I have been reading and an wondering about the pros and cons of using flits to clean and polish my track. If yall dont care give up some pros and cons of using the FLITZ…thanks in advance
J.W.
Oh man, dont quote me, and I may be thinking of something else, but I think that stuff has a problem about leaveing a film behind if your not careful, or maybe a residue on the rails.
I use just straight 70% aclohol and seems to work best and be the most user freindly.
will the alcohol do anything to my plastic wheelsets? in the process of converting to metal
J. W.,
We discussed the benefits of polishing the railhead about a year ago. If I remember correctly, the folks who had tried it loved it, as they did not have to clean the rails as often. Seems the abrasives in things like the Bright Boy leave minute scratches in the top of the railhead and that is the start of the next bit of crud. The other thing that was discussed was the wheels used on the rolling stock. Metal wheels don’t build up a static charge like the plastic wheels do, so they do not attract dirt to the rails. There are other benefits to using metal wheels, like lowering the car’s center of gravity and improving its rolling characteristics. The club I am in polished the rails after ballasting, about a year ago, and we haven’t had to clean the rails yet. Polishing takes some time, but you tend to have to do it only about once a year, so it is worth it.
Mark C.
I havent used flitz, but I use MAAS polish. As long as you do it in small sections and get it wiped off within about a minute there are no ill effects on the track. I used MAAS on the entire layout about a year and a half ago and havent had to clean any track since. I love the stuff. Its available in the grocery part of walmart for about $2 a tube. My layout has about 300 feet of track and I could clean it 50 times over with just one tube. Not that Ill need to.
I’ve tried Flitz and it does a nice job of cleaning the rails but it is very difficult to apply neatly and if you leave any residue on the sides of the rails, it turns into a green tarnish.
There are some other metal polishes that have been recommended though I can’t remember the brand names. I’ve gone back to using the Bright Boy. I guess I’m less concerned with scratches than other people.
I too have just used Flitz for the first time. It got a lot of oxidation off of the track, the cleaning cloth was black. But while I thought I cleaned it well I just checked the track before this post and I can still pick up some oxidation, but the trains run great. Phil