I absolutely recommend putting the Lego into a netted laundry bag, inside a tied pillow case and then use a washing machine on gentle cycle. Makes the cleaning sooo much easier.

I got a box of lego from a friend that had been storing it in a shed. I found a snail in the tub and most of the bricks had snail slime over them. That was my worst lego cleaning experience haha.

I think you're smart to use your "downtime" before the studio move to take care of these daunting tasks. It'll feel so good to be in your new space and be *organized* from the get-go. Best of luck to you.

Oh my god that dirty water. I was not mentally prepared for that crime against Lego. Bless you Bricksie for completing that awful task.

Wow, that is a lot of work…but you are doing a service of reusing/recycling which should never be a bad thing.

Great cleaning tip...my Lego are SO UNORGANIZED and in bins like that. I've started the cleaning/sorting process. My Lego date back to the 70's because I'm old...

I have used the 'delicate' cycle on my washing machine, and zippered washing bags to clean our Lego. The delicate cycle has a very gentle spin and doesn't damage the Lego. I then hang the bags out to dry and voila! I'm so glad you got your Lego cleaned up. Good luck with the trek to the new studio!

Been there, done that. You would have been better off dumping the whole thing into the bathtub and working from there. You could have washed it first and sorted while washing and then washed it again. I would have done the washing in two bins in the garage, weather permitting. For the drying process, buy a salad spinner used for lettuce, it works great.

I would think of cleaning them in a ultrasound washer (that would take ages because these machines are generally not really big), but people here are telling you to use the actual washing machine. Although these pieces are no longer nasty, they are probably not really clean, and it's reasonable to listen to that advice and to wash them in a machine once again.

I recently did the same thing with all my childhood LEGO that I got from my parent's house. It had been sitting in their cellar for over a decade when I finally decided to go get it and wash it. After sorting it alone my hands were brown from the dust and grime. Tedious but rewarding process since I could use the parts with my own collection.

And now there's Bionicle in Bricksie's collection! Cool! Unfortunately it's really hard to pinpoint what sets and rarities there are due to the sheer amount of parts. I could spot Toa Mata Kopaka's mask, Toa Mata Lewa's mask, Toa Mata Tahu's hand... But also some long flat silver blads that could have been from the Vahki sets... Well need a post sorting look at those parts!

I made this mistake during the pandemic, and bought like 15 pounds off Craiglist - from a very "well loved" home. *Honestly? Not worth it.* I definitely scored a lot of mini-figures at a very good price... but the amount of time and effort it took to clean them (and they're still kind of grimy) was not worth it -- especially when compared to buying a pre-cleaned / sorted bulk box from a reputable re-seller like Atlanta Brick Co. But I applaud your commitment, sir!

I know these are “filler videos” and may you may worry the audience doesn’t want to see this stuff, but I’ve been waiting for a good sorting series for months!

nothings worse than digging through a bin you just got an awesome deal on and feeling your hands close around a human nail

Hey Jordan, I just went through this process with 2 lots of bulk LEGO I purchased from Ebay. Looks like I followed the same steps as you did, including drying them on a towel. I used an old toothbrush to scrub a lot of the larger parts and plates, etc. It’s a painstaking process, but definitely worth it!

What I've found when cleaning dusty lego is that if you don't stand it in deep enough water, some of the dust remains clinging to the lego and it's not really clean - I've used a tooth brush to get into the crevices and to clean around the studs where the dust seems to linger.

Recommendation for future drying… I had a flood in our basement a few years back and a brand new UCS star destroyer got soaked!… gave everything a rinse, and actually setup a fan blowing on the legos, worked out SO WELL, cut the drying time down by at least 50% or more! Worth it if u are trying to dry a huge batch like this…

I really appreciate this video! We don’t see enough of this side of Lego collecting on KZfaq, so thanks for keeping it real with us!

even the non-lego should get cleaned because even the off brand items can be used as filler for large builds as long as it connects... at least thats my thought...

Ahhh...what's more relaxing than cleaning dirty Lego on a weekend am I right? Not only does it gives you time alone with yourself to consider your life choices but also gives you some light activity without putting much thought into it. Also, not only will you feel rewarded at the end but you get to start playing with the rescued pieces after. Definitely one of my favorite pastimes...wait I'm alone on this? Oh well...

I remember seeing a Bricks & Minifigs video where they used a washer machine and nylon bags with wholes. Maybe find used washer for your new studio. That was gross.

