# How often do you clean your cube?



## koreancuber (Mar 21, 2010)

I know it has been discussed before, but I couldn't find any polls. So, here it goes: How often do you clean your cube?


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## dannyz0r (Mar 21, 2010)

Annually.


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## ianini (Mar 21, 2010)

Whenever my cubes start to slow down. And that time is always indefinite.


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## miniGOINGS (Mar 21, 2010)

Well. Come to think of it. After the breaking in phase, I don't really clean them out at all.


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## 4Chan (Mar 21, 2010)

Usually every 2 weeks.
Also followed by some spraying of CRC.


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## koreancuber (Mar 21, 2010)

4Chan said:


> Usually every 2 weeks.
> Also followed by some spraying of CRC.



Just a pop and spray or the disassemble and spray method?


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## 4Chan (Mar 21, 2010)

I have my own technique.


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## koreancuber (Mar 21, 2010)

4Chan said:


> I have my own technique.



Please? :confused:


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## endless_akatsuki (Mar 22, 2010)

I hardly ever clean my cubes. Which I really should consider doing.


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## koreancuber (Mar 22, 2010)

Me too. I'm getting to lazy. When I get my cubes, I start cleaning them every week. Then, after two weeks or so, I clean them every 2 weeks. And on and on, until I don't clean them at all.


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## CubesOfTheWorld (Mar 22, 2010)

Only after sanding/modding


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## tfray94 (Mar 22, 2010)

I never cleaned my cubes except when I wipe them off before lubing them.


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## kprox1994 (Mar 22, 2010)

I clean my cubes about once a week, I can't stand the dust in there. And I lube them about every 2 weeks or so.


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## Andreaillest (Mar 22, 2010)

I only clean my cube when I feel it's getting slower.


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## ben1996123 (Mar 22, 2010)

When ever I need to.


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## koreancuber (Mar 22, 2010)

@Ben1996123: and that is?


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## TioMario (Mar 22, 2010)

I open it when I feel it is getting slow and if I see too much dust in it I clean it


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## negative_earth (Mar 22, 2010)

mmm... only when i have the time to do that...

i have 9 3x3x3 cubes...

if one feels a bit slow, i switch to the other cube 

so, whenever i feel i'm not doing anything, i dissemble them wipe it with a cloth sprayed with goo gone (and i use cotton buds for the corners), let it dry for a bit, and spray the pieces with crc / jig a loo and then i assemble them

3 months of cubing, i only did that 2 times


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## Rayne (Mar 22, 2010)

I've only cleaned out my vaseline lubricated cube and sprayed it with CRC, but my good cube that was never vaseline lubed hasn't ever been cleaned. Should I start cleaning it, and if I do, how do I do it and should I relubricate regularly too?


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## SebCube (Mar 22, 2010)

koreancuber said:


> @Ben1996123: and that is?


When dirt starts to appear LOL (a joke  ).


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## iasimp1997 (Mar 22, 2010)

Cleaning isn't necessary.
I clean mine whenever I mod it.


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## Zane_C (Mar 22, 2010)

Not often, maby when it pops and I see a hair in the core.


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## hyunchoi98 (Mar 22, 2010)

I often disassemble my 3x3s 'cause i'm bored and i have nothing to do.
When they look dirty like if it's black in there, (white cube) after a few more weeks (because i am lazy) i take the cube, and stick it in the dishwasher without the core.


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## dada222 (Mar 22, 2010)

Only when I need to lube them... not that it helps anyway... my cubes are abysmal...


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## riffz (Mar 22, 2010)

Definitely less than every month.


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## Imperatrix (Mar 22, 2010)

Every month, only to find a lot of black gunk in my cores and its icky to wipe off XD;


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## Khartaras (Mar 22, 2010)

Imperatrix said:


> Every month, only to find a lot of black gunk in my cores and its icky to wipe off XD;



Do you use vaseline to lube?


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## cincyaviation (Mar 22, 2010)

ive only cleaned one of my cubes once, otherwise i just don't bother


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## vgbjason (Mar 22, 2010)

I might clean cubes occasionally, but only if a really good cube is really dirty. In which case it's probably not a really good cube.


