Joe did an article on track cleaning in MRH not long ago

You may want to search for that article - it's in the last three years.  A number of old standbys for track cleaning were debunked.  Some of the stuff that was used even a decade ago is pretty much worse than the stuff he tested, and his article gave some insights into why those solution aren't as good as we thought.

Janet N.

Here’s the article Janet is talking about.

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/mrh2019-05/publishers-musings?page=2

Peter

I remember several of those

I remember several of those articles, and I think it was JoeF that recommended good old mineral spirits for CLEANING track,...prior to graphite or other applications.

Milky stuff...

The milky stuff is crap.  Get rid of it and get real mineral spirits.  Check the label.  What you have is the dumbed-down version which has all the effective components removed.  Go to a hardware store, or a paint store, or just about anywhere other than Mao-Mart. 

Randy

Odorless?

I have some odorless stuff, it's all I could find the last time I needed some. It's not milky though, it's clear like the original. It also still has some of the odor, just not as strong. Wonder how well it would do?

Odorless clear...

The clear odorless stuff is perfect for track cleaning.  

Randy

Good to know

My track got so dirty during my last round of scenery, I had to scrape it in places. I get on a creative roll with scenery and I forget to cover track. With the railroad also sitting a couple of months it took forever to get trains running. I have yet to try using graphite to help performance. I have always thought of it as a resistance compound, it's literally what resistors are made of, but Joe and everyone else says different so I need to pick some up.

Odorless MS ... and graphite

JoeF is Right ON!

Absolutely. JoeF has just stated what I have said for over a year. Graphite: I use a cloth over my finger, dip it in powdered graphite, dab a bit on the rail, skip a foot, another dab. (I don't know about "not the top", because I do the top and have noticed no negative effect.) When I get 3' or so, run a car. Repeat. When I get about 9', run the car again. When you finish what you want to/usually the whole layout, but certainly the main line. Run a train along it. That little bit of graphite is just about right. And yes, you can't see it. It's just there. As for mineral spirits. That's the best, but any good cleaner that you have can also help. Even the old alcohol is OK for small layouts. But yes, mineral spirits is best. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby or Michaels? It cost a bit, but should last a long time. But IMHO the use of graphite has been a life saver in terms of running trains. My track has not been cleaned for about 6 months or more before needing a re-clean and apply graphite. And some of you may experience longer run times. Obviously, the more often you run trains can affect performance. I'd suggest a minimum of 2 times a week. Hope this helps! Final thought. I run both plastic and metal wheels and so far, the plastic seem to be relatively clean. ?? Does the graphite help plastic wheels? It certainly does the Kadee's!

Whoops!

There are days like this! I apologize because I sometimes write things that come out wrong. The above is corrected. And only wish to add that since using mineral spirits and graphite, that my track is so much better for running trains. Why didn't we know this 50 years ago?

Milky White Color

Jeff,

I also bought some of the milky white at Walmart several years ago for our local club layout. It seems to work as well as the clear, which I use at home.  I don't recall any smell though. I'll have to check next week when I'm there. 

One thing about the Milky White stuff is that it needs to be shook up before use. The clear stuff that I have you don't have to shake.  

Mark

Milky White Color

I have been using the milky-white, low odor eco-friendly, mineral spirits for almost 10 years and it does a great job. It is also great for removing crud from wheels and cleaning paint off your hands. I have used it to thin paint, as well. Who knows what other hidden magic it can perform. However, my main use is cleaning track. Glenn

So I've not seen the milky

So I've not seen the milky white Mineral spirits, but I have seen milky white paint thinner at Walmart. It was worthless for cleaning paint of brushes. Not sure if it was useful as thinner.

I just went to ace and bought the real stuff. Keep things well ventilated and it will be fine.

I got lucky this morning.

I got lucky this morning. Just as I was getting ready to return this item to Walmart, i discovered the real mineral spirits I remember buying a month go,...and could not find it after numerous searchings. It was sitting in a  carton where I had water bottles I was using for weighting down the glued tracks.
 

So I took the milky one back and got a refund. Walmart is pretty good about that sort of thing, if you got product my mistake.

Water & Spirits

I'm not much of an alarmist but — it may be wise to store your water bottles and your clear, odorless mineral spirits (or any other VOC) in separate boxes that aren't shared with one another?

What could go wrong?

Reminds me of the old MR joke about the coffee mug sitting next to the mug full of tie stain.

Cheers, Ed

Well, it would take a lot of

Well, it would take a lot of work to open the typical container of mineral spirits, so I would hope it is safe. :D

Mineral Spirits for Track Cleaning

Wanted to share some info. with you concerning the use of Mineral Spirits for Track Cleaning.  The track on my small layout has not been cleaned for over a year.  I started cleaning it with a CRATEX Abrasive block to get the major crud off the rail heads.  I followed this by thoroughly vacuuming the track to remove any material loosened by the abrasive block.  I then wiped the rail heads with a piece of "T" shirt fabric that had been wet with 70% Isopropyl Alcohol and then a piece of the fabric wet with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol.  (I am thorough!!).  I then wiped the rail heads with a piece of fabric wet with Odorless Mineral Spirits.

