Cleaning Track

[Perrotoro]

I searched "cleaning track" and for the most part it ignores the "track" term. I scanned a few pages of the search and nothing popped out as far as track cleaning. So I apologize if I didn't search far enough, but would some of you direct me to a 101 track cleaning technique of my Carrera 132/124 track for non-serious home racing? Or maybe suggest products and techniques.

I typically wipe the track down regularly with a lent free cloth. I use 70% Alcohol to clean tires now, but after watching video when I renewed the hobby 2-1/2 years ago, I did (and occasionally still do) clean tires with WD40. So I do possibly have some solvent residue along with whatever gear grease and bearing oil that might have been emitted by the cars in the past 2.5 years.

Thanks!

[HomeRacingWorld]

Stop using WD40. It's a dust magnet.

Just invest in PG tires or just clean the stock tires with a cloth using Ronsonol lighter fluid. Just use an old rag and do the tires by hand.

Just wiping it down like you are is fine. Take an old washcloth and spray it first (not directly on the track) with some cheap Windex. Wipe and it dries fast an no harm to rails or plastic.

[mikeinclover]

The way I clean both my wood tracks and my Carrera track is with a regular painters tack cloth and I wear a nytril glove so that my hands don't get sticky. Just wipe down the track you can also put it on a Swiffer handle if you like or need. It only takes a few minutes. We normally clean tires with a lint roller or tape on a flat block.
Mike

[RichD]

You did not say what sort of track you had, if it is regular plastic set type track that is made of ABS and lighter fluid can damage it. Here is a guide to what plays well with what: https://www.coleparmer.com/Chemical-Resistance
How you would clean the track would depend on what you might want to remove, or possibly not remove. If all you want to do is remove dust you can use a vacuum cleaner to get most of that. Be aware that fine dust goes right through a regular vacuum cleaner and will land right back on the track in time. A vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter would be better as would a central vac that vents in another area. In any case a vacuum cleaner may not remove all of the fine dust or dust that is down in the slots. A wipe with a Swiffer or a microfiber cloth works OK if the dust is not too heavy.
If you normally run cars with rubber tires those work best on a track that has been rubbered in, so you would not want to clean the track with anything that would remove much of the rubber. A mild surface cleaner might be the best bet in that case. If you use silicone tires those do not like a dusty track because dust sticks to silicone. If you get the bulk of the dust off by wiping down the track you can then clean the tires by rolling them on sticky tape. After a few cycles of running the car and cleaning the tires the track will be ready to go.
People that run silicone tires on regular plastic HO track often clean the track with WD-40. Spray it on a lint free rag and wipe the track down with that. WD-40 does contain about 11% oil, the rest is a mixture of organic solvents. The solvents will remove rubber and also grease and oil, the oil in the WD-40 helps to pick up all of the dust on the track. If you spray WD-40 directly on the track the solvents might eventually damage the surface and there might also be oil left behind. If you use a water based surface cleaner in a humid area try not to use a lot, the water might cause rust in places that do not dry quickly.
If you want to try a tack cloth some of those are coated with wax, that may get on the track rails and the cars won't run until the wax is removed with a solvent. It would be best to try a new tack cloth on just a few sections before you use it on the entire track.

[HomeRacingWorld]

[Dogsbody]

At our club we use a slightly damp microfibre cloth. Works a treat.

[mattb]

Like Mike said painters tack cloth. Wood track running silicone tires. Great to pick up the dust and not remove the rubber laid down on the track. I have 4-5 that are just in a bundle and I keep them in a zip lock bag and use them over and over. We just run old style cars. No magnets, just weight and traditional handling improvements.

I guess if you are a magnet racer you can use some kind of chemical cleaner and it won't matter if you remove the residue from your tires. With the silicone and I think with urethane that layer of rubber that keeps accumulating just makes tires stick better. You really don't want to remove that rubber.

[Slot GT]

[Perrotoro]

Super - thanks all!