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## ZamHalen (Mar 23, 2010)

Never i just re-lube.


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## FatBoyXPC (Mar 23, 2010)

I clean them when I decide to lubricate them. I usually end up with bad luck though when cleaning / lubing them. For the record, I used to never actually clean it. I started out with WD40ing my cubes, then I read some stuff online about how bad it was, bought some silicone spray and it worked great. I never have done a full out soap and water clean. I used to only clean it with just a paper towel wiping off the cube dust on the inside (and removing hair, etc). Now I usually wet the paper towel with water just to make cleaning it a bit easier.

I used to only spray some CRC into an edge and work it in (storebought cubes). I tried the disassemble and spray sweep one time, ended up getting dried silicone on my CS tiles and hated it, then haven't sprayed like that in quite awhile, until the other night.

This Type A / Type B hybrid I'm using has seen it's days, and I've only had it a few months. I started out lubing it only with an edge spray and work it in. Then I went to Florida, got sand in my cube (don't ever take your good cubes out onto a beach unless you really want to end up cleaning it out often), and had to clean it out. I decided to try out some Jig A Loo since I was going to have to buy more of something (why not get something I haven't tried?). I usually just sprayed it into an edge, work it in. It quickly made a lot of cube dust. I thought everything was going to be good then, but man it just felt not fast, but at least it felt smooth and I really think it helped round out the edges of the pieces inside the cube. Since Florida (in december) I hadn't cleaned it again until last Thursday. I decided to try a disassemble and sweep spray and man it worked wonders, until I was letting a guy scramble it for me and then it popped and it went all over the garage floor. The cube ended up real dirty, felt like it did in Florida, so I decided to clean and lube up last night, same method, but a bit more lube to see what would happen, and my overall opinion is that I sprayed too much and only after really working it hard last night and today (a lot of furious scrambling) that it got nice and smooth. What I like about this is that it's not real fast (like my girlfriend's storebought that I lubed, it's real quick), but it's nice and smooth and has little resistance. 

I also noticed that the cleaner my cube is (well more like the less resistant it is to turn a face) that the fewer times it pops. Is that a mental thing or just how it is?


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## obelisk477 (Jan 30, 2015)

I'm gonna bump this because we are generally using different cubes and types of lubricant nowadays, so maybe that changes the answer. How often do you guys clean out your cubes?


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## lerenard (Jan 30, 2015)

For whatever reason, my Weilong seems to slow down every 3-400 solves, so I clean it fairly often.


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## obelisk477 (Jan 30, 2015)

lerenard said:


> For whatever reason, my Weilong seems to slow down every 3-400 solves, so I clean it fairly often.



Do you use alot of Maru? I started it using it alot frequently and its almost like it's slowing it down more than it used to.


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## sneaklyfox (Jan 30, 2015)

Maybe twice a year, depending on how often I use my cube. Since I have a few cubes I regularly use and so many new cubes are coming out so fast, I haven't had to do much cube cleaning. It also depends a lot on where you keep your cubes, where you bring them, whether you throw them around in sand, if you drop them on nice clean table or dirty school floor, whether you eat while cubing, have pets around, etc. Since I am nice to my cubes and mostly I'm the only one who touches them they are pretty clean. If I accidentally drop them on the floor they may pick up a long strand of hair then I have to clean them out. My 50mm Zhanchi stays in my coat pocket or in my purse with junk and even though I keep it in a cube bag, it still picks up stuff so it needs more cleaning than any of my other cubes.


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## lerenard (Jan 30, 2015)

obelisk477 said:


> Do you use alot of Maru? I started it using it alot frequently and its almost like it's slowing it down more than it used to.



Differential oil. And it's not that it gets "slow" as much as it just locks up a lot more and feels less smooth.


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## biscuit (Jan 30, 2015)

I would like to point out that you bumped a thread last replied to IN 2010! Really? It is almost 5 YEARS since it was last posted in. In this case I would say a new thread would have been in order.


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## FailCuber (Jan 30, 2015)

biscuit said:


> I would like to point out that you bumped a thread last replied to IN 2010! Really? It is almost 5 YEARS since it was last posted in. In this case I would say a new thread would have been in order.