Please don't throw the mega product pieces away some of those are from the 90s and unlike lego where you have brick link, mega don't have such a thing, and depending on the amount I might be willing to buy the mega brand stuff.

Highly recommend a vinager bath. Helps get rid off most smells. We had a batch of 50 kilo that had smokers smell and got rid off it all. Was a lot off work but it dit doe the thick

"From a hoarder" says the man with THAT basement 😂

It’s good that it turned out to have some modern pieces. I saw some pink, purple and lime green. Not too shabby. Maybe not a great addition to your collection but thanks for letting us tag along on your dirty project. Better you than me. 😂

I washed my legos once. I used dawn for emulsifier and a bit of laundry detergent for solvent . I dried em on a bed sheet outside

I've cleaned Lego in zippered laundry bags in my trash can outside on soak with bleach and dawn. Rinsing with a hose. Place any plastic in recycling ♻️.

I recognize multiple K'nex pieces in there, including some bricks which are directly compatible with Lego.

Well done! Not sure if I would have the courage to clean all that!!!👏👏

This looks like such a pain in the neck, but so satisfying ultimately. Oddly enjoyable content. Been enjoying all the sorting/organizing content recently.

it would be nice to hear the satisfying lego washing sounds!

Wow what a project but will be so worth it for all those spare pieces! Great video thanks Bricksie! 🎉😊

Thank you for sharing this!

Wow, a great video of a dirty job well done!

I use pinesol to clean this type of Lego. I have an old pasta strainer two piece pot so that I can strain it easily and do it in batches.

8:57 oo I need to get myself one of those! That would make cleaning LEGO so much easier!!!

i probably would have drilled holes in the corners of the tub they came in and did a pre-rinse with the showerhead, wait for the water to go clear and then dump them into a soak where i do all my sorting

I love investigating what sets are in there based off the assembled "chunks" of lego. at the beginning of the video, I noticed the roof from set 31079 was there. might be a cool little van to rebuild!

Always horrendous when there's liquid or something sticky in a Lego tub

My hero. I’m glad I’m not the only one who cleans my second hand Lego.

Dude…. Put em in the dishwasher in a laundry bag!!! And then the washing machine….

oh god, all those bionicle pieces, I'm so jealous

love the videos!

You my friend have alot of patience

You did a good job😁👍

salad spinners work wonders to help as an initial drying prior to putting it on a towel :)

I'm glad that Lego now sells a "small palm leaf" but those look like the vintage bigger ones. I love the old flexible palm trunks, too. Maybe there are some in there. You might be able to put together a few vintage palm trees.

Oh man. Loads of dirt. Hopefully you will be able to change that into money 😅

This was oddly satisfying to watch. 😂

Saw an old Paradisa sail floating by in the tub shots. I hope that ends up on the beach in the new city!

Oooh that little plastic printed sail is from the vintage Paradiso beach set.

A large salad spinner would get most of the water off before air drying.

There's some cool Paradiso parts

This actually looks like fun to me. You could pay me to do this but, honestly, I'd do it for free. I think I was meant to be an archaeologist. I've professionally cleaned enough gross bathrooms and litter boxes so that this would be no big deal.

I just bought a 50lb bulk lot and found a Thrawn in it. Still digging through trying to find the hair piece but I was pretty stoked!

yep buying bulk is best way to go and especially old grand mom selling her kids stuff she doesn’t know value of but good job and time is money but if find the right sellers it’s totally worth it and have my own build a brick walls from finding amazing cheap lego cache and sometimes not real dirty even but def need get fresh. take care and looking forward to my purchases from your show yesterday. take care and keep on bricking

Put it in a fine mesh bag and put it in the washing machine with a few towels on a gentle setting.

They make this little tiny screens that go in your drain. So not even hair can go through it and whenever the water goes out or if it gets clogged up by the water is running, you could just pick the hair out and throw it in the trash and it’ll keep going Press fits in there so there’s no liquid at the water is absolutely gotta go through the screen or nowhere else they make them for your bathroom and your sink ones are removable. You may be able to get pressfit ones for your sink as well.

Wow impressive

Try to put the original bionicles together, like tahu, kopaka and lewa. They are like 10-15 bucks a piece. Also saw a red pakari mask (onua) its worth around 8-10 bucks!

I saw a Paradisa Surf Sail which is a nice piece if the rest of the set is there.

such a huge task so time consuming, we work with hoarders but never seem to get any lego lol, i do buy in bulk of fb a lot though great video mate.

