Every few months I like to get all my locos out and run them around the layout 4 or 5 times to make sure they're all working ok, last time I did this, I noticed some were sluggish and hesitating, time for a wheel cleaning, thought I. The easiest way I had been using to clean wheels, was the WD40 on paper towels and run the locos across it, works pretty good, I also use the Q-tip dipped in laquer thinner to get the thick crud off, works good too.......but, about a week before I had bought a brass bristle brush for my Dremel, so I decided to try it, I figured it would work about the same as the Kadee cleaner with the brass brush.
I attached power leads to the motor, and put the Dremel on 7500 rpm, and gave it a try.....WOW! it worked better than I could've hoped for! it didn't just clean, it polished, and even those pesky Athearn wheels, that rust and collect crud like a magent, were soon shiny and smooth! I put an Athearn SD45 on the rails, [it had been hesistating and slow] and it took off like it just had a total tune up!
While I had all my tools out I gave each loco a cleaning and re-oil, and made sure all the contacts were clean and wiring in good repair, it made a huge difference in my loco fleets performance, even the old AHM locos ran better than they had in a long time.
I've never used the Kadee brush cleaner, but if it works like that bristle brush did in the Dremel, BUY ONE NOW!!!