On occasion, figures need some maintaining. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, sometimes you’re at a loss on what the best methods would be. Today, I’ll share with you the methods that I use, that I’ve found effective to clean dirty figures, fix leaning figures, and dusting figure displays and figures.
Leaning Figures
Let’s start with the more common problem of leaning figures. Those of you that own Ignis may or may not have gotten one that leans. Unfortunately, mine started leaning, so I’ll use her as an example.
The problem with Ignis, is that her pegs are located in the front of her feet, not the back at the heel. There’s a lot of forward force going on, and it causes the ball of her foot to start bending ever so slightly.
Months later (for me actually, it was closer to a year) she was noticeably leaning forward. This lean here though, is after about two or more years. I wanted to leave her like that for a while, just to see how far she’d go.
So now, let’s talk about how to straighten her up.
Use a hair dryer. It does not have to be a powerful one. Usually standard dryers will work. The best is if it has a “funnel” at the barrel so you can focus the hot air into a concentrated location. Put your dryer on the hot setting (not warm). Use the high setting.
Aim the air at the location you want to bend. It’s generally the ankle area that is leaning, nowhere else. Don’t worry about melting paint. It won’t. Much higher temperatures are needed to literally melt paint.
Hold your finger under the ankle while heating, mostly until your finger can’t stand the heat anymore. Heat the ankle until it is hot to the touch (not blister-forming hot, but hot). The ankle should now be fairly bendable.
Bend the ankle backwards into a straight position, or further back. You want to make sure there is enough counter-balance so she doesn’t lean forward again.
While holding that position, run the ankle under cold water. Be sure to turn the tap to max, as water tends to warm a bit when traveling through the pipes. You want that cold water, FAST.
Maintain this until your hand feels numb from the cold. Seriously. You want to make sure that the plastic has cooled all the way down to its re-solidified state, otherwise it’s all for naught.
I decided to also put Ignis back on the display base to get the proper positioning and ran the whole thing under cold water. I made sure to run the cold water all through her legs, not just the ankle, as heat dissipates throughout the entire leg.
You may have to repeat the process of heating and cooling to get the proper position, but it’s generally okay to do this.
Continue to run her under cold water for maybe 3 or so minutes.
Now that you’re done, pat her dry with a soft hand towel. Don’t blow-dry it. 😛 Touch the surface. If it doesn’t feel cold to the touch, keep cooling her down. It needs to be cold.
After you’re done, test the weight distribution by placing her on the table. When I first got my Ignis, she was able to stand without a base, so this time, I’ve pulled it back enough weight that she actually tips backwards. This should stop her from leaning forward, as the weight distribution pulls her back, but her foot pegs will keep pulling her forward.
Finished! You can see the difference!
Dusting Figures
One major aspect of figure maintenance is dusting them. If you don’t dust them, sometimes the dust will accumulate and actually get stuck, making the dust hard to remove. This is due to sticky particles in the air such as cooking oil, and other nasty stuff. If you don’t maintain you figures, they can sometimes start turning black and sticky! (depending on how humid your area is).
It’s also good to dust your shelves too. It just looks more presentable when you have clean shelves. As you can see here, there is a lot of dust.
A close up shows exactly how much dust we’re dealing with here.
This is what’s under a display base. It’s so clean. So you can tell the difference between the dust covered and dust free surfaces. I’d say that this is probably three weeks worth of accumulated dust.
Tools for dusting. I use a Swiffer duster to quickly clean off flat surfaces, and in between things. It’s unreal how good this duster works at trapping dust.
I also use an all purpose duster brush. it’s made of really fine pvc strands and incredibly soft (like string) If I hold it upside-down, the brush will just flop. You want to get a brush that’s soft enough that it will go between all the small cracks to get the dust out.
Finally, I also use compressed air. I don’t use this as much, because it’s not incredibly effective, but can get some dust out of the tighter areas.
A clean surface. Looks so much nicer!
