[geeks] Washing lots of Lego

[Sridhar Ayengar]

William Enestvedt wrote:
> How do I clean a LOT of Lego?
> 
>    I got hold of an 8-gal. storage tub full of Lego via the local
> Craig's List: it will be the greatest Christmas gift I ever give my
> kids. :7) But it's been in a garage and needs to be washed -- what's the
> best way to clean the bricks, people, rocket segments, train wheels,
> wind-up-bodies, doors, and other bits? Bonus points if it isn't too
> loud: we have four kids sleeping in a tiny house!
> 
>    I am thinking of filling a big bucket or basin (set in the tub) with
> hot soapy water and swishing the stuff back and forth, letting the gunk
> float to the surface and then down the drain. But I have a *lot* of
> pieces to wash, so this might take a while. I saw a suggestion somewhere
> to put the pieces in a mesh bag and send it through the washer, but I
> only have one bag, and that seems awfully wasteful of water & power &
> time.

I had to solve a similar problem, also with Legos.  I put a hair-catch 
over the drain of my bathtub (I taped it down to make sure it wouldn't 
slip and let Legos go down the drain), plugged the drain, and filled the 
bathtub with warm water.  I then added Simple Green concentrate to the 
water until I reached about 25:1 concentration.  I stirred it around 
with a canoe paddle, and after a soak of half an hour, I drained the 
bathtub.  I then repeated the above steps once.  After that, I filled 
the bathtub with plain water and let it drain, then finally I sprayed it 
all down with the shower massage while moving the Legos around with my 
hands.

To dry, I laid all the Legos out on old towels on the bathroom floor 
with the bathroom heat lamp on.  I turned off the heat lamp periodically 
to make sure the Legos didn't get too hot.  I took care of the remaining 
wet pieces (there weren't many) with a Q-tip and a hair dryer.

Sending a mesh bag full of Legos through the washed might erode some of 
the Legos.

Peace...  Sridhar