Mattel Thingmaker Mold Cleaning

I've had many people inquire about how I clean the Thingmaker molds. I've tried just about everything, oven cleaner, metal polishes, jewelry cleaners, general purpose cleaners, solvents, etc. Here's the method I finally settled on....

Soak the molds in vinegar for 1-2 hours. Use a brush with stiff plastic bristles to remove as much burnt/caked on goop as possible. A hard plastic pick (I found harder pointed swizzle sticks work great) works great to remove gunk from hard to reach areas in the molds or around the lettering. It still takes some elbow grease to get the molds clean, but it's the best method I've found.

Be careful with the vinegar. If soaked to long, the vinegar will eat through plating on the molds. It seems like the newer molds, like Peanuts, Zoofie Goofies, etc., are most susceptible to this problem.

Feel free to email me if you have any suggestions on cleaning.