Flawless. Well, 98% flawless. 😛
Cleaning Figures
Sometimes, especially figures that sit, can accumulate some crap here and there and get dirty. Or you may find that your figure has marks in various places for some reason or other.
Sometimes, this stuff comes off easily with just a little warm water on a towel, but other times, it’s embedded into the surface slightly. Using fine-grit sandpaper is an option, but usually causes more harm than good. The plastic surface usually has a certain sheen to it, and if you use sandpaper, you’re changing the texture of that sheen, and when light reflects off of it, it will be noticeable.
This is a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. What it does, is functions just like sandpaper, but using very small particles.
It’s the same concept of how to remove ink marks from a table by rubbing toothpaste into it. You see, toothpaste actually has a sandy sort of texture to it. Try rubbing some between your hand sometime. However, using toothpaste on your figures is probably not a good idea.
The Magic Eraser will sort of apply a very fine sanding on your surface that’s on a nearly microscopic level. All you do is add water to the sponge, and start rubbing at the surface.
And it’s clean! You don’t even know that it was there in the first place!
Well, that’s another post. I hope this will help you in maintaining good figure health!
Read more!
Excellent, exactly what i need. I knew you could bend leaning figures by using heat but the problem i was getting was that it would lean again shortly. Problem was that i didn’t run the figure under cold water after heating it. Excellent, i know what to do now thanks. 😀
What i usually used to remove marks though was an alcohol swab, a touch of toothpaste (NS thought me toothpaste can remove many kinds of stains or marks 😛 ), listerine. Obviously when i use those i use them in minal amount but they seem to work. I sure they are either alcohol based or acidic, i wipe or wash them down with water making sure no traces are left. You can ensure a nice minty smell when done maintaining figures 😛
Cool. I might try the Listerine next time. I was just worried that adding any sort of chemical would damage the figure’s finish. Acetone nail polish remover for example, would actually eat paint away. Also worried about later chemical reactions that I didn’t pay attention to because I didn’t clean it properly or something.
Glad to hear that this post is going to help you with your leaning figures! 🙂
Ah yeah i contemplated about using nail polish cause i had a really stubborn stain (being aware it would strip the paint coat off pretty rapidly) but using a cotton bud dipped in listerine helped. There shouldn’t be any major chemical reactions later on since i do check on them and especially the ones ive cleaned every so often but nothing at all so far. Even if there were they would be very minor after rinsing them with clean water.
I usually try weakest solutions first and slowly proceed to stronger ones if the previous one fails just to be on the safe side.
For the mr clean eraser, is there a special name for those or will any regular cleaning sponge will do?
I see. Sounds like a pretty good plan. It makes sense as chemical reacting materials are a lot easier to clean than just water. My biggest concern is gradual discoloration of that’s even something that would happen. Not something I’d like to risk. I discovered that most of the compounds used in Listerine are actually toxic! O_o
The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is very different from regular cleaning sponges. It’s much more dense, and actually breaks down a tiny bit when used. This thing is pretty incredible – it erases marks off walls, gets rid of water stains in porcelain, and can even polish surfaces to a shine! O_o
To be honest, i’ve had little luck with alcohol. Because when you clean them with alcohol, they start to “Oil stain” themselves and become really smelly.
This specially happened to my Haruhi Nendoroid.
Ah, but Shazzsteel uses Listerine! Gets that minty smell going! Alcohol might be too strong, maybe? Bah it’s not worth the risk… just plain water for me then.
Do you have pix of your Haruhi Nendoroid’s damage? I’d like to see.
Thanks for the detailed explanation,now I SHOULD be able to clean my figures without problems.
You’re welcome, best of luck!
nice post ^^ Figure dusting really is important, especially for me. Where I live it gets very dusty very quickly because it’s a semi-arrid area with lots of wind. I’ll have to get some of that Mr. Super Clean though, I got a couple figures that have accumulated too much dirt and dust and that stuff looks like it does the job great.
