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Dust can be a constant nightmare for LEGO fans that prefer to display their sets out in the open. Popular tools in the community include paint brushes, air-blowers and even washing and drying pieces & plates. The Clean My Bricks vacuum cleaner was designed specifically for cleaning your sets without having to disassemble them - and that's what we tested today. Is the Clean My Bricks vacuum cleaner worth buying?
Before we continue, we'd like to confirm that this is NOT a sponsored review, and the opinions in this review are entirely our own with no bias. We also did not inform the Clean My Bricks team at any point that we would be conducting this review.
We tested the green CleanMyBricks Mini Vacuum Cleaner. Image source: CleanMyBricks.com.
If you're in Australia, the CleanMyBricks Mini Vacuum Cleaner will set you back about $75, assuming you don't have a discount code. Even if you're in a rush, it's worth checking their Instagram or making a quick Google search to look for discounts. While their website advises shipping times of 7-12 business days, our CleanMyBricks vacuum cleaner took 33 days to arrive from the day of purchase.
The vacuum cleaner itself was easy to assemble, and the parts were packaged neatly in the box. For this review, we tested the vacuum cleaner on the LEGO 76139 Batmobile (1989) and the LEGO 75252 Star Wars: UCS Imperial Star Destroyer. Both sets had accrued between 3-4 years worth of dust while out on display.
Pictured above is the 1989 Batmobile, coated in dust. We used the CleanMyBricks vacuum cleaner on it with the brush nozzle, spending 6 minutes to make sure we gave it a thorough clean.
After 6 minutes, we stopped vacuuming and snapped the above photo. The Batmobile was substantially cleaner than before. It should be noted that the front of the Batmobile is tight and it is difficult to reach some areas as the brush nozzle is too thick to reach in. However, we were able to remove around roughly 98% of the dust overall without having to disassemble any part of the set.
After vacuuming the Batmobile, we charged the CleanMyBricks vacuum cleaner for around an hour before beginning work on the Star Destroyer. Unfortunately, the vacuum cleaner died after about 5 minutes of cleaning, and we had to wait another 2 hours to gain enough charge to finish cleaning the set.
As seen above, our Ultimate Collector's Series Star Destroyer was coated in enough dust to give the average mother permanent nightmares. The UCS Star Destroyer is also covered in numerous small pieces, many of which are fragile and easy to break off if not enough care is given. After vacuuming the set for roughly 10 minutes in total, we achieved the below results.
In the above images, the UCS Star Destroyer is noticeably far cleaner and shinier than before (save for a small patch of dust in the last photo, however that was our error and two seconds of using the vacuum made it disappear).
Perhaps one of the most impressive parts of the cleaning experience was that the nozzle did not knock or break-off a single stud on the set, despite the fragility of many of the griebling parts. It was relatively easy to use the vacuum cleaner and clearly made a big difference.
Overall score: ★★★★☆
While the vacuum cleaner is very easy to assemble and use, the charging time and overall battery life of the vacuum cleaner is not impressive. Our vacuum cleaner took roughly four hours to gain a full charge, and when testing on the Imperial Star Destroyer it died in about 4 minutes despite being charged for roughly half an hour. Other important information to note is that a USB Type A charging cable is included, but no plug to insert into a wall charging socket - so you may need to purchase an adapter or use a computer, laptop or other plug you may already own.
The $75 price point may be considered too high by some, but accounting for inflation and the use a LEGO collector will get out of this vacuum cleaner, the price does seem reasonably fair. It's also worth pointing out there are frequent discounts advertised on the Clean My Bricks website and Instagram page, so you may be able to pick one up at a better price.
If you have a large LEGO collection and need a better tool for cleaning your sets, we would recommend this product. Just be mindful you may only be able to clean a few large sets before the vacuum cleaner needs another charge.
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I'm still on the fence about spending money on something that a brush and a cloth can do in the same amount of time. I've found the classic baby hairbrush or makeup application brushes are perfect for cleaning hard-to-reach spots, and they don't require charging time. 😝
Been waiting on a review of this vacuum because I had serious doubts. Wife bought a similar looking tool from Temu and they’re awful. The suction power just doesn’t cut it, and charging is too long. This review comes out slightly better than I expected but I still don’t think this is the go to tool. I think a really soft brush would probably achieve similar results and don’t need any charging.