Google cleaning legos - lots of hits including from Lego - the one things I saw repeated was do it by hand - don't put in dishwasher or washer. Good Luck

I've cleaned Legos Many times, but not because they had battery acid on them. Hot (not boiling) water and a good amount of ammonia (read the amounts on the label for extra strength solution. After they've soaked a while in a well ventilated area, but the solution is still warm, put on some cleaning gloves and use a dish brush to scrub them good. Just "normal dirty" Legos would only require the soak and then a rinse, but the scrub should get rid of anything on the surface.

Timely post! I was just looking at the grand kids lego bin and thinking that I need to give them a wash.

from Lego website:

Note: ammonia is not a good disinfectant against staph. Bleach is a better disinfectant.

After washing w/ detergent & rinsing detergent off. Disinfect w/ bleach solution (hard, non-porous surfaces)— Add ½ cup bleach to 1 gallon water; apply bleach solution to surface; let stand 5 minutes. Rinse thoroughly & air dry.

The lego site says not to clean them in the washing machine, but I would do it anyway. Put them in a mesh bag or old pillowcase first and don't use too hot water.

I would put a few in a mesh bag run them through the dishwasher and see how they turn out.

I will do a search and thank you all for the help. I didn't think of doing a search because it seems such an odd thing to do. I like the mesh laundry bag especially, Elizabeth. Maybe I can wash them in small batches. I did a search and found that vinegar is best to remove alkaline battery corrosion.

Baking soda will neutralize battery acid too. Mix it with water.

baking soda does not neutralize alkaline battery leakage. I was given a huge bin of legos that needed cleaning. I put them in a lingerie bag, soaked and swished in a basin of hot water with dish soap, then a couple of rinses in clear water, hung up the bag to dry with a couple of sessions of moving them around inside the bag so the air could get to the middle.

I put them in a laundry bag in the washer and wash them. One for delicates. Works well witha ny small plastic toys!

Hi socks! I had a large bag of large Legos that were given to me from a yard sale. I got them easily cleaned and sparkly.

1. I cut a large rectangle of plastic berry mesh -- about 3/4 inch square opening.

2. I fashioned a "sack" by using wooden hinged clothes pins around the perimeter and later to close the top; ending up with a "sack" of about 14" x 32".

3. I placed this Lego sack in the TOP of my Kitchenaid dishwasher.

4. I used 2 or 3 packets of the dishwashing detergent pods.

5. I used regular cycle which heated the water to ~ 115 deg F.

6. I DID NOT USE ADDED HEAT OT "DRY" option, but just opened to vent after cycle.

7. The big Legos got clean & I jostled them to empty out any water.

8. I took the mesh/net "bag" outside on a dry, windy day and hung it from a clothes line for a few hours, moving them as necessary to remove any water trapped in blocks.

9. There were several "car" wheel sets with metal axels and I washed these separately in the sink, then rinsed, then set outside on a dry day to remove all moisture.

10. I am giving these to a charity for children outside the USA, so a got a clear, flexible plastic, see-through zipper case like the ones that sheets OT blankets come in. Perfect fit and the case will keep all the blocks are car chassis together.

11. There is, of course, no need to sterilize the Lego blocks, only to get them clean and pretty. I was very pleased with the results and took photos that I'd planned on posting to KT, but got busy.

12. Now, dear Socks: please tell me what gorgeous dog you have for your avatar. Is that a Westy? Adorable!

Best of luck with your Lego cleaning ;)

Excellent, very helpful! I haven't washed them yet, they are still sitting here on my desk, but thanks for the reminder that I need to get to it! You are extremely kind to go to that trouble to send to kids and other places. I know they will love them!

Yes, The pup is a Westie. Do you have a dog? A Westie? I'm annoyed with him right now. He ran out the gate on Monday, and I had to chase him around the neighborhood. He was so excited to be free that he just didn't listen to me.

