  Over the last 23 years the results have been fantastic with absolutely no problems.  I came across this method when reading the late Roland LaVoie's Model Railroading with Lionel Trains.  One of the great things about ArmorALL Protectant is that it seems to be a dust inhibitor.  After treating the engine boilers with this stuff dust does not collect on the engines for extremely long periods of time and I'm talking for months.  I highly recommend it.

This would involve cleaning of Post War 1950-1965 Diesel Shells only no Steam.

Still go with Armor All?

You will have to forgive me. It has been a long time since I used Armor All (1976 to be exact). The original formula had a lot of harmful ingredients like petroleum distillates. Today's formula replaced those ingredients with just plain water. I would say it is ok for the plastic but I am still not convinced it is good for paint.

Aside from the risk of damaging paint or plastic, IMHO, Armorall makes the finish look too shiney. Additionally, when any sort of polish is used, getting residue and making the appearance even around cracks, crevices, etc can be very difficult, if not impossible. When looking at trains on display at train shows, its usually very easy to spot the pieces that have been polished.

But if that is what you want, go for it.

ClutchGuy and CW - 

A clarification is in order.I use Armour All to finish up Lionel,Marx etc. that are filthy,abused etc.It is very time consuming to do it right and it does make them shine and I agree with you CW that its almost too shiny to many eyes.This tones down over a few weeks.However,it's not unlike the shine of factory fresh C10 postwar.It was a lifelong friend of mine who told me about Armour All. He was a very well known Postwar Lionel collector and Lionel service station.He worked for Lionel in the service department in the 40's-50's while attending college.He had one heck of a world class postwar collection.

Lastly,I have used it to clean up and polish modern era trains,namely MTH diesels and ABS passenger cars that I purchased used that had fingerprints or oily/greasy spots.I spray a bit on a clean,lint free flannel cloth and polish them up,I use a q-tip to get in the corners.I have observed NO adverse affects with the paint over the course of 10+ years(100's of pieces).

As for the postwar diesel shells,be extremely gentle around the decals and rubber stamped lettering/stripes.

I suggest practicing on some common freight cars to get the feel of the product before cleaning the diesel shells.The silver 2 dome Sunoco tank cars are great,get a couple of filthy examples and try it.

Good discussion guys.

Ricky

I use the same Dawn washing process as above, however i finish off with Pledge (light amount) on a micro-fibre cloth as a last step.

SAM