I received a new Lee 452-200-SWC 6 cavity Yesterday. Lee's cleaning and lubrication instructions seem to have changed a bit, but I never followed them any way
I used dish washing liquid, an old toothbrush, and hot water to scrub it thoroughly. Lubed with Stihl synthetic 2 cycle oil. Well, I still had a too high rate of culls with those scarab beetle patterns on them. Got about three hundred keepers and decided to repeat the cleaning befoe the next try.
Same cleaning this AM, except I followed the rinse of the detergent with a liberal soaking in a quart of hot water plus a teaspoon of Lemishine citric acid crystals for half an hour. Relubed with same product. The mould dropped almost all keepers right from the get-go, except when I bungled the pour. Could just be the second wash, but then again......
prs