Well, now I know that officially I'm a sloth. In all the years there has been Lego in my house (approximately 42 yrs), I've never even thought about washing it. I kept my son's Lego and put it in a big decorative bucket in the library and grandsons played with it - they still occasionally do at nearly 17 and 14 1/2 - and no washing. Since they're long past putting Lego in their mouth, I guess I'll just live them with 2 generations of germs...

LOL "...scrub with a brush.." if I ever noticed the being filthy..I can see me getting them in a bag and then in the dishwasher. That would be as far as I would go. I wonder why the washers are an issue? Too hot? Well I never use the heat/dry cycle so I am sure all is well. I have two nice boxes waiting for Grandkids to appear--I am going to bet any daughter in law would be likely to scrub each one by hand. To each her own!!!

Anglo, I would never think of washing Legos either except, as I stated in my post, there was a battery leaking among the bricks.

Yeah the battery leaking would have gotten even my attention! Nasty...and dangerous!

Baking soda will negate acid. Years ago, when we bought riding lawn mower, it came with a battery that we actually had to fill "cells"?? with acid from a container and then get it charged. LONG time ago. We asked what to do with any left over acid and were told to put it in a bucket, CAREFULLY dilute with water and get SEVERAL boxes of baking soda. CAREFULLY pour baking soda into bucket with acid until it no longer fizzed. Like the science fair "volcano" with baking soda and vinegar. It took a LOT of banking soda. Had to be done outdoors. Care taken to avoid an sloshing/splashing.

For the Legos... I know you can find those mesh lingerie bags at dollar store. I'd put the blocks in and give a nice long soak in warm soapy water... swishing up and down periodically. After a good rinse, I'd add baking soda and look for "fizzage"!

I think alkaloid batt juice isn't that bad. I put it on my raw squid salad -- yum!

Rhizo -- why the dishwasher? Cuz, they fit, easy, lots of sloshy - rinsey and no effort on my part. Maybe my sink was already filled with toad livers or hubcaps. "Set and forget!"

socks-- I had a sweet little Maltesean pup that some jackbutt abandoned on our wooded, coyote-clogged road on a cold dark rainy February late afternoon. A neighbor rescued him as he was about to wander onto a state highway at rush hour in the dark. She opened her car door, little pup hopped in. She could not keep him. He barked in his crate all night. I took him to clean him up. What a mess of matted, smelly knotted dirty what hair. It took me two days to slowly slice through the Matt's, teasing out the compacted knots so that I could leave him with some hair and dignity. He made intense eye contact with me -- as if he were beseeching me to help him, as in, "well, so, what's going to become of me?"

i called the dog officer and looked in lost ads. The dog had been dumped. I learned more later. There were TWO small un neutered, unkempt male dogs that had been dumped, even though other people had offered to take the guy's dogs. I am fairly sure that our local coyotes got the second one.

There is, I hope, a special place in he'll for idiots that abuse animals, children and other humans.

i washed little doggy, got him cleaned up, vaccinated, neutered. After I'd gotten him spruced up, of course, he wanted to be glued to me. I guess these small "companion dogs" are bred to have enormous psych issues and separation anxiety. The they get bought by people who have nothing to do and no friends. Wink!

i was used to hunting and working dogs-- not neurotic needy little puppy mill basket cases. Sheesh!

Still, I had no life, no friends, and nothing else to do but babysit this barky neurotic abandoned dog and empty my bank account and sell my heirloom 1950's Craftsman tools, yard sale soda bottle collection and zinc and cubic zirconium jewelry to get him flea and tick and Patco and kennel cough and rabies and distemper vet care. Then invest in hero mint gear so that I could keep up with white dog hair that grew faster that our weedy lawn after a June rain.

But, I have to admit, that even though he chewed through quilts, new khakis, a few seat belts, a door, ,, he grew on my. He played "kill the squeaky" in the many toys I bought him at Petco. He'd go with me to pick out his own toys and treats. He got his own account there and also burned through my credit cards.

i stitched him custom made neckerchiefs for every holiday and occasion -- St Patricks Day, Easter, 4th July, Dog Day, Father's Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, New Years', All Cat's Day....

