Figure Cleaning

[KingCharMing]

Sorry I know this is probably in the wrong section, didnt know where else to post this. Being a newb i have no idea how to clean and dust my figures, especially my hot toys The Boss who has a rubber body. I read a few places about compressed air cans but theyre pretty expensive here in Australia. Is there a small air compressor anyone can suggest? Or is there a better way to dust these things off?
Thanks guys!

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[jstep13]

Air is too expensive so I lick the dust off mine...gives them a nice sheen too

 

[Lejuan]

 

[SwedishHeat]

How much does a can of compressed air cost in Australia?

 

[KingCharMing]

15 dollars or so for a 250ml can from officeworks. They have a cheaper option too (insystem I think) but its a crappy one that frosts very quickly. I don't know where else to find em


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[potato]

The rubber Body suppose to be sticky, so even with compressed air it won't remove all the dust.

Best is to have preventive measures like putting it in dust free cabinet or give em a transparent plastic bag cover.

Use microfiber cloth slightly damped.

 

[Lejuan]

Forget the compressed air, you don't need it.

 

[snoop101]

Dust wont hurt your figures anyway. But, If you can afford the figures you can afford a nice display case to put them in.

 

[KingCharMing]

Can you suggest a good dust free cabinet to get in Australia? Right now I have them on a set of bookshelves & was thinking of getting a detolf but I'm pretty sure those are such dust collectors. Again, I'm such a noob


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[Peloquin]

I've been looking into display case options in Australia and came across this place, they will do custom sizes for you,
https://www.collectingwarehouse.com...-Display-Cases-with-Black-Base?range=17,32,32

 

[snoop101]

A Detolf is the way to go my friend. They're extremely nice display cases for the price. I have a few of them and my collectibles get very little dust.

 

[Lejuan]

I have a combination of an Expedit-style cabinet with clear acrylic fastened to both open sides to keep dust out; and a couple of clear acrylic boxes on floating shelves:

 

[Gasdoc]

While I obviously agree that closed cabinets are the way to go to minimise dust, I couldn't do that because of space limitations in my collecting space (simply not enough space to open glass doors..it's that narrow across)

I also agree that air cans are (1) expensive and (2) spew forth liquid at times especially as they cool with use.

My solution after looking for air compressors is to buy a datavac air duster (just you tube or google it). I have found this to be very very effective although it sounds like a plane taking off lol. It's a pc cleaner really but very powerful. With soft brushes this is working for me with 1/4 scale pieces.

 

[KingCharMing]

I have a combination of an Expedit-style cabinet with clear acrylic fastened to both open sides to keep dust out; and a couple of clear acrylic boxes on floating shelves:

Acrylic cases are a great idea! Ill have to look around and see if I can find em.

While I obviously agree that closed cabinets are the way to go to minimise dust, I couldn't do that because of space limitations in my collecting space (simply not enough space to open glass doors..it's that narrow across)

I also agree that air cans are (1) expensive and (2) spew forth liquid at times especially as they cool with use.

My solution after looking for air compressors is to buy a datavac air duster (just you tube or google it). I have found this to be very very effective although it sounds like a plane taking off lol. It's a pc cleaner really but very powerful. With soft brushes this is working for me with 1/4 scale pieces.

The datavacs look pretty cool but I can only seem to find them on US sites, meaning theyre 110v power supply and not 240v :-( I see you live in the UK though, did you get yours online? All the smaller air compressors I could find are 12v for car use lol

 

[potato]

The detolf is not dust free stock, in fact it has quite some gap that allows dust to go in from the front, and the top cover.

You'd need to buy those window weather rubber seals to stick on 4 sides of the front to minimize dust entrance and the top light cover you'd need to blue tack the sides under the cover so any dust falling in from the top will get blocked by the blutac.

 

[RavenEye]

Get a micro fiber cloth and wet it with water and clean the rubber.

 

[Lejuan]

Acrylic cases are a great idea! Ill have to look around and see if I can find em.

These are custom built - don't know about your chances of finding these any other way. You're looking at around a hundred bucks.

 

[SwedishHeat]

I have a combination of an Expedit-style cabinet with clear acrylic fastened to both open sides to keep dust out; and a couple of clear acrylic boxes on floating shelves:

That looks sexy.

 

[HeubertMichael]

I have some figures displayed in the open, and most inside my detolfs. To compare dust accumulation, I dust those in the open once a week using a wide-head make up brush (its bristles is almost the same as those used to clean camera lenses, like LeJuan posted. They are made of hypoallergenic fiber as it's supposed to be used on human face where skin is sensitive, so that makes it good for rubber/vinyl/plastic too I suppose). I use the same brush to those in the detolfs, but it takes them a month to get almost as much dust as those in the open gets for a week.

Yes, detolfs have slight openings on both sides of the glass door, as clearance so it won't brush against the glass walls, but still at least where I live it keeps my figures more protected. I didn't bother adding rubber seals to make it more dust proof, as I live in a humid country and making rubber breathe with enough air circulation within the detolf would make the figures stay in better shape.

I have used canned air before but it's also very expensive here as there are no local brands. To dust hard to reach corners or those with surfaces that could get hairline scratches with cloth or brush (like tumbler windows) I use a small hand-held air pump that came packaged with my laptop lens/keyboard cleaner

Hope this helps buddy!

 

[HeubertMichael]

I have a combination of an Expedit-style cabinet with clear acrylic fastened to both open sides to keep dust out; and a couple of clear acrylic boxes on floating shelves:

Man that looks very neat, Lejuan. I wouldn't mind stationary biking for hours while staring at my collection. I don't think I'd even notice that I've been biking for hours

Wait, that's not a bike. Is that an aerowalker of some sort? Also, Spidey looks so sad at the corner of that cabinet LOL