acetone to clean rails?

[EF57]

everyone talks about isopropyl alcohol, what about acetone, like on a rag?

[Davo Dentetsu]

Not fantastic for the plastic or any painted objects nearby, but no harm in it.  Better off with normal spirits like shellite, as that cleans 100% plus keeps it clean for that little while longer.

[Yavianice]

Considering that Aceton dissolves (certain) plastics, and I assume you do not detach the track from the plastic bedding, I would not recommend it. It is better to use a cleaning stone, which is attached to certain goods cars from Fleischmann (833405), cleaning liquids such as SR24 or isopropyl alcohol. I personally use SR24 in combination with a TOMIX cleaning car, though only when the track is really dirty. 

[cteno4]

Yes dangerous stuff to use where there are lots of plastics and paint around. It will really take up the tie paint on unitrak or finetrak. Also it's a mild carcinogen and not great stuff to inhale or get on skin. Use to wash our hands and rinse everything with it in labs all the time, no more! Also used to work wirh guys in a fiberglass shop that used a ton of it, there were no old fiberglassers... they seemed to all have brain loss as they got older and I'm sure all the fumes were part of that, they rarely used organic masks!

 

ispopropyl is my fav, cheap and safe and attacks few thing. Over they years it has taken a little of the paint off the center of our ties on unitrak, but it actually looks good to have them a little less uniform. we usually just use a cotton rag on our finger to clean and if we used the rag on a stick this would be eliminated. We are just lazy as the human digit is quick and easy to use and pretty versatile, sticks take more effort and not quite as flexible in use in all spots.

 

i also use these guys on points, or areas that need more attention and also wheels. Bit firmer and don't fray as much as qtip swabs do.

 

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cheers

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

A lot of cleaning liquids such as the SR24 stuff are oils, and actually attract dust. They also tend to leave residue on the wheels. So, while it definitely cleans the track, the track also collects new dirt faster I noticed.

 

I tend to use a track cleaning rubber for the first pass, and then some alcohol on a cloth wrapped around a block of MDF to wipe off the residue that the track cleaning rubber leaves.

[cteno4]

Yeah that's the reason I also like straight isopropanol the best. A few contact cleaners are oil free and all volatile organics. But also have to make sure they are plastics safe as some have organic solvents that can eat plastic and paint. So far for tranckmand general wheel and gear cleaning I've found isopropanol just work and is safe and simple and cheap. I have used plastic safe CRC brand contact cleaner on contact surfaces to try to really polish them up. Their mix of organic solvents can really loosen everything w.o a lot of mechanical action. I just spray it onto swabs and quickly go at the part as trying to spray the aerosol onto parts or an engine it goes everywhere and can blow the part off the table! 

 

traction can also be an issue. I know some swear by clipper oil or automatic transmission fluid, but they have never seemed wise to me and I've heard horror stores about clipper oil for rail cleaning with both traction and making track fuzzz. The auto transmission fluid is relatively new and recently published, but again I'll wait to hear what happens with time on it. Folks claim you just apply it to the tracks and then as it's spread around all the gunk disappears. It smacks a bit of perpetual motion as where does the oil from locos and the resulting mix with dust go? Maybe it needs a Magic wand with it...

 

Jeff

[kvp]

Transmission and brake fluids are great synthetic paint strippers and you can even dissolve some of the plastic shells with them.

 

On the other hand if your tracks are metal, your ties are real wood and you don't have any plastics around or under your track, then dust and grime will get suspended in the oil and flow down on the sides to the ties and gets absorbed into the wood. This is how metal dust and other particles get removed from transmissions down to the bottom of the oil pan. Not really recommended with plastic track, rolling stock or scenery.

[cteno4]

I think It's a specific kind of transmission fluid that's I think more friendly to plastics than brake fluid usually used for stripping. I've asked a couple of guys that have used the auto transmission fluid and they claim they can't find dirt on the inside of the rails. Since it's such a tiny amount that is used on the rails compared to inside a transmission where it's bathed in fluid I can't see it really flowing off, but maybe enough to just keep stuff from sticking and it falls into the roadbed. No one I've seen so far using it has reported any issues with plastic ties, roadbed, paint, etc, but agin such a minute amount is used I doubt there would be any issues. Just the idea of using a lubricant on the rails strikes me wrong for traction sake...

 

jeff

[HantuBlauLOL]

no

hell no.

 

acetone dissolves ABS, which is the main plastic used in model train stuffs.