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I’d echo a lot of the above advice, which is really good! The only thing I wouldn’t do when washing a piece is let it *soak* in water. Older pieces tend to have teeny cracks, fleabites or rubs that may not be visible with all the grime right now. Letting the water soak in can cause the gypsum to absorb it and paint to flake up. I had this happen with an old Gargoylingus, but in this case it looked like its previous owner had used glass cleaner or something with a solvent to wipe it off.
Which brings me to another point – don’t use any cleaner with acetone/ethanol/alcohol in it – it may dissolve or fog the clear coat finish if left exposed to the piece for too long! With the piece I mentioned above the clearcoat had been completely wiped off in some places, and water got through even when I only used a damp cloth to wipe it clean. A mild dish soap should be just fine. I have used rubbing alcohol applied with a cotton swab to dissove sticker glue, etc. but if left on the surface in a good enough volume there goes your gloss coat!
Good luck with your cleaning, you should post before and after pics 🙂
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I bought some dirty, dusty brown dragons and other pieces from a man who looked like he had never cleaned them and I didn’t realize til I got them home, they also smelled like smoke which I hated. I realized they needed a bath so put them all in my bathtub and sprayed them with a gentle stream of warm water with my hand held shower head if you have one like that. Then I took a microfibre face cloth and put some mild dish or hand soap on it and lightly wiped them all over with the soap even on the pad to get the dirt and dust off. You should have seen the dirty water going down the drain. Then I rinsed them off all over including the pad and took them out and placed them on a towel because the pads were all soaked. I let them sit and drip off a bit and then I lightly dried them with a microfibre towel and moved them around the towel to let it soak up the water from the pads until they were all dry. It worked amazing. No paint came off, the pads were fine after, they looked clean and new and the best part was that the smoke smell was completely gone after washing and airing them out a few days. The only thing is that with the pads, they was a bit of the edges of the felt rubbing off after the bath and dry but I had to wet them to get rid of them smell. Hope that helps.
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Once I get him cleaned up and dried off, I’ll work on touching up the paint. I’m not too worried about the little bites, but will definitely try to fix the chip at his right hand.
If you want, he can come over to my place… I had good results matching peacock color on my lap.
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http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmThese tips are really helpful! I have gotten several Windstones through Craigslist that are horribly dirty. I was curious: I knew about the bleeding reds, but what about rainbows? Does their red bleed? Are there any special cleaning details about them that I should be aware of? My last Craigslist set had a rainbow emp in it and he is nasty but I have been wary to risk damaging him.
Most of these cleaning tips concern dragons. What about the unicorns? I recently got a young black unicorn and I’m not sure how to clean him (It looks like there is a buildup of oily dirt on him) Any tips? Or should I just go with the q-tips and clean water?
Most of these cleaning tips concern dragons. What about the unicorns? I recently got a young black unicorn and I’m not sure how to clean him (It looks like there is a buildup of oily dirt on him) Any tips? Or should I just go with the q-tips and clean water?
The cleaning tips apply to all sculpts, I think, so I would go with the q-tip and water.
It’s funny, but now that I think about it, the only Windstones I got that needed more than dusting are dragons…
Read my books! Volume 1 and 2 of A Dragon Medley are available now.
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http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmI never expected that this little thread that I started last year would run this long and provide so much help.
Thanks to all who have contributed and especially to dragonmedley for the extra help with the Peacock Male – he’s been rehabilitated and is now a very happy dragon!
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I’m no expert, but I’d definitely start with canned air. That way you can get anything that’s still loose to come off *before* it has a chance to abrade the finish with wiping/rubbing! Once you’ve got an idea how much grime is firmly attached, you can go from there. Anything from light strokes with a damp soft cloth to a gentle sink rinsing might be needed, depending on how much gunk is still on him after the air and how stuck it seems to be!
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I wonder if those little ‘keyboard’ vaccuum thingys might work?
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*** Come visit me on deviantArt at http://ela-hara.deviantart.comSince starting this thread, I’ve had to clean a few dragons and unicorns. None as bad as the Peacock Male, though.
I haven’t used the canned air, but have put them in the kitchen sink and used the spray attachment. I’ve also used cotton swabs, brushes, jewellery brushes, and microfibre cloths. It unnerved me at first to spray wash, but it’s quick and quite easy. Warm water, gentle spray and dry promptly. I fixed major chips first.
No water for any of the reds, though. All my rainbows were quite clean, so I don’t know how the reds on them would react to water.
I don’t have a keyboard vaccum, but it might be a good idea, too.
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I’ve used a keyboard vacuum with mixed results. It won’t damage the sculpt, but depending on how dirty it is and how old the dust is, it might not get it clean either. 🙂
I washed a little rainbow hatching dragon with some caked on dust that I just got in and unfortunately a tiny bit of the red wiped off when I dried it. I didn’t realize the reds were not good with water and soap but all my other pieces were fine.
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My two cents: I’ve heard from people who routinely “dust” everything by wiping it down with a damp cloth. With time, repeated rubbing with a damp cloth wears the finish off of Windstone pieces and damages them. Please don’t do that as regular cleaning – that clear coat and the paint is really very thin! And rubbing them with anything is going to rub if off eventually. Gentle dusting – canned air – feather duster – thick fluffy paint brush to get in between the scales (and make him feel really good) – swiffer – that’s how you want to dust them on a regular basis.
Bathing them is definately not something you should do on a regular basis – we do not recomend it.
When I attempted to clean a tobacco smoke residue covered dragon – I used a little “Simple Green” in the water and that got him fairly clean (but not entirely). It didn’t seem to harm the finish.
what about a microfiber dust cloth, they grab everything good when normal dusting, no pressure needed but can that damage them?
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Always open for pyo commissions, repairs and fine artwork! Email me for current prices! awier(@)weaselsoneasels.comMy two cents: I’ve heard from people who routinely “dust” everything by wiping it down with a damp cloth. With time, repeated rubbing with a damp cloth wears the finish off of Windstone pieces and damages them. Please don’t do that as regular cleaning – that clear coat and the paint is really very thin! And rubbing them with anything is going to rub if off eventually. Gentle dusting – canned air – feather duster – thick fluffy paint brush to get in between the scales (and make him feel really good) – swiffer – that’s how you want to dust them on a regular basis.
Bathing them is definately not something you should do on a regular basis – we do not recomend it.
When I attempted to clean a tobacco smoke residue covered dragon – I used a little “Simple Green” in the water and that got him fairly clean (but not entirely). It didn’t seem to harm the finish.
Thanks Susie for the dusting tips. I’ve never washed anything other than the few super-dusty ones. The bulk of my collection is behind glass and I’m planning on keeping it that way.
Activated charcoal helps decrease smoke smell, especially if you put the piece in a ziplock-type bag with the charcoal. I got this tip from another forum member in a thread I created about removing incense smell. Time and fresh air help, too.
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