Looking for Tips for Cleaning/Storing Transformers

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

I've been wavering about this for a while now, and I think having COVID the past couple of weeks has pushed me over the edge. I'm looking around, and I really need to do something about the Transformers I have hanging around.

Mostly, I just kind of put my Transformers wherever, generally on "display", and where they're in close reach to fiddle with. But im thinking I should put some away, at least for now. And I'm interested in advice for some things:

- What is the best way to store them? Thinking about some plastic tubs or boxes for those who don't have their own packaging. Should they be wrapped in anything? Is there a preference between robot mode and alt mode?

- Some of these guys need to be cleaned of dust and cat hair before being put away. Any advice/tips there? Types of cleaning cloth? Are cleaners recommended?

Anything else I should think about, while I'm at it?

 

[Superomegaprime]

What I do for storage, is large plastic tubs, cleaning, I tend to put the figures that haven't got stickers on, under a tap and gently let some water wash the dust away, thou I am open to other ideas

 

[Platypus Prime]

Ugh, been there re: both COVID and cleaning, I hope things improve! For me, a decent 'fluffy' dust cloth helped get into all the cracks, but what I found works best is a very long-bristled vacuum brush and a small cleaner. I have one that has a clear bin so if I accidentally suck up a part, I can see it, and it lets me get the dust OUT of the house/room, rather than just send it back up into the air.

DON'T use any of that dust spray cleaner (except canned air, that's fine). Plastics don't react well to the furniture spray.

 

[Plutoniumboss]

As for what mode to store them in, alt mode is usually (but not always) the form that takes up less space.

 

[Platypus Prime]

Or whatever protects it from parts loss best. I always liked to set them however it minimizes things falling off.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

Thanks for the tips!

What I do for storage, is large plastic tubs, cleaning, I tend to put the figures that haven't got stickers on, under a tap and gently let some water wash the dust away, thou I am open to other ideas

Warm or cold water? Is there a risk of paint damage for tampos and the like?

And do you put them in the tubs as-is, or do you use anything to buffer them from bumping each other?

As for what mode to store them in, alt mode is usually (but not always) the form that takes up less space.

I thought about that, but wasn't sure if there might be some sort of downside I hadn't thought of.

Ugh, been there re: both COVID and cleaning, I hope things improve! For me, a decent 'fluffy' dust cloth helped get into all the cracks, but what I found works best is a very long-bristled vacuum brush and a small cleaner. I have one that has a clear bin so if I accidentally suck up a part, I can see it, and it lets me get the dust OUT of the house/room, rather than just send it back up into the air.

DON'T use any of that dust spray cleaner (except canned air, that's fine). Plastics don't react well to the furniture spray.

Thanks! Slowly, but seemingly surely. =)

I think I might have the kind of cloth you mentioned, and I do have an electric air thing, so that should hopefully help just the same...

Not sure on the vacuum, but I'll see what we've got here. =)

 

[CrockAlley]

I use a small chip brush to dust. I store in alt mode 95% of the time because it’s usually smaller. I put each fig in a zipper bag, then in a tub. But I don’t zip the bags so that the plastic can “breathe.” I’ve thought about drilling small holes in the bins for the same reason, but haven’t. The softer plastic tends to get sticky/tacky over time when confined in air-tight spaces.

 

[Superomegaprime]

Warm or cold water? Is there a risk of paint damage for tampos and the like?

And do you put them in the tubs as-is, or do you use anything to buffer them from bumping each other?

I tend to use warm water, but that running straight out of the tap and then moving the figure around to get most of the dust, as for putting them in the boxes, I just put them straight in, my storage is a bit of a mess, thou I only as of a few days ago, rearranged the content into factions, well, the two main factions of good and bad, AKA Autobots & Decepticons

 

[Sciflyer]

I used to use small amounts of Windex sprayed onto Q-Tips to clean my G1 figures. Worked great and I've had no issues. Nowadays, I use a super-soft bristle paint brush to dust things and I still use Ziploc bags / Rubbermaid totes for storage.

