Hi all,

good day,

I am starting to want to collect those 12" figures from ANH which was always my intention but i want to get into collecting them loose now. I have seen a lot of them and the biggest problem is dirty clothes on them, especially for the white parts.

I have in mind to purchase a good looking Luke but his clothes are not the best. And that is where my questions come in.

How would you clean these clothes up without ruining them?

I was thinking of maybe using some shout on the spots to get the stains out and then hand washing them or something like that. Or if anyone else would suggest a proper proven method of cleaning the clothes and even the boots, could they post their findings here?

it would be appreciated.


thanks

Take 'em for a bath. No, seriously! A few years back I picked up a collection that included many of the 12" figures and they exhibited the same general wear and grubbiness you mention. My standard process is with any collection I fill a sink with warm soapy water and hand wash everything, sometimes using a soft toothbrush to get dirt out of crevices. Give everything a quick rinse and let dry.

With the 12" figures I removed the clothes and then handwashed everything with a little laundry detergent. You should find that will remove 99% of the dirt and leave everything looking as good as the day it was made. Most 12" items weren't really heavily played with, as in they weren't usually thrown across back yards, dropped out of trees, etc so a lot of dirt and wear is simply from kid handling.

Be aware though that there are some things you won't easily, if ever, remove. Ink stains, particularly on the soft boots of Luke, Leia, Ben Kenobi, etc are usually there for good. Typically they are a bugger to remove from clothing too.

If you do decide to have a go at this you should take some before and after shots, it would make a great article and public reference for the site!