I recently picked up a Middle Bay, AL that is pretty dusty.
I blew some compressed air on it and used a new tootbrush to get some of the dust off. There is still some that I guess won't come off unless I use some kind of cleaner.
Is there anything available that won't damage the paint?

The thing that I use when I get one like that is water, plain old water in a glass, and a very soft artist brush (size will vary with the area you are cleaning) that I clean constantly in the water. You may have to go over the same areas several times and each time you do use clean water in the glass. Works for me but always keep an eye on your paint to make sure it doesn't flake off while cleaning.

Think I read something about our Webmaster placing a LE in the dishwasher, but based on the results, he wasn't recommending that step.

Sandy

I bought a cosmetic brush (for blush). It is real soft and works fine for dusting. Just don't use it for your make-up!

Judy

I've got the brushes and will try the water. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Dishwasher???

No, NO, NO!!! Do not use water--paint is water-based and will dilute.

Sandy

Sandy - I've used water on a brush to clean up dirty pieces that I've bought since I started collecting in 1994 and have never had the paint dilute. The older pieces (5500 series) you had to be careful of the paint flaking but that was not because of the water, they just flaked naturely.

Or did you mean don't use the dishwasher because the paint will dilute and will probably also flake because of the water presure?

Do not take any moisture to the early Harbour lights. That would be any Canadian and Malaysian that was packed in peanuts or the foam insulation packing. They were painted with water-based paints. The California made were painted with Acrylic and will hold up better to moisture but you would have to have a screw loose to even touch one of those with water. I remember about eight years ago that a member on this forum tried to wipe some dust off of her Great Captain Island with a damp cloth and she wiped off the paint.

The lighthouse that John used was a 1995 Jupiter. Since it was painted with water base paints it didn’t even have a chance. But if John would have tried a newer lighthouse, it is possible that it would have weathered thru a dish washing.

You can gently wipe with a damp cloth the China made and Malaysians that came with the original styrene packing. Basically any HL made after 1996 can handle some moisture. But before you do this you have to ask yourself if it is really necessary. Just don’t start taking a damp dishcloth to all your lighthouses.

I have done this with a lighthouse as early as one made in 1997. I occasionally would dust my lighthouses with a makeup brush that my wife gave me to use. It was soft and gentle and ideal for dusting my lighthouse collection. Every one in the family knew that I had this brush and what it was used for.

One day I decided I would start dusting my HL collection. I have had my lighthouse collection for a while and I decided it is time to dust them all. I stared with my double digit White Shoal Christmas piece and began dusting it. As I dusted it I noticed that the beautiful white snow didn’t look as white. So I dusted it more. As I kept on dusting it I noticed that the white was getting more and more of a pink cast to it. All of a sudden it hit me, some body used my brush for putting makeup on. As I went around the house sure enough my teenage daughter was starting to experiment with makeup. She found the makeup but had nothing to put it on with. She remembers that I used a makeup brush to clean my lighthouses with and thought there would be no harm in using my brush.

Well at the time I thought there was a lot of harm done and that my Christmas piece was ruined.
I called Harbour Lights and the Lady at the phone asked me if I tried to wipe it with a damp cloth. I told her that I was always under the impression that we should never put any water to them. She said that the newer lights have a stronger paint and that I should be okay in wiping it off. Well I did and the White Shoal looks as good as new.

Since this I have occasionally purchased lighthouse that was dusty and if the lighthouse was a 1997 or newer I have actually used my kitchen sprayer to knock the dust off. I used room temperature water and turned the lighthouse upside down so not to get felt wet.
I have only done this in extreme cases were dusting didn’t work and that the lighthouse was a 1997 or newer.

I stand corrected. However, why take the chance at all?

I was going to list a complete Original 17 on eBay and had them on a quilt on top of a table outside. Stan was taking pictures for the listing when we were hit with a sudden sun shower. To my horror, the paint became sticky on the pieces and I rushed to cover them with the quilt. The shower passed and the paint dried before any damage was done, but none of my collection has seen anything liquid or damp since that summer day.

Sandy

I guess I have been very lucky because the Coquille River, Cape Hatteras 102R and several other early pieces that I got were heavily coated with dust. I tried an artist brush and was able to get 75% off but there was still a layer of dust that had been ground in. It wasn't as noticeable on the Cape Hatteras because it was antiqued so I left it alone. I was afraid to even touch the Coquille so it was left alone. But the Old Point Loma and North Head showed the dust so bad that I tried it on the North Head first in an out of the way place with no problem. I then had good results on the Old Point Loma. I didn't use a cloth to wipe the dust away. I used an artist brush which is even softer then a blush brush. I very lightly wiped water on and then let it dry. I then repeated this with clean water and all the time I kept cleaning my brush. Maybe I was lucky, maybe it was my veeery gentle touch but it did not damage the paint at all.

If anybody wants to venture forth with my method then all I can say is veery gentle brush strokes, keep your brush clean by cleaning it often in the water and let the area dry before making a second approach. And above all test this method in an out of the way area.

Rich
It sounds like your method would be about the only way anyone should use water for the early ones. I wasn’t going to share one of my other embarrassing moments, but why not. I bought a #169/5500 North Head, California mold with a Canadian paint about nine years ago. I paid premium price for it and I was very disappointed in how dirty the base of the lighthouse looked. So I thought I would carefully take a damp paper towel and wipe off the dirt. I figure I would gently try it then stop if I noticed the tinge of any paint coming off. I didn’t notice any paint coming off but I did notice how dirty the paper towel was. I thought I was getting somewhere so I decided to wipe it again. This time I noticed that I was thinning the paint on the base and that I wasn’t wiping off dirt but was wiping off the very paint on the lighthouse.

Well, I finally got around to cleaning my Middle Bay.
I did as Rich suggested and it worked beautifully. The piece now looks as good as new.
I did take a wet, soft bristle toothbrush to the large areas of water without any damage.
While using the artist's brush, I realized what talent and patience it must take to paint one of these. So many small details and all painted to perfection!
Thanks to all for your help.
Ernie

Glad to help Ernie. The results are a lot better this way then with John's dishwasher.

I still shudder everytime someone says dishwasher.

I have the 1995 Jupiter John washed in a dish washer.I had high bid on the bus trip.
RIP