Advice on how to clean figures?

Hey Guys!

I want to wash my Character Option figures, and I've been looking online for simple ways to do it.

Most site recommend using dish soap, but some say to stay away from soap with moisturizer, or harsh chemicals, etc..

So I was wondering, has anyone here tried to lather up and wash their figures, and if so what brand of soap did you use?

thanks!

I've cleaned all my figures and toys (those that don't have electronics) in a bowl of warm, soapy water and cleaned then with a cloth and a small paint brush. Just dunk them in, give them a bit of a soak and then brush them down. Don't be timid, these things handle very well. Just don't put them in really hot water - if it's too hot for your hand, it'll be too hot for the toy.

In terms of product, it was Fairy Liquid. Just a small amount as I really didn't want bubbles all over the place and obscuring my view of the toys as I cleaned them. Once washed, I rinsed them off in cold water and left them to air dry naturally. I have done this countless times over the years and the toys and figures look as good as the day they were ripped from their useless packaging.

Don't be afraid, just wash them and all will be fine.

K9's Tail wrote:

I've cleaned all my figures and toys (those that don't have electronics) in a bowl of warm, soapy water and cleaned then with a cloth and a small paint brush. Just dunk them in, give them a bit of a soak and then brush them down. Don't be timid, these things handle very well. Just don't put them in really hot water - if it's too hot for your hand, it'll be too hot for the toy.

In terms of product, it was Fairy Liquid. Just a small amount as I really didn't want bubbles all over the place and obscuring my view of the toys as I cleaned them. Once washed, I rinsed them off in cold water and left them to air dry naturally. I have done this countless times over the years and the toys and figures look as good as the day they were ripped from their useless packaging.

Don't be afraid, just wash them and all will be fine.

Hey, thanks for the advice and the pep talk!

I've never heard of "Fairy Liquid", is it a British product? I wonder what the US equivalent is? Probably any dish soap would do I'm guessing.

And if I could ask, if Fairy Liquid is anything like US products, there's a dozen sub categories of it ... like super oxy-clean power, or hand-friendly, or grease cutter, anti bacteria, moisturizing etc ... Do you remember what specific kind you used, or is there a simple default version? I'm only asking because I've seen a site here and there that says to avoid certain soaps because the chemicals can harm the paints.

thanks!

There's nothing too special about it, it's just a mild detergent - and yeah, it's British. Thing is, you'll be diluting it in water, so if you don't put too much into your bowl, any active ingredients will be so watered down that it shouldn't bring any harm to the applications and what CO are using is pretty rugged stuff.

In a standard bowl or basin, I just used a tiny squirt of the stuff, enough to create a small amount of bubbles on the surface, but not enough to make a bubble avalanche. It's hard to explain really.

Let's try this image:



And that above is way too much, about half that amount really.

Hope that sort of explains it and helps you to some degree.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. Remember, you're watering the detergent down a heck of a lot to the point that it's just enough to lift the dirt and little else. Even warm water on its own would do if you leave the figures in to soak.

Good luck.

K9's Tail wrote:

Thing is, you'll be diluting it in water, so if you don't put too much into your bowl, any active ingredients will be so watered down that it shouldn't bring any harm to the applications and what CO are using is pretty rugged stuff.

Hey, THANKS! I really appreciate the extra info, and the photo.
I was asking about the sub-brand because I'd read somewhere that certain brands with harsh grease cutters can possibly harm paint.
But that's a great point about how it will being diluted so much, I hadn't thought of that.

OK cool I feel better now!

(By the way, the thing that got me started down this crazy road was I learned that it's a bad idea to store action figures long-term in regular plastic sandwich bags. They're made from an acidic plastic that over time will break down and harm the paint, and even start to break up the plastic in the figure! You ever see an action figure with a weird, clear fluid sitting on it for no reason? Or the limbs feel oddly sticky? It's the plastic breaking down. So, because I've been storing my action figures for about 7 years now, I've ordered a bunch of acid-free plastic zipper bags. But I thought I should clean them up really good first, to get rid of any mucky-muck that might be there from the years of sitting in those acidic plastic storage bags.)

anyway, thanks again!