He bumped it because it was necessary and what is wrong? Come on, he posted it with a reason.


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## ChickenWrap (Jan 30, 2015)

biscuit said:


> I would like to point out that you bumped a thread last replied to IN 2010! Really? It is almost 5 YEARS since it was last posted in. In this case I would say a new thread would have been in order.



No, you are wrong. Also, go read his post, it explains his reasoning.


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## biscuit (Jan 30, 2015)

I understand his reasoning and I have nothing against having a thread of this nature. BUT it is 5 years old... Like I said make a new one. If I am coming off a little mean my apologies it's just that I have never seen a forum where bumping a thread this old is ok. If it is considered fine here my bad. That being said I still stand behind what I said.


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## Makarov (Jan 30, 2015)

In this forum I have seen people bashed for reviving an old thread, AND people bashed for making new threads about old topics. You can't win.

In response to the topic I generally clean it out when there starts to look like a lot of gunk on the pieces. Then I add a very small amount of lube again. It's only once every few months if that much.


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## Alphalpha (Jan 30, 2015)

Makarov said:


> In this forum I have seen people bashed for reviving an old thread, AND people bashed for making new threads about old topics. You can't win.
> 
> In response to the topic I generally clean it out when there starts to look like a lot of gunk on the pieces. Then I add a very small amount of lube again. It's only once every few months if that much.



Double Ditto


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## explodification (Jan 30, 2015)

I am obsessive cube cleaner. I clean all five of them every three days or so. Does anybody know a way to permanently get rid of the black dust that forms in the cube after solving? It's really annoying.

This habit follows me, too. I'm trying to fall asleep, but I hear it... the voice...


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## obelisk477 (Jan 30, 2015)

Makarov said:


> In this forum I have seen people bashed for reviving an old thread, AND people bashed for making new threads about old topics. You can't win.
> 
> In response to the topic I generally clean it out when there starts to look like a lot of gunk on the pieces. Then I add a very small amount of lube again. It's only once every few months if that much.



Yeah, its bashed either way, so I use other criteria: less thread clutter and consolidation of information.


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## SpeedCubeReview (Jan 30, 2015)

On that note. I might do something to set it up, but every couple months I will take them all apart and clean/ lube it. It's more of a calming project for than trying to sup-
up my cubes


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## Ordway Persyn (Feb 2, 2015)

biscuit said:


> I understand his reasoning and I have nothing against having a thread of this nature. BUT it is 5 years old... Like I said make a new one. If I am coming off a little mean my apologies it's just that I have never seen a forum where bumping a thread this old is ok. If it is considered fine here my bad. That being said I still stand behind what I said.



It's fine here. In fact its encouraged that if a post already exists on here that you post on that thread than make a new one.

But anyway, I clean my cubes whenever they feels slower than they should


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## CriticalCubing (Feb 2, 2015)

Makarov said:


> In this forum I have seen people bashed for reviving an old thread, AND people bashed for making new threads about old topics. You can't win.
> 
> In response to the topic I generally clean it out when there starts to look like a lot of gunk on the pieces. Then I add a very small amount of lube again. It's only once every few months if that much.


You sir nailed it  I also got bashed for creating a new thread in a proper section but instead of posting my review, I posted someone else's review...

Back on topic I clean my cube every 3 months or so. My cleaning method is not like taking a paper towel and soap and water and wiping the pieces. My method does 100% cleaning to cube with soap and water and tooth brush which I use to reach hard to reach areas which you normally do not clean properly with paper towel.


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## brian724080 (Feb 2, 2015)

lerenard said:


> Differential oil. And it's not that it gets "slow" as much as it just locks up a lot more and feels less smooth.



My Aolong (and previous cubes) do that too, and I found it's mostly a tensioning issue. I don't clean my cubes all that often if I've been using it for a while.



biscuit said:


> I understand his reasoning and I have nothing against having a thread of this nature. BUT it is 5 years old... Like I said make a new one. If I am coming off a little mean my apologies it's just that I have never seen a forum where bumping a thread this old is ok. If it is considered fine here my bad. That being said I still stand behind what I said.



No, you should never make a new thread if what you want to say/ask is related, or almost identical to a thread that is already there.


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