He got his own life jacket and took sailing lessons. He collected a hundred or so deer ticks each year and brought them into the house and onto our bed. He went to picnics and parties and garden centers and home improvement stores. He got his own cell phone and social media accounts. He had leashes, seatbelts, mats, dog beds, dog personal care items. During the big recession, pet crap never took a dip. These critters need the best! Kongs, collars, vitamins.

I would attempt to walk from one room to the next, and little barky man would be ahead of me but slow or stop to turn around and ask which way were we going? I got nothing done. But I fell in love with the little smelly mouthed gingivitis prone stinker and he love me right back. I was his person, he was my little terrier like puppy mill adorable pain in the butt. He let me give him horrible 5th rate "haircuts" and let me trim his toenails. He tolerated baths and loved the hair dryer. He'd come running towards it.

I made him little dog coats for chilly weather. I used my KitchenAid mixer as a form. We even, by chance, happened to have near matching red and white ski sweaters.

He got sick after about 8 years with some godawful connective tissue crud. I spent buckets on him but there really wasn't much to do. After he died, I dug his grave is a special spot and cried for days. I was sad for so long. How the heck could 11 pounds of white fluff and cuteness attached to a bark get me so emotionally given over and so heartsick when he had to leave? I miss him every day, although I don't miss the deer ticks crawling across the pillows next to me. He'd sleep in the middle, between us and with his butt and rear paws pressing against me -- like I was supposed to watch his butt while he slept. He snored. I used to touch between his toes and smell his little paws. All he wanted was to be with us. If we were working in the yard, I'd look through the window and see him in the chair next to the cat -- any port in a storm.

He had a bunch of backup names, endearing little terms like "Mister Barky" or Little Big Man.

Aren't dogs (and cats) the best?

So, if you're still awake, what's your little Westie like? If you get fed up with the devil, I will pay the express postage!

Petalique....ok, you really do need to explain that first sentence about the squid!

I enjoyed reading your experience with Mr. Barky. You certainly enriched each other's lives. I hope you have gotten another dog, but I am thinking you haven't. Did you once say it would be too hard to have a dog now?

7 years ago, my son was getting a pup, and I posted here to ask if a Westie would be a good choice. Chisue chimed in and recommended the breed as she has had two (I think). Sadly her dear Eliot is gone now, but we did get a Westie, and even though he is sometimes a problem, we all do love and enjoy him. He eventually came to live with me full-time. I take him to play with other dogs nearly every morning which tires him and so gives me peace of mind when I need to leave the house later, knowing that he has "crashed." By the way, his name is "Oski," named for the mascot of U.C. Berkeley.

Here's a picture after a vigorous morning playing with his friends.

Lazy me, I finally got to it. Washed them in vinegar, then Dawn dish detergent then rinse, then hose them off in the yard, put them on spin in the washing machine, now drying in the sun, with pup overseeing the project.

Scrub Legos with a brush? Hahahahaha!!!

Like somebody else said, I let my kids take their chances. (But I never did buy any "used" legos either.) Oldest DS asked where his old Legos were - actually, I think we sold them at the garage sale when we moved and downsized. I would have liked to have given them to DS, though, so he could find out what they feel like when stepped on barefoot in the dark.

I always washed my child's Lego in the dishwasher in a mesh bag.

Too late now, but I would have dumped them in a bathtub filled with sudsy water. Drained, rinsed in a tub of plain water , tossed them in a laundry basket and dumped on a sheet in the sun to dry.

The tub's a good idea, but lots of those little pieces can go down the drain, so they have to be in a mesh bag or something.

I had them in a mesh bag and several "axles" escaped, one went into the garbage disposal. It's no longer an axle.

The tub is a good idea, especially if there is a mesh thingy across the drain. However, I am fussy about the special finish in the bottom of the tub, and I seem to remember acidic cleaners are not to be used, so I would not use vinegar in the tub like I wanted to.

Littlebug, a battery had leaked in the Legos, and I wouldn't want any child to "take their chances" with that!