Vintage Box Cleaning Advice / Help Needed Please

[Snaketibe]

I recently managed to pick up a nice Palitoy Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Action Playset. The box is in pretty good shape considering its age, with good integrity, bright colours, not much creasing or other damage, at least to the display sides. However, it does have what I believe to be mould / mildew growth on all 6 faces to a greater or lesser extent. Many of us are probably familiar with what I'm referring to; small spots that sometimes dot the box surface that look almost dusty in appearance, but which don't simply rub off with a gentle wipe as dust itself would.

I would like to clean the box if possible, and looked on YouTube for ideas and tips on cleaning mould from cardboard. The problem is there are lots of different suggestions, ranging from wiping the surface with lighter fluid, to rubbing it with furniture polish, to wiping it with anti-bacterial spray. However, none of the items being cleaned were similar enough to my Star Destroyer box for me to be confident to use that specific cleaning method, as naturally I don't wish to damage the box. The main area of difference is in the box finish. The litho print on my box has an almost satin finish to it, rather than a glossy one, such as you'd normally find with a Slave 1 for example, and none of the YouTube techniques I viewed were treating boxes with a similar finish.

I'm loathe to try anything that might damage the box further, so before I try anything, I thought I would ask the forum for advice. Has anyone here managed to successfully clean a vintage Star Wars box with similar issues? If so, what tips, tricks or advice can you offer please?

Here are some photos of the box, taken with and without flash. The mould / mildew issue looks better than it actually is with flash, and worse than it actually is without flash!

Thank you.

Jeremy

 

[Michael Sith]

lovely box mate

On any boxes I've cleaned up

always started with a soft dry cloth and a gentle rub, this takes off the top surface

if then still left with dirt/mould I've then used normal household furniture polish

again spray a small amount onto a soft cloth ( rub the cloth together to ensure the cloth has no "wet/soaked" surface - i.e. your not wetting the box or spraying directly on it) then gently clean. Then repeat with a clean dry soft cloth with no polish ( do this as you go, that way removing any slight dampness)

this has usually given decent results and no damage has appeared over subsequent months

trick is, non abrasive cloth, very gentle cleaning motion, don't spray directly onto the box

this will remove dirt /grime - whether it kills off mould is another matter

this has given me good results

Disclaimer - as always- whatever you do always at your own risk

good luck mate

 

[Snaketibe]

lovely box mate

On any boxes I've cleaned up

always started with a soft dry cloth and a gentle rub, this takes off the top surface

if then still left with dirt/mould I've then used normal household furniture polish

again spray a small amount onto a soft cloth ( rub the cloth together to ensure the cloth has no "wet/soaked" surface - i.e. your not wetting the box or spraying directly on it) then gently clean. Then repeat with a clean dry soft cloth with no polish ( do this as you go, that way removing any slight dampness)

this has usually given decent results and no damage has appeared over subsequent months

trick is, non abrasive cloth, very gentle cleaning motion, don't spray directly onto the box

this will remove dirt /grime - whether it kills off mould is another matter

this has given me good results

Disclaimer - as always- whatever you do always at your own risk

good luck mate

Thank you. I'll give it a try on a small area on one of the end flaps first, then do the rest if the results look good.

I'll post more photos after I've finished

 

[Cazza]

As Mike says, furniture polish is pretty good. I always start with plain old water (very small amounts, obviously) on a microfibre cloth. Amazing what this gets rid of, no chemicals etc. Years ago I asked a friend of mine who does historical restorations etc and she told me to start with water. Never looked back!

 

[Snaketibe]

As Mike says, furniture polish is pretty good. I always start with plain old water (very small amounts, obviously) on a microfibre cloth. Amazing what this gets rid of, no chemicals etc. Years ago I asked a friend of mine who does historical restorations etc and she told me to start with water. Never looked back!

Thank you . I'm hopefully going to have a go at cleaning it tomorrow, so watch this space!

 

[Snaketibe]

Sorry, not enough hours in the day at present! I haven't had a chance to tackle this yet, but will do so, at the latest by the end of next weekend. Photos will still follow

 

[Michael Sith]

Hear you on having no time
always best not to rush on these resto jobs, take your time and time to enjoy the process.

 

[edd_jedi]

I know exactly what you mean by the dusty mould stuff, I often see it on video game console boxes which have a similar finish. I always just use water and a kitchen towel (the disposable type) and gently wipe, trying not to rub. It's amazing what an improvement you can make with no chemicals, and even if it does slightly penetrate the box it should dry out.

 

[Snaketibe]

Thanks, Edd. When I do tackle it, I will definitely try just water first, before working up to furniture polish if the water doesn't do the trick.

 

[Snaketibe]

OK, well I've finally cleaned the box. Apologies for technically missing my self-imposed weekend deadline (although in my head, since I haven't actually been to bed yet, I have made it ), but better late than never... I hope!

As far as the cleaning itself was concerned, I started by carefully removing the half-ripped off price sticker. I know some people like them (I personally don't), however I suspect even the most die hard sticker fan would have a hard time liking one that had half of it missing and a litho rip caused by doing that into the bargain (needless to say, I certainly wasn't the clumsy sod that did such a half-assed job of half-removing it first time around!). Anyway, as far as I was concerned, the tattered remnant had to go. It was pretty firmly attached, but the best part of an hour's careful picking with an over-long fingernail and some tweezers later, and it was finally gone without causing any further damage.

I then tackled the mould by using distilled water harvested from one of my dehumidifiers, and plain old kitchen roll, folded a few times into a thick small square. I dipped one edge of the square into the water, made sure it wasn't overly wet (the square, not the water; wet-free water's surprisingly hard to find, although I think my local rocking horse manure shop sells it), then simply wiped the entire surface, firmly but smoothly, refolding the square periodically to expose a clean, damp edge so as to re-use it and not burn through a whole roll before the job was done. Once each square of kitchen roll was as thoroughly dirty as most men wish their wives were, I then swapped it out for a new one (the square, not my wife) and repeated the process. I wiped the entire surface of all 6 sides three or four times in this fashion, and I have to say it's turned out pretty well! It's certainly a lot better than I thought it would be, and I'm really pleased. I'm going to give it a couple of days to ensure it's fully dried out, before making a final decision, but right now I'm not planning on trying any furniture polish as I don't think it needs it.

Anyway, many thanks once again for your help and advice everyone, and here are the 'after' photos:

And here's my display side

 

[Michael Sith]

Great job, looks really nice

 

[Cazza]

Excellent work, Jeremy. Looks fantastic- always loved the colour scheme on this box and it really pops now.

 

[edd_jedi]

Looks great, most cardboard boxes are a lot more hardy than people give them credit for and can take a bit of abuse.

 

[Snaketibe]

Thanks everyone. It's good to know these boxes can be cleaned if needed.

Next up is cleaning the toy itself, as that is currently about 50% dust