Thanks Persocom! I hear you on the dust problem. Within a week or two, all my shelves are covered in a layer of unsightly dust. 🙁 I’ve found that if I dust more often, my allergies are less frequent too. So it’s healthy for both my figures and me! ^^
When I first found out about the Mr. Clean eraser, I was floored at how effective it is! Now I can’t live without it! lol!
Wow this is another really useful post thanks so much!
Ive seen a couple of posts in the past on dealing with leaning figures but i think yours is probably the easiest and most stress free for the figure as well lol
I cant get over how smug Mr. Clean looks on that box XD; I need to get myself some of his smug products too!
Thanks Taketombo! Hearing that my post is the easiest and most stress free method makes me pretty happy. 🙂
haha Mr. Clean knows his stuff works, I guess. XD
The latest commercials I’ve seen show these poor inferior cleaning products talking behind his back and feeling inferior. lol!
Mr Clean wouldnt stand for that! Just look at those muscles!
…I hope ican be like Mr Clean someday xD
You have to admit, Mr. Clean is pretty sexy – shiny head, sexy muscles, always being handled by women, and damn he’s good at cleaning!
Very useful post. My Ignis has a smudge on her leg that I haven’t been able to get off yet. I’ll give the Magic Eraser method a go. Speaking of Ignis, mine leans as well but I’m far too nervous to attempt the Heat – Bend – Cool method as I always find a way to mess things up. I use my Dragon Quest VIII Yangus figure to hold up the front flap of Ignis’ dress (sounds wrong…). It takes the pressure off her dainty toes and gives it to the manly Yangus instead.
He’s a trooper, that Yangus.
I have a cat so dust in my room builds up stupidly fast. It’s been awhile since I last dusted, though. Next time I dust I’ll have to do my ENTIRE collection (over 60 figures, argh).
Hopefully the Magic Eraser will work for you. It took a little bit of vigorous rubbing to get that mark off of my figure, so you may have to give it a little elbow grease. You could try Listerine with toothpaste as Shazzsteel suggested.
Trust me on the heat, bend and cool method I’ve used. It will be fine. As long as you use your finger as an indicator of how hot things are getting, you won’t destroy your figure.
I actually lost count of how many figures I own… I’m fortunate that half of them are in two Detolfs, so it’s relatively dust free. It’s a bit of a headache when it’s time to dust the exposed shelves though. ._.
A timely post (and reminder for me!)….I have been neglecting on cleaning up my nendoroids for such a long time!! Time for that duster you recommended!
heh sweet! I actually took these photos a couple of months ago. Your reminder reminds me that I have to dust my figures too! ^^
Pretty interesting tips, I will make sure to keep these in mind when it is time to clean my figure collection. That’s when I start one of course LOL!!!!!
oh! So you plan to start a figure collection! Be careful! It’s addictive! (many of my readers can attest to that!)
Bookmarked! Dang! really needed a “Leaning Figure Fixing” Post. Thanks so much! Radiant!
For me, i usually use prevention measures then to clean them up… Acrylic cases!
You’re welcome zh3us!
So you keep your figures in Acrylic cases? That’s not a bad idea. Where do you get them, and what sizes are they?
Instructive as always =)
Have the same tools to fight dust, and it is sure effective… assuming they are used regularly ^^;;
Oh and nice new theme ~_^
Thanks lu-k! I don’t dust regularly enough… ^^;
I hadn’t made the leap yet to jump my blog to my domain yet, so I suppose switching a theme at least is in order. 🙂
Hey I like your new profile picture! Very handsome! You look a little like Evan Lysacek!
Thanks for the tips! Thankfully I haven’t had any leaning figures yet, but I’m sure it’ll happen eventually (I’m looking at Alter’s Yui Hirasawa as I think that…).
I really like the blog’s new look, too!
You’re welcome! Thanks for the complement! So happy you noticed! 😀
Actually, I have confidence that Yui won’t lean. Alter seems to have gotten much better with their figures, and have found a very good consistency in PVC compound that’s light and yet still strong. Their sculpts are also much better balanced than before. Yui looks like that kind. If you hold up Yui in your hand, you should be able to feel the weight distribution. It’s probably quite balanced!
