Cleaning reloading dies, how often do you?

Interesting question that got some decent and some not so decent responses. I reload quite a lot, with the carbide die sets I generally just do an annual tear down, take them completely apart, check the threads, apply a little breakfree, change the primer pin, and put them back in the case. It's like any other tool, just a little preventative maintenance goes a long way.

I have quite a few steel dies that I use in a single arm press and unless I see any residue at the opening or case lube coming out of the vent hole I normally just wipe them with a small cloth and CLP two or three times a year then do a yearly tear down as well.

For the dies I use in the progressive loaders, those get cleaned after every 3000 to 4000 rounds, It's not fun getting a case stuck or having several cases marred or damaged due to debri. Before each use I make sure to check the deprimer tip, make sure the locking ring isn't loose, and when I'm done I try to do a quick visual for any issues. I may be doing more than others but after having some 338-06 cases get a shoulder ding due to a case lube buildup; this little PM program hasn't let that happen again.

I rarely clean my carbide pistol dies. I clean my centerfire dies every once in a while. All I do is take out the center section of the die and pull a larger diameter bore snake through it. Sometimes you get a little build-up of lube or random pieces of polishing medium that gets stuck up in there. That seems to be all it takes. To give you an idea, I loaded about 1,500 .223 rounds over the last month, and never found a need to clean the dies, though I do clean off the outside of the press and lightly oil the moving parts fairly often.

I really don't. My dies stay clean enough to do their job on the brass that is cleaned before using them.

I do keep a light coat of oil on the steel to keep them from rusting.

I mean, by the time I notice that they are no longer functioning correctly because I've reloaded so many thousands of rounds without ever thoroughly cleaning the dies, I'm sure I won't be too upset over the $22 to replace the collet sizer die, or $30 for a whole new set.

I don't reload, so take this with a grain of salt, but just like anything else firearm related, I'd clean it when it gets dirty or whenever it's seen heavy use, if only just to inspect it and ensure that nothing is damaged on it.

I clean them after each use. I spray Hornady One-Shot up into the dies and then let them sit a few minutes. The solution evaporates.

On my carbide dies I've never cleaned them and never felt the need to. On my older non carbide dies when ever the mood hits me.

All my pistol dies are carbide so I never clean them.

I clean them when they need cleaning.