Sanding off mold spots... Help me, please... T_T

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Glitter symbols do also rust, you know.  So sometimes it's that.

The problem with stain removal is, usually by the time that the stain appears on the plastic, internal chemistry has already taken its toll.  The actual dye in the plastic has been consumed by the bacteria/mold spores.  After you kill them (if they are still active, less likely with dry storage conditions) and you remove the dark stain (which is the waste product of the organism), sorry, that doesn't restore the colour of the pony. 

Acne cream and all variants of, are VERY VERY VERY bad for ponies - do NOT use!!!! Some dolls react well to it, others not so much.  But decades of collectors have learned, DO NOT USE ON PONIES!

Sunfading is your best bet for removing stains with little damage.  You just have to check on the pony often.  Sometimes more than once in a day.  That website has tutorials on the best way to set up a sunfade.

And also, most importantly, these MLP are continually aging hunks of plastic.  NOTHING will stop the process of breakdown.  If you keep them in close-to-museum conditions, the breakdown will slow.  But it won't STOP.  Try not to do more long-term damage to the plastic with lots of chemicals and sanding and painting and such.  Enjoy your ponies for what they are!  And celebrate their birthdays and all their freckles! 

[Baby Sugarberry]

And also, most importantly, these MLP are continually aging hunks of plastic.  NOTHING will stop the process of breakdown.  If you keep them in close-to-museum conditions, the breakdown will slow.  But it won't STOP.  Try not to do more long-term damage to the plastic with lots of chemicals and sanding and painting and such.  Enjoy your ponies for what they are!  And celebrate their birthdays and all their freckles! 

This.  As someone trained in the museum / preservation field, non-professional restoration tends to do FAR more harm than good.  Plastics are a top contender for 'material that does not age gracefully' and there's not nearly as much research into conservation of plastics as there is for say, wood, metal, paper or minerals.  Part of the problem is 'plastic' is not a single uniform thing but thousands of slightly varying amalgamations, each with their own unique challenges.

Your ponies, your choice - but go forward with the knowledge that trying to 'fix' them may well cause you worse problems down the road.

[Nemesis]

Aww... Well, I guess I'll just cut my losses then. :/ I wouldn't want to worsen the situation, and pony vinyl seems like sensitive stuff compared to other dolls I've worked with.

I didn't do much sanding--you can't really see or feel the spot I tested it out on. I'll stick to vinegar for disinfecting, then just fill the little gaps in the cutie mark with Pearlex. As chemicals and paints go, that's probably about the mildest stuff, right? (I did use a dab of ModPodge to hold the glitter--is that relatively pony-friendly? I figured it would be safer than the Liquitex sealers I use for doll customs.)

It's a shame there isn't a sure "cure", but I guess 30+ years IS a pretty long time for soft vinyl to stay minty. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

[lostpony]

ModPodge is a well-accepted material to use on ponies.

Some time ago I mentioned that there is a cure for all problems with ponies:  dynamite.  Makes all the problems go away instantly and permanently.  Um, don't try at home or on favorite ponies.

Speaking of museum preservation, I have a friend who invested a few thousand $ in a freeze-drying machine.  I wonder if I could sneak a pony into one of his batches and see what happens...haha he'd never let me do that but it's something I don't think we've tried yet?  I think just about everything has been tried by someone, sometime.

The misperception that plastic is a permanent, ever-unchanging material is a curious leftover probably from its introduction marketing as a miracle material....but it's wholly untrue.  Plastic is about as ever-changing as any material can get, made from some of the oldest organic matter on this planet held together in fragile balance and easily degraded (formed not from the dinosaur age at all, but billions of years ago).  Its study is something educated professionals have barely scratched the surface of and need to progress greatly, and those of us bumbling around trying to fix ponies have the equivalent of a single-LED flashlight with low batteries in a boundless eternal night.  Trying to deal with these material condition problems as a collector is, to me, most humbling.

[Nemesis]

ModPodge is a well-accepted material to use on ponies.