 

[Stepwise]

When it comes to storage, do any of you worry about springs? I don't know if these just stop working after a while, or if stored-up tension causes problems with the plastic in the long run.

I don't leave Laser Optimus' trailer (the original G2 version) closed up for any length of time. I'm a little worried about the springs in OpOp and Primal Prime's arm-mounted blast shields, and I leave Armada First Aid's flip-forward blaster out, too.

 

[Sciflyer]

Hmmm...I haven't been too concerned about springs, no. I know that I've taken steps to remove missiles and the like from launchers before storage, but that is about it. If something is spring-loaded due to transformation though, like Jetfire's landing gear or somesuch, they remain retracted. I've never had an issue personally, but YMMV.

 

[CrockAlley]

Oh, don't forget to take out batteries! The Armada Unicron mold, one of the later G1 head versions, his battery panel was bulging outward with bad batteries when I checked in on him this past summer. It's not a huge problem that I run into (I have hundreds of TFs that I stored in an alternating very hot or very cold attic for 12 years, and I've only ever run into a small number of battery problems) but better safe than sorry.

 

[Superomegaprime]

I removed most of the batteries from my figures, a lot of them have stopped working, thus they been recycled safely

 

[Sciflyer]

Yeah, there were a lot of figures for which I never even used the batteries. However, for the few that did get that luxury, I removed them before storage.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

Oh, don't forget to take out batteries! The Armada Unicron mold, one of the later G1 head versions, his battery panel was bulging outward with bad batteries when I checked in on him this past summer. It's not a huge problem that I run into (I have hundreds of TFs that I stored in an alternating very hot or very cold attic for 12 years, and I've only ever run into a small number of battery problems) but better safe than sorry.

Wait... did Energon Unicron come with batteries? And pre-installed?

 

[CrockAlley]

I don't remember. I have the original Armada, the Energon, and both the Takara and Hasbro G1 head versions. I went through them all last summer, but I don't remember which came with batteries, or if any did at all.

 

[Superomegaprime]

Wait... did Energon Unicron come with batteries? And pre-installed?

I think they were pre-installed, thou my Armada Unicron was second hand when I bought him, I got the G1 looking verison brand new, I think, but it had the batteries already inside of him, so, most likely as they are button cell batteries, thou I think I need to go about removing those batteries before they go bad!

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

The softer plastic tends to get sticky/tacky over time when confined in air-tight spaces.

I was checking out some other figures I have in an old China hutch that might be close to or airtight, and I'm worried now that this might be happening to some of the figures in there. Is there anything that can be done to reverse or fix this?

 

[CrockAlley]

I've always read that you can do a light soapy water wash to remove the stickiness. But it's just a natural part of plastics. I don't know the science, but some plastics just age this way. I've even had it happen to a couple toys that were just sitting out on a shelf, not confined.

Here's a thing I just googled:

Storing Plastic Figurines

Dear Donia, How do I store plastic figurines? Q. Dear Donia, I am currently working on storing my Star Wars figurine collection. I am putting individual figurines in low-density polyethelene bags with a small hole punched out for breathing. These bags are then going to be placed in trays (to...

www.ala.org

I don't think you would need to worry about whether you have acid-free boxes or trays. Newer plastics generally do not respond to acidity so they should be fine.
What plastics do respond to are plasticizers. Plasticizers are in all plastics and give them their specific characteristics. If you store your figurines in the plastic bags, even with the hole in them, you will be trapping them in with their off gassing plasticizers. This confinement in a closed environment could lead to increased rates of deterioration. The better way to wrap your figurines is in tissue paper rather than plastic. This will allow the plasticizers to more easily escape and not affect your collection.

I have a few hundred Star Wars figures that have been packed away for 10 years that I should be checking on.