I have used Woolite to wash my figures. It is gentle on clothing, and gentle on figures too! Same procedure, dunk and soak!

Ronpur wrote:

I have used Woolite to wash my figures.  It is gentle on clothing, and gentle on figures too!  Same procedure, dunk and soak!

Woolite?!? Wow, I never would have thought of that. Thanks for the idea!

I've actually bought a few different brands over the last few days to try. I've been meaning to anyway -- we have a 5 month old so I've been hand-washing a LOT of bottles, using Dawn dish soap, and I've developed the "dishpan hands" thing.

So I went and got three less-harsh brands to try: Palmolive pure and clear, Seventh Generation dish soap, and Mrs Meyers. So far I like the Seventh Generation stuff the best, it rinses away super easy, while the other stuff seems to require a ton of running water to clear away the suds. I figure it should be ok for the action figures as well.

Put it this way, if you can clean the little'un's bottles with it, then you can certainly bathe your toys in it too without worry of plastic disintegration.

Glad you're getting this sorted.

So!  While the baby was sleeping today I finally dug out the box and gave the figures a quick wash. I had the water really diluted with the Seventh Generation soap -- almost to where you couldn't see any foam, because I didn't want to hold the figures under the full water stream to get a ton of suds off. Anyway, I think it went well, and they are all drying.

And I'm happy to say that all the figures didn't seem to have any issues from years in the acidic plastic bags .... EXCEPT:



Yeah, not sure what's happening here. The 10th Doctor's trenchcoat was covered with this white, hazy stuff. It almost looked like a weird kind of mold. I can only assume it was the plastic breaking down.

And it IS my oldest figure -- I bought it back in 2006 or 2007 -- so it has been in the plastic bag the longest. However, I do now remember hearing people complain about a similar condition on other 10th Doctor figures and coats back then, sometimes even with figures still on the card. So it may not directly be a result of the plastic bag I had him in? Maybe it's a known issue for the plastic for that particular Tennant coat?

Anyway, the white haze vanished once I washed it. And I'm not ready at this point to put Armor All on the Tennant figure to restore the plastic, as one site I've seen has suggested! I think I'll just pack them up and take my chances.

Thanks for all the tips guys!

Don't worry too much about the hazy stuff on your Tennant figure, this happened a lot on the softer elements of the various figures - including the 12" range as well. The boots and gloves of the space suit Doctor and the shoes on the Clockwork Droid were very prone to this.

It appears to be the plastic leaching slightly. It's not dangerous, but it does seem to be a minor problem with modern plastics as in these enlightened times, we're not allowed to have certain chemicals (mercury for example) in any product that we come in contact with.

What the long term effect is, no-one really knows, but so far, the plastics seem to be holding up rather well. For now though, it's just a case of having to wipe down some of your figures with a damp cloth.

K9's Tail wrote:

It appears to be the plastic leaching slightly. It's not dangerous, but it does seem to be a minor problem with modern plastics as in these enlightened times, we're not allowed to have certain chemicals (mercury for example) in any product that we come in contact with.

What the long term effect is, no-one really knows, but so far, the plastics seem to be holding up rather well. For now though, it's just a case of having to wipe down some of your figures with a damp cloth.

That's interesting, and thanks for the confirmation that it ain't just me!

It is weird that I have two other Tennant figures -- one on display, and another in an 11 Doctor's Gift Set box -- and I've never seen this white haze form on them. Just on the figure I had stored for years inside the "acidic" sandwich bag. Again, I don't know if it's coincidence or a connection, like if the bag helped bring out the hazy mold stuff more on that figure than my other two!

Still, I'll get him into these new magic acid-free plastic bags and check in on him in a year, and see what happens!

thanks again