Several observations:

It took a number of passes with the 70% and 91% Isopropyl Alcohol for the black streaks of gunk on the fabric to fad nearly from sight.  The passes with the Mineral Spirits seemed to pretty much remove the rest of the gunk.

The first bottle of Mineral Spirits that I tried to use, I had had stored for at least 3 years.  When I opened this container, I noticed a clear or slightly opaque gelatinous material in the cap of the container and on my wiping cloth.  It obviously had gone bad while in storage. I got rid of the bottle and bought another new quart of Odorless Mineral Spirits at Walmart.  This was Klear Strip brand Odorless Mineral Spirits made by W.M. Barr & Co., Inc. in Memphis, TN.  The new Mineral Spirits was clear when I opened it yesterday.

Hopefully this cleaning procedure will get the trains running smoothly.  I may eventually try a light application of graphite to further enhance performance.

Let me know if this helps,

Bob

Question & suggestion.

Bob: Did you try using that old mineral spirits at all? Even though it was seemingly gone bad. ? Could you have simply scooped away the gunk, cleaned the cap and was there liquid left below that? And try to use that to clean? Just wondering. Suggestion: When using graphite, remember what JoeF and I have been saying: Sparingly. Just a finger dab dab every 6" to a foot. When I do it, I do that for about 6' or slightly more, run a car or two over that portion of the track. And then go on to the next 6' or so and repeat the cars. By the time you get to the end of that particular track, the graphite is thoroughly spread and is "actually" more than enough. And I've been able to operate over that track for over 6 months without any problems. Of course, this means to operate at least twice a week. You leaving your track for over a year was what caused all the gunk. OK?

Joe...Does anybody use

Joe...Does anybody use rubbing alcohol as a track cleaner? Ive been using it for a good while works fine...is mineral spirits better???

Oh man, I hate to be the guy

Oh man, I hate to be the guy that does this, but Daniel, you need to do a search on this topic. Specifically search on polar vs. Non-polar and track cleaning

Rubbing Alcohol is bad news for track and wheel cleaning.

Funny story, I sent out all the info on Polar vs. non-polar to my club a few years back. That along with the info on Graphite. Our club president approved treating the whole layout with Mineral Spirits and then Graphite. After the treatment, we did nothing more than run a dry car that for over a year and the track stayed clean and electrical contact flawless.

Cut to a few weeks back. We're in a new location, building a new layout and I caught the same president who approved and marvaled at the success of the Mineral Spirits and Graphite cleaning engines with 90% ISo.

I was completely gobsmacked. I asked him if he forgot our success. His response was

"Well that was for track cleaning, not wheel cleaning."

.

..

...

HE IS A  BIOCHEMIST! I just, I can't even. I've actually started hiding the Isopropyl alcohol.  

Mineral Spirits for Track Cleaning

Hi Morgan,

No, I did not try to use the Mineral Spirits that appeared to be contaminated for the track cleaning.  The cost of a new quart can of the Mineral Spirits at Walmart was only about $9.00.  I didn't want to take the risk of making the track condition worse by using something with a gelatinous material in it.

I have the impression from some of the comments, that the use of 70% or 91% Isopropyl alcohol as cleaners, as I did, before the Mineral Spirits to clean both track and wheels is not advisable.  In the future, I'll discontinue the use of the Isopropyl alcohol for both track and wheel cleaning and use only Mineral Spirits for these purposes.  This will save me the time and effort in these additional cleaning steps.  Is this a reasonable approach?  Does the Mineral Spirits have any adverse effects on plastic car wheels?

If I use graphite at some point in the future, I'll remember the advice to use only a very minimal amount to maximize electrical contact.

Thanks for your comments,

Bob

Yes, stick with mineral spirits

Fear of alcohol?

I guess it depends on what kind of gunk you have on your layout but I've cleaned track and wheels with alcohol, lighter fluid, water, acetone, and paint thinner at various times with no ill effects. I don't think model trains are running on the ragged edge so we don't always need the perfect solution. ...DaveB 

Tell that to the La Mesa club

Tell that to the La Mesa club. They discovered the hard way that while IP alcohol does clean everything real well, the polar residue makes the tracks and wheels get dirty again much faster. Once they went to all mineral spirits, they could cut way back on track and wheel cleaning.

So much for "it doesn't really matter" what you clean with ... I'm sorry Dave, but I'm afraid I can't do that ... 

I have no doubt most of those things you list got the track and wheels very clean ... but that's NOT the point.

The point is to keep tabs on HOW OFTEN you find yourself cleaning things AGAIN due to how prone you've made micro-arcing to become. THAT'S what we're talking about, so your claim does not address that point at all. It's not the cleaning that's at issue here, it's how fast things get dirty again.