What is Doll Science?

Doll rescue is fun, saves money.  It is a good way for girls to learn about polymer science.  It is also environmentally friendly.  It doesn't cost much to fix up a doll if you use my techniques.  The initial purchase of the cleaning supplies will cost a little money, but they give you enough to rescue dozens of dolls.  If you cannot afford the special supplies, Dawn dishwashing detergent is pretty safe but might not work as well.  Taking a doll that was ready for the garbage can and turning her into a doll that you or someone else can use is an example of how good chemistry can help you be green.  It means that the doll won't end up in a land fill.  It means that new plastic won't be needed to make a new doll.  It's thrifty and it's fun.  What more can you ask?

I rescue used dolls and fix them up.  Usually I give them away to girls who like AG dolls but can't afford to buy them.  Some I keep for myself, like my first rescue ZoarZoar.  I have a few rules about this.  First, I don't buy new heads or new wigs.  The fun part for me is taking a sad-looking doll and making her better with my own hands.  There are lots of sites that tell you how to do this.  Some don't use good science and tell you to do things that can damage the doll in years to come.  I read all about plastic dolls, which are usually polyvinyl chloride, and learned how they are made and how to take care of them.  This is what I call Doll Science.

I use Dawn dishwashing detergent to wash the hair then an unscented fabric softener soak.

I clean my dolls bodies ONLY with products from Twin Pines of Maine.  These products were designed by a polymer chemist and are safer for you dolls than most home remedies.  His name is Nicholas Hill and he wrote a book about dolls.  You can find the products and book on their website.

Check out Recusing ZoarZoar for a photostory of my first doll rescue.

Rescue Dolls-ZoarZoar

                                                        ZoarZoar's story:

ZoarZoar came from ebay.  This picture is from the e-bay sale in her old home.  Her former owner was a little girl who decided to be a doll hair dresser.  This must have been her first cut or maybe a goth style.

My daughter Lily, who knows a lot about AG dolls, thinks ZoarZoar started her life as the American Girl Molly.  Molly has braids and cutting them off could explain this weird cut.  ZoarZoar was probably left in a hot car or hot place too.  Her face is a little bit warped and you can see that the left eye socket is rounder than the right one. 

Vinyl dolls are a "thermoplastic." Thermoplastics can be melted down and remolded many times.  This means they can soften enough for the vinyl to move and change shape if left in hot places.  These really can't be fixed without reheating her and risking more damage.  (Even though you can remelt and remold polyvinylchloride plastic, it loses some strength each time you do it).  I decided not to try to soften and reshape her face because it might make her worse.  I thought she would look fine once she was cleaned up.  Check out the process below and I think you will agree.  (In case you are wondering about her name, I named her after the seller's e-bay profile name.  It seemed to fit her.)

ZoarZoar's hair was very uneven.  She didn't have many stains, but she had been played with and was dirty. Her legs were a little loose and floppy.  She did have a stain on the cloth body, that might be glue.  ZoarZoar's seller was very honest about ZoarZoar's condition.  This is important.  If you by an e-bay doll, read the description carefully and ask questions if you have any.  These are also pictures from ZoarZoar in her old home.

The first thing I did was take ZoarZoar's head off, remove her stuffing.  I decided her legs were not floppy enough to restring her.  (Restringing is a long process).  Instead I used the "hair tie" trick I found on many websites.  You just pull the leg strings up and wrap a hair tie aound the strings below the old crimp.  To be safe, it is best to use one of the "ouchless" hair ties that doesn't have any metal on it.  Metal can react with your dolls "skin" and turn it colors.  After that I restuffed Zoar Zoar with new fiberfill stuffing and put her head back on.

I washed ZoarZoar's arms and legs with Formula 911 from TwinPines.  I washed one limb at a time using a wet paper towel and rinsed it right away.  I was careful not to get her cloth body wet.  I washed tight spaces with a bit of paper towel folded over a toothpick.  For stubborn places, like between toes or edge of the mouth, I carefully used the round end of a flat toothpick without the paper towel.

I put vaseline on the painted parts of ZoarZoars face just to make sure they were not removed by the Formula 911.  I also covered her eyes before I washed her face and used a paper towel that I dipped in the cleaner.

I tried to get the stains from ZoarZoar's body with formula 911 but they wouldn't budge.  I really think they were dried glue or something like that.  Nothing I tried would soak into them but was making her body damp.  I decided they wouldn't show with clothes on and I didn't want to get her body any wetter.

Next I trimmed and washed her hair so it would be clean and flat for her final hair cut.  I worked slowly and carefully so I would not get her eyes wet or get the wig glue wet.  I dried it right away with a paper towel.  NEVER use heat to dry a dolls hair.  It is plastic, not real hair and it will melt. 

I decided that Zoar Zoar needed to look pretty next.  I cut her hair.  In truth, I'm not much better at hair cuts than Zoar Zoar's previous owner.  The only difference is that I'm an adult and so I have more patience.. and probably thought about how to cut it a little more before I tried.  I cut it longer at first and slowly shortened and layered it.

So the next part of pretty was to pierce her ears.  I had read on other web sites that you could do this with a thumbtack.  I decided to use a push pin instead.  It's not easy and you have to push pretty hard.  This makes holes the size of earrings for humans.  The pin tends to snap down suddenly when it breaks through and you can see the dent left in her ear by the red part hitting so hard.  They went away by themselves later.

Some doll supply companies sell a special doll ear piercing kit that will make bigger holes.  These will fit the doll earrings that American Girl and some other companies sell.  It makes a big hole and I was worried that ZoarZoar was a little old for that rough of treatment.

I decided to repaint her lips and eyebrows.  I used acrylic paint that I already had.   I mixed the paint with Fabric Medium.  Nicholas Hill (Twin Pines) says this will prevent the paint from bleeding into the liquid plasticizer in the doll and spreading.  In this picture, her lips are the right eyebrow are repained.  The left eyebrow is the original.  See what a big difference this makes?  I also added some freckles with a toothpick dipped into the brown paint.  The nice thing about the fabric medium, is that the wet paint will come off easily if you make a mistake.  I know this because I did it a few times on her lips.  I did my painting with a tooth pick and a very fine point brush.

Finally her hair last hair trim and a little silicon spray to make her hair less fly away and shinier.  Take her picture with sunlight and wow!  What a makeover! ZoarZoar before on left and after on right.  She can wear her bangs feathered back, like in this picture, or straight across, like the picture below.

ZoarZoar lives in my quilting room.  This is her first spot in a home made outfit.  She has a nicer spot now that I will show you sometime in a future post when I talk about making things for your doll using craft techniques with leftover fabric scraps.   Yes, there is a little science in these crafts and some more green ideas.  So come back and visit each month to see the new posts!

Also visit my daughter's blog, agpixplace.blogspot.com  & web site agpixplace.net to see more cool doll stuff including her e-bay rescue of Chance... who also had a really unfortunate hair cut and a felt tip marker bathing suit.