Yeah, she does feel pretty solid. Hopefully leaning figures will soon be a thing of the past as manufacturers more actively try to avoid it; certainly quality is always improving in general. I guess that’s what those months of delays some figures get are for!
I certainly hope that’s why they’re delaying figures – to improve the quality of it.
It would be pretty terrible if their sole reason for delaying is to get more sales in.
Mercedes was definitely worth the wait though. ^^
One of my purchasing rules before was to never buy figures like Mercedes or single-leg standing figures for fear of leaning, but now I have full confidence in them.
Like everybody i have some figures who lean forward (or backward lol)
It looks much more accessible to me than your previous lesson so i guess i’ll give it a try.
But you reminded me that i NEED to do some dust cleaning and in a way i must hate your for about 5 min 😀
It seems that the older figures lean more than the newer ones. I think some good R&D has gone into figure engineering. Good luck, Katsura-chan! It’s indeed a fairly easy and safe process. Try to have a little fun! 😀
Dusting can be fun too! You get to hold your figures, and look at the details while you’re dusting! 😀
Nice article. Can you clean my car for me?
Mr. Clean Magic Erasers aren’t all that effective for cleaning cars because it doesn’t cover much area.
Would you like me to heat it with a dryer and bend it so that it doesn’t lean forward while I’m at it?
Maybe. I think I have the same Ignis figure.
What? You do? I never knew that! What else do you have that I don’t know about?!
Oh so Meister Proper is called Mr Clean outside of Gertmany? ^_^
My Alter Kanu had some paint transfers by default on her leg and I wasnt able to get it off by rubbing with a soft paper towel and some water.Might have to pick up that sponge.
As far as dusting goes….Im so terribvly lazy.Luckily my Detolfs do a pretty fine job even though they have such big gaps in the doors
Meister Proper? Woah, mind blown! :O
I’ve known him as Mr. Clean all my life!
The eraser may or may not be able to remove the paint. You’ll need to use some elbow grease, since the paint is fairly bonded with the PVC no doubt. It might be okay to do some minor careful sanding with really fine sandpaper before polishing it down with the eraser.
I’m quite lazy with dusting too. All these comments, and I STILL haven’t gotten to dusting! ._.
Very nice and informative article!
I need to find that eraser in my local shops, needs to clean my alter bases (white ones) some stains keep on appearing even though they’re inside glass cabinet. Has it ever occurred to you? Here’s a pic in case your wondering what it looks like. I’ve tried removing it with soap but no luck.
Thanks Reinfinitum! The eraser should be available at any large supermarket’s cleaning section. It may be called something else in your area (as Blowfish said, it’s called Meister Proper in Germany). I don’t think any other company makes an eraser like this.
That is a strange stain indeed! Whether it’s inside a cabinet or not probably doesn’t have anything to do with it. Is it a surface stain? Or is it something that’s embedded in the plastic? If it’s embedded in the plastic, you won’t be able to remove it. Since the base is ABS, let me warn you – The Magic Eraser is slightly abrasive, so it may end up scratching the surface slightly. Try it on the underside to see how it affects the plastic first.
If it’s a stain that’s appeared over time, chances are, it’s removable. So best of luck!
The stain is similar to a paint smudge, and it appeared over time. I’ll try to look for that eraser this weekend. Thanks for the warning, I’ll surely be careful with it, don’t want to scratch the bases of my precious figures :3
This reminds me O.o i need to clean mine D:
but to wash them… so delicate i must be or else for sure ill break them O.o
I agree with you there. Basic cleaning isn’t really necessary unless you live in a humid environment. Usually dusting is sufficient.
