Okay. I finally tried out Blacken-It on a set of Friuls the other night. Decent stuff, if not the wonder chemical I’ve seen it billed as.
But even after a day of drying outside in the Texas heat, my fingers still come away with brown/gray residue whenever I touch the tracks. Same with any paper towels or anything else that comes in contact.
How do I get rid of this? Soak them in water? Spray them with dullcote? I’m not too keen on getting crud all over my shelves when this build is done.
I’ve had to soak them in soda water to stop the blackening process, then clean them by putting them al in a baggie and gently shaking together. Once this is done dullcote works to keep the coloring correct, or I use pastels and washes to do the same thing.
It sounds like you have to stop the chemical process. Washing it in water will help but is it an acid? If acid then an alkaline will work like plain soap. If it’s an alkaline then an acid will help like lemon juice or vinegar.
I think that stuff might be an alkaline so the baking soda will work and/or some plain detergent/soap and water to soak it in. As long as the chemical process is stopped. Anyway I would use a lot of water to wash anything/everything off before I put anything else on or a sealer.
Then I would seal it all with dullcoat.
I read someone used that stuff and the tracks disintegrated, was it you?