If you aren't very careful with your dolls you will eventually end up with stained vinyl or plastic. This comes from prolonged exposure to fabrics or even other plastics, normally of a dark color. In my experience the worst offenders seem to be blacks and reds, but I think one needs to be careful of any dark or exceptionally saturated fabric.
What I avoid is long term contact. If you have a large collection and your dolls will be dressed in the same thing for months and years due to the sheer logistical difficulty of redressing them more often, then that isn't going to work. In your case then I would make sure any fabric with dark colors is lined, and avoid shoes that expose the doll directly to dark colors as well. "Suede" dolls shoes can be a problem, as can ones made of rubber or plastic.
What if you end up with stained dolls? We all do eventually. I've developed my own variation on the old trick of using acne cream containing Benzoyl peroxide (see the products pictured below for examples), and it works well enough that I thought I'd share it.
Buy a cream with 10% Benzoyl peroxide--I use Oxy brand, but I think the main thing to worry about is one, the 10% Benzoyl peroxide, and two, that you select a cream. A cream will stay in place, which is obviously important as the chemicals need to stay in contact with the stain.
The other factor here is heat. When I originally heard about this treatment I was told to rub cream on the stain then place the doll in a window that gets a lot of sun. Leave the doll there for 2-3 weeks, replacing the cream daily.
Okay, way too much time and trouble. Add to that the risk of fading the doll's vinyl in general...maybe something that won't happen but why risk it?
Here's what I do. Put some cream on the affected spots--use a lot so it is completely covered. Then, wrap some aluminum foil around the wet cream. This has two purposes. First is that it will keep the cream from evaporating and drying out as fast. Second, it helps focus heat.
We're not going to use a sunny window here. What you need to do is to is to place the foil-wrapped part of the doll directly on a heat source. Obviously it can't be too hot, and it just happens that electronics give off about the right amount of heat. In days past I would lay my stained doll on the vents on the top of my CRT monitor. This worked great. It would remove a stain sometimes in less than 24 hours! Today we mostly use LED monitors, but if you still have a CRT monitor, by all means use it. LED monitors have a very narrow strip of cooling vents, but depending on the doll's size and the area of the stain you need to place in contact with the vent, they may work. Other options include the power transformers that usually come with printers, scanners an so on. These also get hot. For this article I used one of these transformers. It removed a mild stain in less than 48 hours. This may sound silly but these heat sources are safe and won't get too hot.
If you aren't comfortable with the monitor idea, another option is to simply place the foil-wrapped parts under a desk lamp. You want to be able to get the bulb close enough to warm the foil. Now, an incandescent bulb is hotter than than a computer monitor, so you do have to be careful. The extra heat will remove the stain even faster, but don't let the doll get so hot you damage it. I also just used this method, and it is extremely fast, but you must monitor the doll so it doesn't get too hot! If you are a forgetful person, you might be better off laying the doll in a sunny window and leaving it there for 2-3 weeks to let the sun do the work.
A doll with stains on her shoulder:
Okay, let's recap:
- Avoidance--dark colors, unlined fabrics or shoes, and dark plastics like Barbie shoes are to be avoided!
If that doesn't work, let's deal with the stain:
- get some acne cream with 10% Benzoyl peroxide
- apply it heavily to the stained doll
- wrap it with aluminum foil
- place the wrapped section in contact with a mild heat source
- check it once a day; the stain may be gone, and if not, you can apply more cream and wrap it back up
Any questions, corrections, or comments, please post a message to me on the forum's message board!