If you want to clean them, mild soap water and a toothbrush is all that’s required. It’s the least intrusive, gentle way to clean your figures. Don’t forget to rinse them after, otherwise you’ll get soap residue! 😀
Magic eraser? Hey wut? It looks so soft though… All this time I’ve been putting PVC flaws up to my design knife. I might try this out – the next time I run into a PVC flaw, and when I actually have some cash to spare :p
Rather, Mr. Clean kinda bothered me as a kid. Is he catering to some janitor stereotype? If I had to design a Mr. Clean, he’d look like Kuroshitsuji Sebastian. Don’t tell him I said that though.
Meister Proper sounds pretty classy.
But again, I applaud you for your blowdryer figure bendingness. I would never dare.
It’s precisely because I’m afraid of dust (and constantly having to deal with it) that my figures have been packed away since I moved >.<…
Woah what seriously?! A design knife?! You’re braver than I thought!
The eraser is pretty soft. It’s a strange sponge. You really have to try it to find out. They’re I think about $5 for a pair.
I think Mr. Clean was supposed to be some sort of genie. I remember earlier commercials showed him sort of appearing out of the product labels with a wispy bottom half. He still magically appears but has legs now. Meister Proper does sound pretty classy. 🙂
Personally, I would never take a design knife to my figures. It seems much more risky than a hairdryer. How do you do it without breaking down into tears?!
At least you know now that hairdryers are safe for figures. 😀
Are you allergic to dust? I think I am… though maybe I’m allergic to dust mites rather than dust itself…
Very nice and good tutorials. I got figures that starts to lean too. But I got tried using Hair dryer on trading figures before. It works at first but after few days it starts to lean back again =(
Maybe this methods work much better for PVC.
Thanks Jun!
Trading figures are made out of PVC, but a much softer compound (check out my blog post on plastics!) They tend to lean faster than 1/8 scales.
Be sure to do the balance test after you’ve cooled them with cold water, and store them in cool places. It’s the air temperature that’s causing them to lean again.
Sorry I haven’t commented in a while dude.
Luckily I haven’t really had a problem with leaning figures. Mostly because I collect more posable action figures. Except for my somewhat large collection of Pinky:Street, which leans really crazily.
Dust is a much bigger problem for me than leaning though. I’ve always had a dust problem, but since I’ve discovered swiffer wipes, they’re like a godsend. Downside really is they’re quite expensive.
Hey no worries. We get busy. It took me damn near a month to comment on your last blog post. :\
Yeah, I’ve seen your collection of poseables. Very nice. You need to post more pix! (when you have time of course). Pinky Street is made out of the same compound of PVC as normal trading figures, which is probably why they lean so much. Their weight distribution is pretty bad too (head is so heavy!) if they were made out of a less soft compound like nendoroids, they’d be able to hold up much better. 🙁
Instead of swiffer wipes, try using a swiffer duster. They’re much cheaper. Also try using the duster I have. I picked one up at Daiso for 2 bucks. It’s a zero-resistance brush, so it will slide in between everything.
Wow a new layout. Kinda not used to seeing it after getting used to your old one for so long ^^;
The leaning figure solution looks very similar to the one I’ve seen on Danny Choo’s site quite a while ago. Hopefully I won’t have to resort to something like that, but I did have to do something similar using hot/boiled water instead of hairdryer when I got my faulty Max Factory Shana figure from Yahoo Auction Japan. It was the only time I was thankful for a figure to be cast-offable as I can remove the top half of the figure and dip it in the hot water easier that way.
And ah the dusting… May have to invest on a cosmetic brush or something. I am currently using a cotton bud to do the solution for me. Rip the outer part apart so it’s all fluffy and it can catch the dust better – I do that since lots of stuff I have are pretty small and cotton buds are easy to come by… I suppose ^^;
Nice tips though! Maybe I will need to look up on this in the future 😮
heh sorry of the sudden change with like, no announcement. ^^; Didn’t really think it was worth making a blog post about. It’s more fun when it’s a surprise, I guess! 😀
I remember Super Rats posted one on leaning figures too. He uses a bowl of warm water though. Both methods are exactly the same, really. One isn’t riskier than the other, which is to say that the risk is low.
