Randy,
The problem with air purifiers (the ones I have had anyway) is that while they do filter the air, they create air movement which can stir up more dust in the first place. Even using a vacuum is kind of a catch-22, for the exhaust of the vacuum can blow stuff all over the place.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
How about using air purifiers? I want to do what I can to abate as much dust as I can to begin with. There are so many air purifiers that it is not easy to choose one to suit my needs, I don't need to add ozone or have charcoal for oders or filter out allergens (so far) but I would like to reduce airborne particles. Has any one used these devices and which ones seem to be the best?
Randy
Heck, my layout is in an unfinished basement and I even get wood splinters falling on the layout from the duct work up above which still harbors the stuff from when the built the house and installed the floors.
Rich
Alton Junction
Hi!
I've found that if I remove the smaller details, and duct tape the larger ones down, a Sears Craftsmen gas powered blower removes pretty much all the dust and what have you. Think of it as a category 5 hurricane without the rain.......................
On the other hand, I use a couple of soft flat end artists brushes for the locos and cars and structures. Trackwork is cleaned by hand, but that's a once a year project and no major problem.
Hate to say it, but the trick is to enclose your layout room and keep the dust out in the first place. I'm blessed with a spare room and the dust is minimal. For those of you with a garage or basement layout, if you can drywall it in, add ceiling tiles, or at the very least seal the concrete floor, you will go a long way in minimizing the problem.
richhotrain This will do the trick without damaging details on structures http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/272-170686 Rich
This will do the trick without damaging details on structures
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/272-170686
I checked out the Walthers brush, and it lists for $15.99. I use a blush brush from Walmart for less than $5.
Walthers brush
Walmart blush brush
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
A large ladies soft makeup brush or vacuum if I can.
Once Upon a time.........
My photobucket:
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/
I am a man of few words but lots of pics
I quit drinking beer because the download was taking longer than the upload !
In a facetious way, I thought of 3 things; Benelli, Armalite, & Bartett.... (Blast-em!!!!)
Seriously, for prevention, I use a cotton sheet over my 'good stuff'.. Plastic will statically pull leaves & other loose details & eventually drop those & other unwanted debris back on the project.
A clean 'cloth' sheet seems to work over here, at least for me...
Just a thought...
richhotrain twhite: I use a makeup brush for buildings, locos and rolling stock, and a small hand-vac to clean the track. For scenery, I've found that one of those new-fangled "Swiffers" works better than a feather duster. The commercial was RIGHT, LOL! Especially if you have an uninsulated garage layout that attracts spider-webs overnight. Tom There you go. I use the same implements as Tom, plus spray cans of compressed air. All of these implements work quite well. I bought the compressed air and the small hand vac at Radio Shack. Rich
twhite: I use a makeup brush for buildings, locos and rolling stock, and a small hand-vac to clean the track. For scenery, I've found that one of those new-fangled "Swiffers" works better than a feather duster. The commercial was RIGHT, LOL! Especially if you have an uninsulated garage layout that attracts spider-webs overnight. Tom
I use a makeup brush for buildings, locos and rolling stock, and a small hand-vac to clean the track. For scenery, I've found that one of those new-fangled "Swiffers" works better than a feather duster. The commercial was RIGHT, LOL! Especially if you have an uninsulated garage layout that attracts spider-webs overnight.
Tom
There you go. I use the same implements as Tom, plus spray cans of compressed air. All of these implements work quite well. I bought the compressed air and the small hand vac at Radio Shack.
Thanks I'll check out the radio Shack Vac
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/
twhite I use a makeup brush for buildings, locos and rolling stock, and a small hand-vac to clean the track. For scenery, I've found that one of those new-fangled "Swiffers" works better than a feather duster. The commercial was RIGHT, LOL! Especially if you have an uninsulated garage layout that attracts spider-webs overnight. Tom
What if I build a car wash rack on my layout. You put some gentle brushes on each side and on the top of a building that the train is run through. Comes out the other side sparkling clean.
The third rail does not extend through the was rack, the train must be pulled through with a mule.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Swiffer dusters can work wonders and do a good job of holding the dust they collect.
Also, keeping something to cover teh layout such as the cheapo painter's plastic drop cloths go a long way towards not needing to dust a layout....
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
The LION does not glue ballast either. For many reasons, and first is the ease of moving or adjusting track. It also makes the sticks of track easier to reuse should I make major changes. With more than 9 scale miles of track (only a fraction of that needs any ballast at all) the stuff can be expensive.
The LION buys his ballast in 25# bags at Walmart, which you can do if you are not put off by the picture of a cat on the bag. Just sift the stuff through a window screen and presto, a big bucket of ballast. (The cats can have the big pieces). But the ballast *is* cat litter, and so wetting it might make a mushymess. Besides the sub-board(table top) is Celotex, and that probably doe not want to get wet either.
So vacuuming on my layout is restricted to non ballasted areas, usually as a fine cleanup after laying track. But then NYCT has the same problems with its track vacuum train, and cannot run it over ballasted track, for it will suck up the ballast just as easily as it can suck up the trash that people throw on the tracks.
ROAR
I use a large makeup brush to dust my layout; buildings, rolling stock, locomotives, etc. Then, use a shop vac with a brush attachment for general cleaning.
Lion:
I'm with you, although I do a little dusting of the buildings, I pay my kids a nickle a building and I have soft make -up brushes for them to use and they to do the job; they work well and my children are very careful. Also, I remove the cob webs from the telephone poles to the building unless it looks like a phone wire then I leave it. Hey spiders can to some work when it come to putting up phone lines.
As for the tracks, this may sound different but I don't use the white glue on the ballast. I never have in 35 years, and I haven't seen the pro's use white glue on the CSX, so I follow prototypical practises, many modelers don't do it that way, but I like it, especially when it come to changing things. A lot easier to sweep up the ballst, save it, then lay it down again rather then having to scrape up glued ballast. It can be messy.
I just clean my track with the eraser or the cleaning bar, then I put transmission fluid on the tracks and away we go. Remember, this is what I do; again many don't do it this way but for me it really helps the trains to run well.
Thanks,
Robert Sylvester, WTRR
BroadwayLion LION uses nothing. Is very prototypical, especially of subways!
LION uses nothing. Is very prototypical, especially of subways!
Yes and i agree that a layer of dust can actually look good in some places unless it shows finger prints which happens alot during open house
People just love to touch ??????????????????
We have a similar problem at our club. Feather dusters are used to gently clean the roofs of buildings and rolling stock, and small hand-held Dust Buster type vacuum cleaners are used to clean the layout surfaces.
We have all of our ballast firmly glued down so the vacuuming doesn't suck it off the layout, but we occasionally lose a plastic person or two and have to sift through the shop vac's canister to find them.
I use a Shop-Vac hangup with a round brush to vacuum the track and general areas of the layout. I use my old Aztec airbrush to blow dust out of tight or fragile areas. Once it's airborne the dust is sucked up by the vacuum.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
The fall layout tour is in full swing and my open house is the 19th of this month so the job of dusting and track cleaning is under way
i use a very soft paint brush for the locos but my vacume is too strong for the track and often sucks up ballast with the price of it approaching gold dust is there another way ?
What do you use for this task ?
TIA