Some time ago I mentioned that there is a cure for all problems with ponies:  dynamite.  Makes all the problems go away instantly and permanently.  Um, don't try at home or on favorite ponies.

Speaking of museum preservation, I have a friend who invested a few thousand $ in a freeze-drying machine.  I wonder if I could sneak a pony into one of his batches and see what happens...haha he'd never let me do that but it's something I don't think we've tried yet?  I think just about everything has been tried by someone, sometime.

The misperception that plastic is a permanent, ever-unchanging material is a curious leftover probably from its introduction marketing as a miracle material....but it's wholly untrue.  Plastic is about as ever-changing as any material can get, made from some of the oldest organic matter on this planet held together in fragile balance and easily degraded (formed not from the dinosaur age at all, but billions of years ago).  Its study is something educated professionals have barely scratched the surface of and need to progress greatly, and those of us bumbling around trying to fix ponies have the equivalent of a single-LED flashlight with low batteries in a boundless eternal night.  Trying to deal with these material condition problems as a collector is, to me, most humbling.

Thanks for the reassurance on the ModPodge--I wasn't sure about it afterwards.

Lol, freeze drying a MLP! Yeah, I don't think anyone's tried that yet, haha. X3

I guess it's hard not to think of plastic as being the most permanent thing on Earth... Everything from shoes to medicine bottles to computer casings are made of plastic, and they all just seem so... stable and solid. But that's just not the reality on a molecular scale... Such a shame. :/

[FarDreamer]

I don't believe removezit would do anything but fade your pony and may leave the spot intact.  Sanding only works if the spot is on the surface and not at all deep.  I don't know how the folks who have good results with this could tell how deep their spots went.  Trial and error maybe?  Do you have any photos?

Post Merge: May 23, 2017, 07:23:57 PM

IIRC peroxide will bleach out some pony hair colors, so be careful.

Are the glitter symboled ponies ones with gold symbols, like Sunbeam, Starshine, or Pinwheel?  They are prone to "symbol rust."  They get brownish stuff (probably mold or something) that appears around their symbols.  Usually in round spots, which makes me think that they're a kind of mold colony or something. I'm not sure if it's the same stuff as traditional age spots.

As far as "body" age spots, I had a Sunbeam who had one age spot when I got them.  Despite my attempts to sterilize the spots, they still spread like crazy.  (I was not able to boil them because of the glitter symbol though.)

The ponies in question are Moonstone and Majesty (silver and blue glitter). The spots aren't around the cutie mark... they're right IN the cutie mark. o_0; The glitter is completely "eaten" away where the spots are.

If it doesn't spread further, it's not a huge deal... I can just paint over it with a bit of PearlEx glitter and some sealer (I already did that with Moonstone, and she looks fine... for now). It just creeps me out to think that the mold(?) might actually still be alive under there, plotting its revenge. =P ...Hence why I like to obliterate it entirely, if possible. It's a comfort to know it won't spread to other ponies, though.

Just saw this, sorry.  So glitter symbols can rust and stain the vinyl, which isn't mold at all.  That doesn't mean you don't have brown spots form multiple causes.  Also, pvc reacts with certain chemicals and compounds also causing discoloration and I don't know what the glitter is made up of.  If you're worried about mold, keep the humidity where the ponies live below 70%.  Fungi is everywhere so it doesn't matter if you disinfect the pony or not.  I've had mixed results fading spots caused by glitter rust using a peroxide/sun soak.  If you try that, make sure to read the materials section of my site so you're aware of all possible side effects.

[Nemesis]

I don't believe removezit would do anything but fade your pony and may leave the spot intact.  Sanding only works if the spot is on the surface and not at all deep.  I don't know how the folks who have good results with this could tell how deep their spots went.  Trial and error maybe?  Do you have any photos?

Post Merge: May 23, 2017, 07:23:57 PM

IIRC peroxide will bleach out some pony hair colors, so be careful.

