Hey everyone!
I am putting some of my collection back on to shelves since we've settled into our new place, & have been wiping, dusting, spraying, washing,.... & thought I would ask the forbiddin question, how do you all keep yours clean, or do you even try :hmm:? Please be truthful 'cause you don't have to lie to be cool 8-)! I look at all of the small items....so many deserving to be tended to, & it seems so overwhelming to keep them as new, protected from all of the dust :-[! If you clean your items regularly, what soap, & procedures do you use? How often do you dust them, & to what extent? Obviously the best way to display them would be to put all of the items in an enclosed cabinet, or curio cabinet, but that can become as expensive as the items you are displaying :-\! My personal main weapon of dust attack is a soft barber shave cream brush for light dusting, but it only does so good until it takes more aggressive action :0 to get the items looking like new again, & that can take for what seems like forever :no:. Let me know your procedures for cleaning your collection, keeping in mind cabinets are not an option! I look forward to hearing your advise ;D!
I don't try, it would be hopeless. :lol:
Fortunately we don't vacuum often in our house, so the dust doesn't get stirred up. ;)
I don't have enough out at a time for that to be a factor, handling them keeps the dust off before they are bagged up again. If I have too much out on display at a time my wife is sure to comment on all the 'extra' pieces I have that are surely redundant.
Gepetto
My problem is that I have way too much, & feel guilty if I have to banish any of it to storage for an extended period of time
I'll PM you my address Bill, then sned me your Playmobil and with it your guilt. ;)
Thank you for your honesty Martin ;)! My problem is that I have way too much, & feel guilty if I have to banish any of it to storage for an extended period of time :no:! My feeling is, why have something if you can't see it :lens:? The shelves I display my themes on are 4 foot long by 16 inches deep, & that leads to a very time consuming cleaning chore :-\! I don"t know how my fire department apparatus, police department vans, & cars, & other theme items would handle going through the washing machine process as recommended by Little Jo :o! I know that my 3551 Suzanne fishing trawler IS NOT going in the washing machine no matter how dusty she gets :hissyfit:!
Hm ... Little Jo seems to be focused in Noah's Ark collection ;D
Must be his favourite theme.
I don"t know how my fire department apparatus, police department vans, & cars, & other theme items would handle going through the washing machine process as recommended by Little Jo :o! I know that my 3551 Suzanne fishing trawler IS NOT going in the washing machine no matter how dusty she gets :hissyfit:!
Uh, not at all (to be honest I actually do not have Noah's Ark in real life :-[) -- problem was that in those days when photo was taken there wasn't much modern live micro figures (which changed in the meantime). Although I must admit, that I really love all the animals, but I have not many animal customs and the display cases are primarily for displaying customized figures.
When I have a castle or a ship out for a while I limit my dusting to hitting it with compressed air occasionally (a can I can re-charge from my compressor).
Gepetto
Back to my original question for you,....how do you display your larger items, like trucks, trees, cars etc., & keep them from getting covered with dust :-\??
I have tried this procedure myself with my large shop compressor, but it causes too much mayhem by blowing the small pieces about, & dosen't thoroughly clean items as good as soap & water :-\! I'm still at a loss for a better procedure :(!
;)
No display of larger items (due to lack of suitable display case) :(
Only exception is the display case for the cars we currently drive and drove in the past (one display tower for me wife, one for myself) -- actually this is no Playmobil stuff but customized as well (I bought the 1:18 model cars and painted them in the original car color).
Anyway such a display tower would also be perfect to display larger Playmobil items (but not for me as my wife forbid me to display any Playmobil stuff in our living room so I have to settle for the display case just in my office right over my desk ;D ... although I managed to bring up at least one Playmobil part in the display towers used as stand for the car flyers (cf. detail pic) :P
We bought the towers at IKEA (they have been quite cheap). Drawback is that there are gaps between the glass elements and so dust also finds its way to the inside, although not that fast as on open shelves.
For larger items I used a steam cleaner. Quite less dangerous to stickers than pure water although I must state that I never had a problem with original Playmobil stickers in the washing machine: they all got stuck on the item and didn't become any damage resulted from the washing procedure.
Hi Bill, I would say that i think i understand your problem slightly . There is no way i can or want to glass everything in and i like it all or as much as possible on display . We live on a farm so you can imagine how much dust is around us . We have a gravel driveway that trucks are constantly going up and down on and the tractor is tilling the fields a dozen times a year. There is no way to get rid of the dust i have to contend with . What i have found out is that i either do nothing at all until i photograph the piece or i let the kids play with them . If it is a truck they handle it enough to rid it of dust or if it is a boat it goes into the hot-tub with them and it comes out all clean, sails and all ( extra bubbles of course ).
Here is a pic of one corner of one room .
(http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/1337/p1280081zv6.jpg)
What do you do to clean the other items that are not trucks or boats :eh?:?
I think keeping the Playo Display room at a positive air pressure would blow dust out of it, through any small openings that might be present, like they do with hospital operating theatres.
My personal strategy is to heavily play with the displayed stuff in a randomized fashion...
...and washing my hands afterwards... :P
best,
socrates
Well as far as i see it the dust adds a little realism to the items , such as a building or train . If the dust builds up beyond dust and begins growing weeds in the cracks i simply take out the vacuum with the soft bristle brush and quickly suck it away .
I learned to live with the dust ;D :-[
and by momenst I follow "the Rasputin way"
I like the "Swiffer" type dusting wands for removing dust from Playmo. The fuzzy heads not only remove the dust, but hold also onto it unlike a regular brush or compressed air which just moves the dust to a new location. For tight spots, compressed air in combo with the swiffer is very effective! Generally, I do not go for the latest fads in cleaning products, but I think the Swiffer is brilliant! (It is also good for those rare occasions of actual house-cleaning! :-[ ;D )