Yes this can be used to remove cast-offs! It’s a good idea. 🙂
Cosmetic brush might be a good idea, though I think the resistance is a bit high, making it harder to slip into cracks. Also, cosmetic brushes are too short. The metal may accidentally scratch a figure. A cotton bud is a pretty good idea! But it sounds very time consuming. 😐 I think what I’ll do is use the duster for main component dusting of large areas, and a cotton bud for unreachable areas. Thanks for the tip!
Awesome article! I’ve done my basic figure dusting and shelf cleaning twice a month for the most part… I only use a make-up brush for dusting my figures though ^^; *cheapskate* Then again, I don’t have a lot of figures displayed so I have a fairly quick time cleaning them. Thankfully, I haven’t encountered any nasty figure stains yet.
However, my Yuna has both leaning problems and stain problems. Still couldn’t think of how to straighten her out Dx
Mr. Clean magic eraser… we don’t have that kind of Mr. Clean product in our country. All we have are laundry soap bars and laundry soap in powder form ;A; I don’t think there’s any available magic-eraser products here… or none from where I am anyway.
Make-up brushes are a good idea. Do be careful that the edge of the metal part doesn’t scratch against the figures though!
In regards to Yuna, she’s made out of Vinyl, which explains the leaning (check out my post on plastics) and the gathering of dust. The plastic is very porous, you live in a fairly humid climate, and there are lots of dust particles around. Bad combo for Yuna… 🙁
To remove the stains, the cotton buds will do well for the most part, but not quite enough, especially the tighter hard to reach areas. Use a toothbrush and some toothpaste (seriously). It should be safe to use these on vinyl figures. You can use toothpaste on your cotton buds too.
Don’t use laundry soap or powdered soap. It’s somewhat abrasive. Liquid hand soap is okay though. It’s good to use that to break down any oil particles that have gotten themselves stuck to your figure (which is partly what that black stuff is made of).
Use the technique I’ve given to straighten her out. Actually, the warm water method will work too, since vinyl figures are much softer to begin with.
Best of luck!
Hrm… toothbrush and toothpaste? I should try that :3
I dunno about the straightening though. I’m kind of afraid that instead of softening the legs… I might ruin Yuna’s skirt, which would give me something I can’t hope to repair T_T; I tried looking around for leaning figures that can’t have their long skirts removed, but so far, I have found nothing D: which makes me nervous all the more.
Don’t worry about the straightening method. Seriously. The chances are pretty low that you will ruin your figure. Same with the skirt. It’s not going to simply bend out of shape. It does have resistance and simply bounce back when you push it. The only way it will become out of shape is if you hold it in that position, and cool it that way.
Luckily my only leaners are a small Pinky Street figure and a couple trading figures. As for dusting, I use compressed air as well. I block off my collection from the rest of the house so my collection doesn’t get too dusty. But what made the BIGGEST difference is having wood floors. I lived in a place with carpets and moved to a place with wood floors. That made a HUGE difference for me and how often I need to dust. As for the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, I’m interested! I’ll keep that in mind if I ever need to clean anyone.
I agree with the hardwood floor thing. Though there is still a lot of dust that goes around. If you live in a detached house, chances are you’ll have a furnace or some sort of air circulation. Dust travels through the vents easily that way, so my figures do still get very dusty after a while.
I haven’t had a leaning figure yet, but the dusting and cleaning stuff really helps!
They attract dust so easily and I’ve never really been able to do much. Especially for Blanc Neige’s cape… the dust is on for good. However, with this guide, it helped a lot.
Thanks!
Anyways, is there some way to keep dust off them so I wouldn’t need to dust so often?
The Mr. Clean eraser should be able to remove the more “permanent” dust from your figures.
In terms of keeping the dust off, it’s all about air circulation. If you have a furnace, make sure the air filter is changed every month. If you have carpet, consider switching to hardwood or tile. If you have pets, that adds to dust as well. Exfoliate your skin more often in the shower, as the majority of dust is actually human skin particles.
