Wednesday 15 July 2015

Cleaning Old Lego

As an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) the quickest way to start building your collection of bricks is to buy used LEGO in bulk.  Often this LEGO is old, dirty and sometimes yellowed from being displayed in front of a sunny window.  So how do we clean and restore old LEGO?  

There are many suggestions out there, so as a new AFOL, I decided to try them out for myself and I thought share my results here.  In this video I try:
  • 0.08 - LEGO in a pillowcase in the washing machine
  • 1.03 - LEGO in the dishwasher
  • 1.30 - Handwashing LEGO in dish washing liquid
  • 1.54 - Handwashing LEGO in Vanish / Oxy Powder
  • 2.32 - Handwashing LEGO in Steradent (false teeth whitener)
  • 3.20 - Bleaching LEGO in Hydrogen Peroxide solution

My verdict since trying all of these out is that cleaning LEGO in the dishwasher probably gives the best results, but I don’t really like doing it as I only feel confident of putting my bricks in the cutlery tray, and that doesn’t hold very many pieces.  My preferred method is a pillowcase, half filled with LEGO, in the washing machine.  If the LEGO is really dirty, hand washing is a must.  I love the results from bleaching with peroxide but can only do it on sunny days.  (Warning, please wear gloves and glasses to protect your skin and eyes, don’t leave it unattended and don’t let children do it unsupervised, if at all)

Do not forget to watch Jangbricks’ video on restoring old LEGO , he gives the definitive instructions on how to bleach LEGO with peroxide and you may also want to read Blocks Magazine’s article on cleaning LEGO in issue 6. 


Please share any thoughts or comments with me below, did I miss any good cleaning techniques out?

Sunday 12 July 2015

LEGO Free Build - Parrot - Set 40131 - July 2015

Every month the LEGO store holds a free build where your children (ages 6 to 14) can go in and build a small set and get to take it home!  We missed last month's build and this month I wasn't allowed to film in the store so here is a video turntable of July's free build; 40131, Parrot which ties in nicely with LEGO's Pirates theme