Like most of you, I have many trees, shrubs and foliage plants on the rural part of my layout which over time, get dusty and therefore lose their vibrance. I was at Michael’s craft store one day, hunting for potential items that could be used in Model Railroading, when I discovered a product called “Silk 'n Splendor” silk plant treatment. It was developed to remove dust and rejuvenate silk flowers and artificial foliage and I thought how it might help clean my trees and shrubs. The directions simply state that you spray the stuff on until the point of “runoff” and that’s it. The liquid collects all the dust, grease and grime and runs down to the base of tress, etc. It’s leaves the foliage with a coating that’s supposed to resist dust. By spraying just to the point of runoff, I didn’t see any problem with the liquid loosening any glue holding stuff in place.
The cleaner comes in a spray bottle like 409 cleaner and therefore, it is ready to go. I cleaned all the trees and shrubs on a 25 foot section of my layout in about 15 minutes, using only half of the 24 oz. sprayer and it worked great! I held a piece of cardboard behind sections of the trees to keep overspray from hitting my backdrop or buildings.
I mentioned this stuff to a friend on the forum and he said he was anxious to try it because he had wondered how he was going to clean the hundreds of trees on his layout. Obviously, a vacuum cleaner won’t work. This is another example of how we can discover products in craft stores to help us in model railroading. Oh, by the way, the 24 oz. spray bottle is $4.99; an inexpensive investment to get the forests looking rejuvenated.
Get some pressurized air thats in the spray cans that is used for cleaing computer keyboards and things like that, and blow the dust off with it. You can rejuvinate the color by lightly spraying a nice choice color of spray paint that will match up with the color of the trees. Good luck!
I believe Mondo is explaining that he found a product “Silk N Splendor” at Michaels Crafts Store that cleaned the trees on his layout. I don’t think he is looking for a way to recolor his trees.
I didn’t have any problem with the liquid pooling at the base of trees because as the directions state, you only spray to the point of runoff. There isn’t a lot of liquid running all over the place unless you really go overboard with the spraying. This product doesn’t cause the dyes to run and all I see is improved vibrance of the foliage on the trees etc. As with any product, you need to try it in an inconspicuous place till you get the right approach.
Unfortunately, when you spray with a can of air to “blow the dust off with it”, it simply goes somewhere else on the layout. By spraying with this product I mentioned, the slight run-off of the liquid carries the dust down the tree and to the base where it essentially disappears.
Unfortunately, when you spray with a can of air to “blow the dust off with it”, it simply goes somewhere else on the layout. By spraying with this product I mentioned, the slight run-off of the liquid carries the dust down the tree and to the base where it essentially disappears.
Unfortunately, when you spray with a can of air to “blow the dust off with it”, it simply goes somewhere else on the layout. By spraying with this product I mentioned, the slight run-off of the liquid carries the dust down the tree and to the base where it essentially disappears.
The “ex” is in the flower bizz and she had something like you explained that would make nasty old silk arrangements look brand new. I never thought of using it on the scenery…great idea!!
Here’s what we did. We tried the canned air, too, but like someone mentioned, it just redeposited it on another area of the layout. Here’s where having two shop vacs helps. I used one, put the hose in the “exhaust” port of the vacuum with the corner/crevice attachment to blow the dust from one side. I used a large mouth funnel on the second vacuum to catch the dust as it blew off. The problem with the canned air is that if you have a large layout, that’s a lotta cans…
Thanks, Mondo, for that information – that product is something I will definitely be on the lookout for during my next trip to Michael’s in Tucson, Arizona.