Dust removal on a "mature" layout

[carmelmodelrr]

My layout has been pretty complete for the last couple of years and I now see dust accumulating on rooftops, in particular.  We have a good filtering system on our a/c and heating system but there's no escaping dust.
I have over 50 self-constructed buildings on the layout and, being N scale, they have many delicate parts.  How do you dust the buildings, rooftops in particular, without damaging the fine detail?  Is there a secret?

carmelmodelrr

[davefoxx]

I took the wet/dry vac with the brush attachment to my layout last year, and it came out looking so much better.  The scenery colors looked more vivid after removing about six or seven years of dust.  Anything that could get sucked up the vacuum was removed from the layout, e.g., vehicles, figures, etc.  For rooftops, I grabbed a paintbrush and dusted them off.  I was really surprised at how the SuperTrees held up with no damage.

Unfortunately, it’s time to do it all over again, but it’s not as bad a chore as you think.

DFF

[Chris333]

I have a little vac attachment set that goes on the big vac tube and goes to a ~1/2" hose with a few light brushes on the end. Looks like this:
https://www.renokirbyland.com/shop/micro-vacuum-attachment-kit

[turbowhiz]

My approach to this problem is to use a dual action airbrush with water (distilled if need be) to do some small scale power washing.

Use an appropriate amount of air pressure… Blow dust off but ideally not scenery or details. If it’s a suitable substrate, you can literally “power wash” the dust off with a judicious (typically very little) application of water, which you have complete control over. Use plain air again to dry it right off immediately, repeat as necessary. If the substrate won’t deal with any moisture, don’t use water. Conversely, if its something like painted plastic you can go heavier with water as need be. Distance from the airbrush to the area being cleaned is an effective way to control the amount of cleaning power you’re delivering with/without water.

This process works very well to clear dust off scenery as well… Don’t go crazy with too much water, but I’ve found typical techniques will hold up fine to a little bit, and things get really freshened up.

[peteski]

Dust seems to adhere to surfaces (instead of just resting on the surface). Before using turbo's dry/wet/dry method (which is quite good) I would take a large soft artist's brush (1" is good) or a soft makeup brush, and gently disturb the dust settled on any hard items (structure roofs, vehicles, road surfaces, etc.) . That will loosen it. Then blow the loosened crap away with compressed air from the airbrush, then turbo's  wet-then-dry method works quite well for thorough cleaning.

[randgust]

I got one of those shoulder-style data vacuums that's disturbingly powerful, and use a soft paintbrush to loosen the dust.  Works well.  As said here.

I've taken to water-misting the scenery, that does a really effective refresh as well for all the dust trapped in foliage.

And I have a circulating air filter system, it slows it down, but I still have to dust things about annually.

I notice it first on the roofs of black cars and buildings and the asphalt pavement.

[dnhouston]

I use an anti-static record cleaning brush and a small handheld cordless vacuum.
The long bristles makes it easy to brush off the dust without damaging the details.

[southernman]

I always put a thin stocking / sock or the foot of a pair of panty hose over the end or the vacuum nozzle to prevent small parts from getting sucked inside. You might be surprised at all the train parts you find this way.

[carmelmodelrr]

I've only begun dust removal but the first thing I tried was to sprinkle water on my "grass", as was suggested.  I'm amazed at the brightening.

carmelmodelrr

[mecgp7]

This is why I love this site. I just picked up a bunch of tips and ideas that I had never thought of. It is really neat how people come up with solutions to problems in their own way. Many thanks to all.

[flight2000]

I always put a thin stocking / sock or the foot of a pair of panty hose over the end or the vacuum nozzle to prevent small parts from getting sucked inside. You might be surprised at all the train parts you find this way.

This.  It's also the same method I use when laying static grass to get the grass to stand up and then remove the excess grass for reuse.  Works well...

[martin station]

  Last Chriatmas my daughter and her husband gave me a air purifir for my train room and a larger one for our greatroom. We had a major renovation going on so my layout was covered in plastic the whole time and I'm just now getting things put back to normal so I'm looking forward to see how it works. I remember in a video tour of his Yosemite Valley layout, Jack Burgess said that in an office he used to work in they had air purifirs to remove cigarette smoke from the air before smoking in the office was banned and after the ban he asked his boss if he could have purifirs and installed them in his train room. He said that he never had a problem with dust afer that. I don't expect that, but I do hope it won't be as bad as it was before putting the purifir in.
Ralph

[Dave V]

Following this with great interest. Dust is a much bigger problem out here in Colorado than I ever experienced back East, and the RGS is going to turn 7 years old this year.

[spr1955]

I use a small handheld rechargeable piston grip style vac designed for keyboard cleaning. It has a small brush head that is detachable. Does a great job on buildings and as a bonus the with of the brush is the about the same width of n-scale track so I just run along the track to vac us dust super fast. Very happy. No wires so very handy.   Bought from Amazon.      Hayousui 4.3Kpa Keyboard Vacuum Cleaner Mini：Handheld Computer Vacuum Cordless for Car Laptop Sewing Machine Portable Keyboard Vac USB