Ultrasonic cleaners?

[shponglefan]

On another forum (model building forum), someone posted a pic of using an ultrasonic cleaner to clean their model parts. It seems like an interesting alternative to normal washing and scrubbing.

Anyone here use an ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning minis prior to painting?

 

[Zab]

Yep. Don't kid yourself there is still some elbow grease and a pre soak in simple green needed. It helps but can take several cycles to see improvement. I got mine for about $20 during boxing week sales so it was okay. The higher the frequency the better the cleaning power, but that also drives the price up too.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Yep same here. They are good for somethings, not so good for others.
Found after a stripping they're pretty ok for a final clean of a metal mini or two, but sometimes the old fashioned Elbow Grease and toothbrush combination is best.

 

[boubi]

Also quite good for cleaning some airbrush parts which are difficult to access. Actually I only use it for that purpose. 2 or 3 cycles from time to time with some window cleaner.

 

[Humanitarian]

We use these at work -- they are more useful for parts where you don't have direct access to the surfaces you want to clean (tubing, screens, etc.), and to help with an initial soaking in whatever cleaning material you are using. For surfaces that you can get access to -- like most miniatures -- they would only have limited use -- and mechanical means (toothbrush) work much better.

 

[finn17]

Not a panacea as others have pointed out but if mine broke I would definitely replace it.

It pays for itself in cleaning my watch, spectacles and SWAMBO's jewellery so it's a bit of a no brainer AFAIC.