I would have taken the non-lego bits. Not everyone can afford Lego. It would have been great to clean and donate to a community kids club.

I'm just amazed by how you navigated out of the bathroom. That would be worse than walking on hot coals (presumably).

The water reminds me of when my ex would take baths… he showered/ bathed every other day, yet the water always looked disgusting.

Anyone else keep feeling nervous about that heater vent?

I have just started my Lego collecting and I was wondering if I should get a bulk just to cheaply pad out my pieces. Now I am not so sure. I do plan to 3d print altered Lego parts for some custom shapes or the like.

I do see a few Knex pieces i tend to collect that now and then. (i also stockpile any lego i find to maybe be able to resell it or give it to a freind).

I recently cleaned 10lbs of lego by doing 3 separate loads in a drawstring bag through the washer. worked super well the dirt came flying right off.

Holy cow that’s a lot of Lego , I love cleaning but wow 👌👌

I saw a Jedi interceptor wind shield inside there! Not insane but pretty cool! 11:05

Cool (but disgusting) haul! I think I saw some pieces for a jedi Starfighter, ARC-170, Toa Mata Tahu, Kopaka, Onua, the Boxor & Makuta

In my experience with sorting things you want from things you don't, it's easier to remove the things you want leaving only the things you don't at the end. Other way round and you are looking again and again at the same things , which is kinda inefficient.

Bought some used lego, used the laundry bags suggested earlier, layed it out to dry. Much easier. Sorting it was the hard part.

It might have been easier to go the opposite way and pick out the legit Lego and throw it in the tub leaving the off-brand bricks on the floor.

I used gloves call: magic silicone dishwashing scrubber. I grabbed a bunch of lego from the bathtub and crumb them between the gloves. Work very well

My mom used to wash our Legos when we were kids. She would put al of it in pillow cases in the washing machine and then let it air dry

I've literally had a bin of gross (but awesome vintage) Lego in my shed for years now that I just don't want to deal with. Looks like they swept their house up and dumped it in their Lego box! 🤢

Are you going to have a laundry tub sink in the new warehouse space?

Wow, where did all this lego come from? Donated or bought? Yours or a viewer?

"I don't know how long the liquid was in there." "It sat in my garage for a year." So, of all the time that the liquid was in there, you caused at least one year?

Hmm. Why not wash ALL of it up front. Then sift through it once it’s clean?

Glad you did this but that must have been gross RIP to all the fallen bricks

I noticed a fair amount of old pink in the lot, not sure how useful it is, but it tends to be fairly rare now.

You can ontact duckbricks for the bionicle parts

Quite a few knex pieces in there too I see. I wonder how many sets of Lego are in there and how many are still complete. Didn’t know you can wash lego in really hot water.

8:00 Seems like tasty water

Looks like the tub needs a good bleaching. LOL

Do you wanna build a snow man 😂💀

if you ever have really nasty or moldy once again you can add a little vinegar

Saw a little bit of bionicle in thereeee

Could use the bunch of tires to make a kart circuit

That really is not that dirty, next time someone suggested net bag and also disassemble first and only do a 1 gallon bucket at a time. Just easier.

The bionicle masks are worth money! I saw at least one red one.

How long time is the renovation of the new place gonna take/how soon will you start filming the creation of lego things there?

Hi, I have a question. What is the difference between washing the Legos by hand vs. placing Legos into a big wash bag. And washing it in the washer machine? I seen several people do this, but I don’t understand the difference between one versus the other. The washing bag does not allow the legos to come out of the bag while being wash in the washer machine. So, there are no lost legos. What do people prefer?

I feel you pain!! I have so much more to clean and sort How does lego even get sticky?

Man I have bought boxes from goodwill that were really bad. I feel the nastiness in this video. So, I bought some metal and plastic baskets/bins that were porous to help with cleaning but will allow water to empty out and keep the bricks inside. Place all dirty bricks in the basket and then put in the tub. It makes it so much easier to get the stuff out of the tub as well as change the water easier and not worry about losing some down the drain. Then use dish soap and vinegar to clean and de-stink the bricks. One thing of note is that temperature is important as well. Temperatures greater than 100-degrees F will lead to warpage of the bricks.

do you wash all second hand acquisitions or just when it is obvious that it needs it?

Wow lots if legos out of the landfill. Did the stickers stay on the lego with hot water?