How do you dust?

[Anonymous]

Something dawned on me today while I was looking around at some pictures of different layouts... How do you keep it clean? Some of the fancy scenery looks pretty fragile. I just thought it would be pretty easy for a vacume to do some serious damage.

[dave9999]

Well, first things first. The scenic materials have to be glued really well. I use a
small attachment, sold at Lowes, on my shop vac. This attachment tapers down
to about an half inch wide. It's used for cleaning keyboards and such. And if you
glue every thing like it's supposed to be, nothing comes off but the dust. Dave

[Anonymous]

try blowing air as well.

[mondotrains]

Hey Blue Duck,
You're correct....some of the scenery, especially the trees, are very delicate and no matter how careful you are, a vacuum will do some serious damage. I have found a product called "Silk 'n Splendor", a silk plant treatment spray available at Michael's craft stores, etc. It was created to be sprayed on silk flower arrangements to remove the dust, enhance the color and help them resist attracting dust. Well guess what....I've sprayed it on scenery and trees and it does wash off the dust and brightens everything up. Now, I only have to vacuum the track, tops of buildings and other areas where I don't have to worry about damage from the vacuum.

Hope this helps.
Mondo

[trolleyboy]

I very soft feather duster is helpfull, or what I use a small battery operated keyboard vac it runs off of two AA batteries and isn't super powerfull. you do have to make sure that everything is solidly glued down. Hope this helps TB

[Fergmiester]

How do I dust? with saw dust!

Actually I use a very fine and delicate brush (artist's paint brush) as well as canned air and a small portable dust buster vac.

Fergie

[Jetrock]

Canned air helps blow off dust. When using a vacuum cleaner, many model railroaders will stretch a piece of old nylon stocking in the path of the hose--then if something gets sucked up by accident it can easily be retrieved from the hose rather than having to search through the vac-bag for that expensive detail part.

Or just don't dust--it's weathering!

[fmilhaupt]

For quick manual dustings, I use a shaving brush, or a blusher brush, such as sold in the cosmetics departmetn of most drug stores.

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-Fritz Milhaupt
Web Guy, Operations Road Show
http://www.railsonwheels.com/ors

[tomwatkins]

I use a very soft small brush and a shop vac. A piece of nylon stocking over the nozzle helps a lot.
Have Fun,
Tom watkins

[dave9999]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tomwatkins

I A piece of nylon stocking over the nozzle helps a lot.
Have Fun,
Tom watkins

The stocking is also a great way to recover the excess ballast when ballasting
your track. Dave

[grayfox1119]

One of the greatest ways to prevent dust in the 1st place ( assuming that you are not creating lots of dust in your layout room ) is to control the level of humidity. If your room air is too dry ( <30 Rh ) you will attract dust, making this a constant chore. Dry air causes electrical charging, and particles of dust will be attracted to opposite charged items on your layout.

A good humidifier may be needed depending upon where you live. Not much of a problem in Florida, but big problem in SW.