Are the glitter symboled ponies ones with gold symbols, like Sunbeam, Starshine, or Pinwheel?  They are prone to "symbol rust."  They get brownish stuff (probably mold or something) that appears around their symbols.  Usually in round spots, which makes me think that they're a kind of mold colony or something. I'm not sure if it's the same stuff as traditional age spots.

As far as "body" age spots, I had a Sunbeam who had one age spot when I got them.  Despite my attempts to sterilize the spots, they still spread like crazy.  (I was not able to boil them because of the glitter symbol though.)

The ponies in question are Moonstone and Majesty (silver and blue glitter). The spots aren't around the cutie mark... they're right IN the cutie mark. o_0; The glitter is completely "eaten" away where the spots are.

If it doesn't spread further, it's not a huge deal... I can just paint over it with a bit of PearlEx glitter and some sealer (I already did that with Moonstone, and she looks fine... for now). It just creeps me out to think that the mold(?) might actually still be alive under there, plotting its revenge. =P ...Hence why I like to obliterate it entirely, if possible. It's a comfort to know it won't spread to other ponies, though.

Just saw this, sorry.  So glitter symbols can rust and stain the vinyl, which isn't mold at all.  That doesn't mean you don't have brown spots form multiple causes.  Also, pvc reacts with certain chemicals and compounds also causing discoloration and I don't know what the glitter is made up of.  If you're worried about mold, keep the humidity where the ponies live below 70%.  Fungi is everywhere so it doesn't matter if you disinfect the pony or not.  I've had mixed results fading spots caused by glitter rust using a peroxide/sun soak.  If you try that, make sure to read the materials section of my site so you're aware of all possible side effects.

Thanks so much for the info! I love your site! I've been using it for years. <3 I had no idea there was so much variance in how deep the mold had invaded the plastic... That explains why I've never had any luck sanding (I did manage to significantly lighten one spot, but that was my only "success"). I figured it just spread to a certain extent, then stopped due to lack of plasticizer, or something. ^_^;

I hadn't thought of the fungi in the air itself... I guess that does make it kind of futile to obsess over disinfecting. :/ I had thought once it took root in the vinyl, it was more likely to spread if untreated? But I don't know how much sense that makes... I'm kind of a germaphobe, so I just feel the compulsion to decontaminate things, lol. ^_^;

[FarDreamer]

Thanks so much for the info! I love your site! I've been using it for years. <3 I had no idea there was so much variance in how deep the mold had invaded the plastic... That explains why I've never had any luck sanding (I did manage to significantly lighten one spot, but that was my only "success"). I figured it just spread to a certain extent, then stopped due to lack of plasticizer, or something. ^_^;

I hadn't thought of the fungi in the air itself... I guess that does make it kind of futile to obsess over disinfecting. :/ I had thought once it took root in the vinyl, it was more likely to spread if untreated? But I don't know how much sense that makes... I'm kind of a germaphobe, so I just feel the compulsion to decontaminate things, lol. ^_^;

Disinfecting the spots certainly won't hurt and it makes sense to.  That way you don't already have a fungus on that specific pony that can spread if the humidity gets to high.  But if the humidity is consistently too high, then the spots will show up regardless.

As for the sanding, maybe when folks reported that worked it was staining from another cause?  Or maybe the fungus stained only so far down before the humidity dropped low enough for it to go dormant?  We are all still learning, so who knows.

[lostpony]

I forgot to throw in one of my common diatribes I like to add around here when discussing humidity of storage conditions.

Closed spaces concentrate humidity when temperature changes (so i personally don't agree with using plastic bags and tubs especially ones that close tightly).  This includes closed rooms, closets, sheds etc especially when not insulated to stabilize temperature changes somewhat.  If your storage space doesn't have good ventilation, humidity can be reduced with an incandescent light bulb left on all the time, of course mounted in a safe fixture that can't fall over or otherwise end up in contact with combustibles and create a fire hazard....the modest wattage of a single light bulb will drive away condensation and prevent high humidity.  If you don't have a permanent light fixture in your closed storage space, use a metal-caged droplight and hang securely from a hook in the ceiling.