Model railroad Hobbyist has an updated article on track cleaning with polar vs. non-polar solvents.
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I don't know how accurate that article is. It claims there is a high concentration of benzene in Deoxit D5, making it a health risk. A couple minutes' research shows that is not true. (The author seems to have confused naphtha benzine with benzene).
And while polarity of a solvent would be important if it leaves a residue on the track, why is a polar solvent bad once it evaporates?
Even though the solvent evaporates, it still bonds with the track. Non-polar solvents have less electrical attraction to other substances, such as the rails. This prevents the solvent from bonding with the rail at a molecular level and attracting dirt.
NJCJOE
Track cleaning has almost become obsolete. NO OX track treatment has done away with track cleaning for me and many others. It has been used by many starting in the 1950s and still unknown by most in model railroading.
Do a search on track cleaning on OGR forum to learn all you could ever wanted to know about NO OX. Most of us have tried several track cleaning methods and many are now using mineral sprites for cleaning and then applying as small amount of NO OX ID conducting grease (yes it a paraffin based grease) treatment (wiped off after treatment) to eliminate all future track cleaning. It has worked for me for over two years and my conventional O27 trains will operate better and slower too.
https://ogrforum.com/...stant-track-cleaning
https://dfarq.homeip.net/no-ox...r-model-railroading/
https://ogrforum.com/...3#15909676531781294
Charlie
@Choo Choo Charlie I am aware of NO OX ID. I used it on my N gauge layout with great results. I have not used it on my O or standard gauge layouts because I have never had a conductivity issue from dirty track on the larger scales. The NO OX ID is a good product.