The best solution would be to get an air filter. They’re kinda like tower fans, except what it does is pull air in, and filter out all the dust out. Have one of those in your room and you’ve pretty much got clean air all the time.
Hmmmm air filter would be a good idea for my collection!… I keep most of my collection in my computer room, so it’ll not only help my figures but my computer and desk area (hopefully) as well.
I should get an air filter. Thank!
I’m gonna have to bookmark this later at home. I remember Danny had a post too, but it was a long time ago. Good thing is I don’t have too many leaning figures yet, but I’m still a bit nervous using hair dryer on my figures ^^; Thanks for the tips! Haha and good use of Magic Eraser there. Way to go current technology! I guess those commercials on TV are worth it XD
I love Swiffer too! I haven’t tried the duster, instead I use those sweeper dry cloths and dusting is a breeze. I’d like to try that magic eraser too.
Thanks for sharing all these tips. ^^
Hey no worries, TP! 🙂
The Swiffer duster is absolutely amazing. The way it goes between gaps with ease will blow your mind.
soo has Ignis started to lean again? btw, i like your header area of the site XD..
Thanks! 🙂
Ignis hasn’t leaned since. I put her fairly far back. But after a while, I decided to put her away to make room for other figures. I do this periodically. She’ll be back out for display sometime in the future. I’ve got too many figures! O_o;
should i use nail polish remover to get rid of the marks?
Yes and no. Nail polish remover has a chemical in it that will dissolve acrylic paint. If the marking is from paint, and the surface that the mark is on is naturally colored (IE, not painted) then it should be safe. I would still not recommend using it, since the mark may not be from acrylic paint, but something else (sometimes it’s just dirty).
Hey there, I’ve got a somewhat silly question. >.>
I’ve been googling the phrases fine strand PVC brush, fine PVC brush, fine dust brush, etc, and I’m not getting any results as far as physical items that I could buy. Would you be able to tell me what exactly the name of that marvelous looking brush you have pictured is called. Or even just where I should be looking to buy a similar thing?
If I knew what it was, I would have posted it. I really have no idea. But you’ll know it when you see it. It’s a very floppy soft brush. Could try synthetic brush? I bought mine at Daiso. It’s a dust brush mainly used for dusting keyboards and electronics. Who knows, you may have seen one before!
This will totally help me when i start collecting figures. I was always wondering how people got them so clean.
Hey thanks. I have two gashapon figures (Sailor Pluto and Sailor Saturn), that I bought of ebay. When I got them, they were sticky and looked dirty. I cleaned the Pluto one with warm water and soap (now I’ve read it’s not good to use water on them though – uh oh…) and some of the dust has come off, but she’s still sticky. >_< I'm trying the freezer trick with just the part of her upper legs, as a test to see if it helps de-stickify her.
Gashapon figures are usually made out of pvc material as well, right?
Thanks again for such a great article!
I covered up my figures with newspaper a while ago, and it seemed that some ink are now on the figs. Can it easily be removed without damaging it? I kept them in a small box in a cool spot. I browsed all the other places searching for ideas to clean my figs that happened to have some newspaper ink on them. Any help?
You can try toothpaste – just put a small amount of toothpaste directly on the surface, and rub it with a tissue, then rinse with water.
Alcohol may also work. DO NOT use nail polish remover! It will remove the paint with it!
Good luck!
I was afraid that the PVC/ABS would eventually absorb the ink. I still haven’t touched any of them yet, and I’m afraid what would happen to them after months of being in the storage box, covered with newspapers. I’m still scared to be honest here.
I know that PVC is somewhat porous, but it shouldn’t really absorb ink. It’s more akin to an eraser if you think about it. So the worst case is that some ink will rub off onto the figure, and you just have to clean it off with some soap and water. It’s sticky oils that require a little bit more effort to clean off.
This is a really nice guide, thank you for putting time and effort into writing it ^o^b
I’m getting anime figures for the very first time (Fate/Extra Saber, Saber Motored Cuirassier, and Celty from DRRR).
