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Caring for your vinyl doll

  • Vinyl absorbs stains very easily. Keep your doll away from pens, markers and crayons.

  • Vinyl also absorbs smells very easily. Keep your doll away from cigarette smoke, fire smoke, cooking smells etc.

  • Keep your doll out of direct sunlight.

  • Carefully brush your doll's hair with a soft baby brush, to keep it dust free.

  • If you do get a stain on your doll, it can sometimes be removed with the following, listed in order of strength - from mildest to strongest:

    olive oil, Vaseline, toothpaste, eucalyptus oil, (for more information see my Reborning Tips page), Goof Off*, acetone*, 10% benzoyl peroxide acne cream (5% benzoyl peroxide acne cream, also works - available from supermarkets in Australia. This is all I have used, as I haven't been able to find the 10% stuff). 10% benzoyl peroxide acne cream may need to be left on for some time to bleach out the stain, but beware, it may bleach your doll's skin, although this has not happened to any doll I have used the acne cream on. Apply the acne cream and put the affected area, under a lamp or in sunlight. Be careful not to have the lamp too close or it might scorch the vinyl. I usually leave the acne cream on for 2 hours and check to see if it's worked. If the stain is still there, put some more cream on, and return to lamp or sunshine for another hour.

    *Dangerous chemicals! - Only use outside and have rubber or plastic gloves, and wear a mask.

  • For normal cleaning, you can carefully wash your doll with a soft cloth and gentle soap and warm water. Be careful of eyelashes, they come out fairly easily. If they do, you can carefully, with an 00 size artist paintbrush, apply a thin strip of water-based craft glue to the base of the eyelash (or to the doll itself). The lash can be then be pushed carefully back in with a metal nail file. But be careful not to let it scratch the eye. Remove any glue from the eyeball with a damp cotton bud.

    For further information on applying eyelashes, click on my Reborning Tips page.

  • To clean eyes - Brush eyeball with soft paint brush, then wipe over with a small amount of machine or clock oil on a cotton bud. You could also use clear baby oil.