How To: Clean Breyer Horses

A common question I see on the model horse Facebook groups and web forums is how to clean Breyer horses, most commonly how to remove black marks. I thought I would document my process. I have used this on numerous models, and have been amazed by some of the results! I wish I had the photos from a Stablemate lot I recently cleaned!


Supplies:
Dirty Breyers
Dawn Dish Soap (original strength Blue, don't get the cheaper one, it's not as effective)
Soft toothbrush
Towel
Microfiber Cloth
Generic Magic Eraser *****USE with CAUTION*****



Step 1: Soapy Warm Water
Clean your sink. I scrub mine down with Dawn dish soap to get rid of any food or other residue. No sense trying to clean in a dirty sink! Add Dawn, and fill the sink with about 3" deep of warm (not hot!) water. You don't want the water too warm as it could cause legs to warp!

Step 2: Soak

Soaking in the tub

Soak horses. For this demo, I was primarily focused on the Pluto as he is the worst of my childhood herd. As Breyers float, I make sure to cover the exposed side in suds, and flip them over 1/2 way through so each side has a thorough soaking.
(Note to self: never try to use white out to color over black marks! Stupid kid {me}!), however the knockoff fighting stallion needed to be cleaned although he is going to be my first custom and the little Stablemate was quite dusty! In this case I soaked them while I browsed ModelHorseBlab.com for a little while. I'd soak 10-15 minutes if I were to time it.

Step 3: Scrub

Covered in suds

Put a little Dawn straight on to the soft toothbrush. Make sure it is a soft one, otherwise you may damage the paint. (Caution: use EXTREME CARE on the older Dapple Grey Models. Their paint is much more delicate and will come off very easy, so skip this step, or only scrub lightly on the marks you want to remove! Ask me how I found this out? Lol...poor Saddlebred Stablemate.) Generally I cover the entire horse wth suds, paying special attention to black marks, and the mane and tail (especially on dusty models). I use medium to hard pressure. As I scrub, I will occasionally rinse off the horse to check my progress on the marks as the suds can make it hard to see.

Step 3.5: Magic Eraser CAUTION, use very carefully!
In this case, Pluto was especially difficult to clean, so out comes the Magic Eraser. In case you don't know, Magic erasers are basically a super micro fine sandpaper. They will remove paint! Use with care and only on the marks you wish to remove. As I mentioned, stupid kid me decided to try and "fix" Plutos black marks with white out....so he needed some extra care. Thankfully he is white, so I was able to use the Magic Eraser to "erase" his marks. Most marks come off with very light pressure. Sadly, white out is stubborn and I had to scrub and scrub and it still didn't come off entirely, but it is a huge improvement.

***I did try out the magic eraser on a particularly marked Palomino Family Arabian Stallion. I very carefully and lightly stroked the Magic eraser over the marks quickly. Most came off easily without any damage to the underlaying paint! I still would suggest EXTREME CAUTION as too much would cause the paint to come off, but it does work on minor marks! Do not use in one spot too long or with too much pressure!



Step 4: Dry
When you are done scrubbing/cleaning, rinse off the horse with warm (not hot) water. I set the horse aside on a towel to dry while I work on the others. Towel dry.

Step 5. Buff
Once you are pleased with your models, I like to take a microfiber cloth and buff the horse to restore it's "shine". Even the matte models have a small amount of shine to them. As for shiny marks, I have heard a standard pencil eraser helps. I haven't spent much time with that.

I apologize for the poor quality pictures, sadly the black marks didn't show up very well on this model, but I swear there is a huge improvement after cleaning!

Before

Before

After

After