Rail head maintenance
After cleaning rails l put very small droplets of hair trimmer oil about every foot then pass a loco back and forward over to coat the rail head surface this helps with keeping the track clean for lot longer l find it does not affect DC or DCC
Once the rail heads are cleaned with solvent and dried off, I would personally refrain from treating them with anything “wet” that could then act as a dust ‘magnet’.
From previous experience I have always been reluctant to use a track cleaning rubber on my Peco nickel silver track as it is abrasive and fine scores the rail head. I hand paint sleepers and rail sides to avoid having to use abrasive material (tedious I know). I watched a video some months ago (the chap was a bit maniacal but watchable!) the object of which was to explain that you should regard the rails as part of an electric circuit, cleaning of track should not be done using abrasives nor any cleaning products with a water content for a final polish. His recommendation was to use a switch contact cleaner. The product I use is made by the WD 40 people “specialist fast drying contact cleaner” – the crucial thing is that it leaves no residue at all. The “killer” is that it is a spray so has to be applied using a lint free cloth. The good news is that my stock runs with no stuttering on starting and with very good slow running Using either Morley or Gaugemaster controllers.
Thank you David this seems to tie in with me using clipper oil as that dries as well l will look out for that thank you