Cleaning minis before painting?

[theIronSoldier 30]

As some of you know, I paint A LOT of minis (I've got my 13th fleet box on the table), but I have had a consistant problem cleaning recent purchases.

I usually wash resin mini with warm water and dish soap, but this has not been working. The last batch I did I washed and scrubbed (coarse brush AND toothbrush) THREE times before priming and I STILL had paint flaking off on about half the models.

I emailed Spartan about it, and they were no help. They weren't sure what the problem is... maybe something to do with the kind of silicon they use. No solution.

In any case, I need to wash a lot of minis and I can't soak them all in Dettol every time.

So: Any suggestions? Anyone having the same problem?

Has anyone ever used a dish-washer or washing machine to do minis? 

I was thinking of constructing some kind of container out of old strainers to keep everything together and just running it through 5 or 6 cycles. Would the heat or soap be a problem for resin? I don't think so but... still worried about it.

Totally frustrated....

[Lord Nat 360]

Few years ago I was told by some of the GW guys to use lemon washing up liquid, not standard/ other special 'flavours', as something in the lemon helps brakedown the release agent.  This helped loads on the Forge World models I have.

[Clockwerks77 55]

Use an ultrasonic cleaner. You can pick them up cheap, like $40 and they work like a charm.

[Tonman 1]

Clockwerks77, do you use a cleaning solution?

[Clockwerks77 55]

Yup, I use undiluted Simple Green. works great!

[MikeSims 65]

Detol (the original brown one) also works well diluted. I also use it neat as a paint stripper.

[northerndragons 599]

I know I'm doing a necro-posting, but I just came across this.  When cleaning my resin minis I add a couple of sprays, of Purple Power (formerly Castrol Purple Power) in a mix of warm water and dish detergent.  Let them soak for say 20 or so minutes and then rinse.  Haven't had a problem yet.

[TallDwarf 1]

I have recently received my first 2 starter fleets: KoB and PE so I can play with my son. I am soaking them in soapy water. Do you also need to generally take a brush to them as well?

 

Take care and have a great day.

[MikeSims 65]

I have recently received my first 2 starter fleets: KoB and PE so I can play with my son. I am soaking them in soapy water. Do you also need to generally take a brush to them as well?

IMO yes, gives you the piece of mind that all that your minis are truly clean and ready for pain; without the fear of paint easily chipping. All the best.

[catalyst2 15]

If the miniatures are a little delicate, it pays to make sure the brush you use is fairly soft so I use the softest toothbrush I can find.

 

I can only add to Mickey Sim's endorsemt of the Dettol as a cleaning agent - I have used it on plastic, resin and metal miniatures and it works well on all of them although it can make resin models feel a little tacky if you leave  them in there for too long.

[DasPotato 9]

I found a way accidentally. I was trying to remove primer layer with 90% alcohol. I forgot about the tiny flyers for about a week. The resin is a bit like rubber now, bendable but still retain it's form. Apparently the alcohol remove a some sort of reinforcing layer, the glaze on the token is gone, just dull white. I re primed it and painted again, but the paint didn't flake off when it fell down. I think the glaze layer is causing the flaking.