Our neighbours showed me a product yesterday which I thought might work well for my HO model trains and layout. I forget the product’s exact name, but I think it’s a product similar to this:

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It’s supposed to be great for blowing dust off keyboards, computers, window blinds, etc. Apparently, it’s a small “spray can” of compressed air/gas.

I was wondering if I could use it to clean my HO loco’s, rolling stock and even blowing dust of the layout. My only concern is that these products might be too powerful and I might also end up blowing fine detail and parts (railings, pipes, etc.) off my locos!

Just curious if anyone has used products similar to this and if they’re recommended for HO locos & layouts.

Thanks in advance,
Rob

I think you hit the nail on the heads with the part about the air flow being too strong. The other draw back to products similar to this is that once the dust is blown off the layout, where does it go? Unless you have a way to catch the dust, it's just going to settle back on the layout, maybe in a different spot.

Just my thoughts.

Tom

I agree, those cans were meant for computers and not detailed models.

What I do is use a soft bristled brush to clean off the model and use a portable vacuum to suck up the dust

Agreed..a soft, clean, dry camel hair artist's brush, one with longer bristles that bend easily, and you sweep gently back and forth so as not to snag and detach any details. At the same time, you have options: you can blow, as I do at times, or you can suck, which I opt not to do...at least, not without a crevice tool on a running vacuum very close by.

-Crandell

They still may be useful for cleaning out gearboxes and such when doing major locomotive overhaul. I think they are actually liquid CO2 in the cans rather than compressed air. If you turn them upside down and spray, liquid comes out that almost instantly vaporizes (and is extremely cold).

Thanks for all of these replies ... what about using them on some of my older (very robust) die-cast locos? These don't have small plastic parts & they might be good candidates for being cleaned this way? Rob

As Crandell and the two Toms suggest, a soft brush used in conjunction with a vacuum is the best way to remove dust from the trains. I use the brush attachment on my shop vac directly on both the layout and the trains and that's about all the cleaning I have to do.

Wayne

Thanks. All of this makes sense and I should be able to get a camel hair brush easily ... but how do you find adapters for attaching to vacuums?

Rob

RobertInOntario Wrote:Thanks. All of this makes sense and I should be able to get a camel hair brush easily ... but how do you find adapters for attaching to vacuums?

Rob

As long as the vacuum nozzle is close enough, your whisking action is all that's needed

I use an old make-up brush from my wife for dusting detailed areas. It's very soft and works quite well. Left over brushes are much cheaper than buying a brush for cleaning.

Tom

RobertInOntario Wrote:Thanks. All of this makes sense and I should be able to get a camel hair brush easily ... but how do you find adapters for attaching to vacuums?

Rob

The brush of which I was speaking is the one that comes with the vacuum cleaner. I use the softer camel hair brush if I need to do a quick touch-up for a photo - it's surprising how the camera can "see" stuff that I can't, such as...

...a bit of ground foam sitting atop the headlight :


...or a giant cobweb stretched across the track :


The pictures which get posted are only a small percentage of the ones taken.

Wayne

Wayne,

I am seeing photobucket's equivalent of the Big Red X...

Andrew

MasonJar Wrote:Wayne,

I am seeing photobucket's equivalent of the Big Red X...

Andrew

Hmmm. That's unusual - I see the pictures whether I'm logged in or not, and also as an alter ego. Maybe the Big Blue Censor got them - they are, after all, defective photos.

Wayne

Hey! I love that air in a can and use it all the time. When cleaning off scenery, I make sure I have my vacuum nozzle close at hand to suck up anything loosened by the air so it doesn't settle back down elsewhere. You will also notice that the trigger is variable... meaning that the tighter you squeeze it, the more air comes out. Often times I just barely squeeze it for a little bit of air when lots of pressure is too much. One of my pet peeves is that I see people take beautiful closeups of their engines only to also see a lot of not so beautiful unrealistic dust bits clinging everywhere. For this reason, when shooting pictures, I try to shoot the scene with air real quick to help that problem.

Thanks, interesting & helpful feedback. I just bought a large camel hair brush from my LHS tonight and it seems to be working very well. Glad that I'm finally getting rid of the large dusty areas that have been gradually building up on my locos. Thanks, Rob