Thanks to you… now I know how I should be taking care of them in the future X3
I own a small collection of bootleg figures but I still feel the need to clean them once in a while,I might be getting real anime figures soon so this guide helps in the long run
Thank you!
Hey there! just wanted to say thanks for the wonderful and simple guide to maintain and keep my figurines in tip top condition! i have a question though , do you clean the dust off every 2 weeks or something? im not sure how frequent should i clean my figurines! some help please 🙂
I wish I could every two weeks, but it’s more like every two months because I am lazy lol!
You can dust as often as your OCD tendencies want you to. But every time you dust them, you do run a small risk of accidentally dropping a figure, or getting a figure’s part caught in the brush, potentially breaking it. It’s a very small risk if you’re careful, but something to keep in mind.
I always find these sorts of posts very helpful as they always remind me what i should be doing 😛
But what i am most concerned about is how do people handle heat during the summer. Like what is your room temperature sitting at where you have your figures, cause right now i would say my figure area is sitting at around 20 celcius today and it can get close to 30 this time of year.
Im really considering boxing them right now for the summer as i havent been quite aware of how hot things can get until just now where i noticed some areas of my figures have become noticeably softer.
Typically, figures can withstand a fair bit of heat before they start to lean. It really depends on the weight distribution of your figure. Figures won’t melt unless you put them in a 400F degree oven or something, so 30 degrees celsius is typically ok.
I was having similar concerns,the temp in my room can reach to those levels(even above) on a regular non-rainy day this time of the year.
I got scared and decided to box them because I noticed some parts were becoming too soft and loose.I only have a few so it wasn’t really time consuming.
Good decision. When it gets too warm, figures do have a risk of “softening” which can cause it to lean.
Is it recommended if we use Mr Clean Magic Eraser, only applied the mole part of the figure?
Yes. Don’t use it everywhere, it will dull the figure’s look. Use carefully. 🙂
Awesome, thanks!
If I still have the original box, is it better to keep it there?
Is there an specific way to store them in the box?
Thanks again!
Keeping boxes is a personal preference. If you’re not displaying the figure anymore, yeah put it back in the box.
After you fix the leaning issue, you don’t have to let it “rest” in the box. It should be 100% cooled, and ready to display.
I just purchased this lovely Shirahoshi and she is beautiful! She was fine when I got her out of the box but now here are stains on her hand from the smaller Luffy figurine that she is supposed to hold. Since I know this is paint from the figure itself, would it be best to try a magic eraser or toothpaste?
I really don’t want to ruin her as she is currently my most expensive figure and I’m quite proud of her. Thank you so much for any advice you have!
Magic Eraser and toothpaste are actually the same thing, but I think Magic Eraser may be slightly less abrasive. Both are safe methods to use.
Let me know if it works out for you!
Well…i am speechless…
But… This really helped me a lot…
Wonderful and also simple guide for me…
Just want to Thanks a million 😀
lol you’re welcome. Feel free to post about it on your blog too if you want. 🙂
Hi!
My fingurenail touched one of my figures and left a short shiny line. How would I clean this off?
I am scared to try mr clean eraser, will it blend in?
Thank you for your informative page!
Hmmm… if you use a magic eraser on it, it will blend it out, but it won’t be exactly the same as it was originally before the scratch – the surface may look slightly different in shininess, but it should blend in properly that it’s not too noticeable… better than a scratch line, that’s for sure.
Glad you liked the post! 🙂
Radiant,
Thank you.
Just did the trick with the hairdryer on a leaning Kanu figure.
Works fantastic!!!
Glad to hear that it worked for you! If anyone ever asks about figure care, please send them my way! 🙂
Oh my gosh that you so much for this. I didn’t think I’d ever get my figures to stand straight again.
Hey, not sure if im too late as im sure this post is kinda old but, ive been wanting to get me a duster for my figures and i really find the one you have pictured impossible to find anywhere. I was wondering if you could tell me where you got it from, or what its called? Like the manufacturer etc, thank you, this would help alot. Love the blog, it was very useful!!