Off with her head?

[kissthethunder]

I must be the odd man out, most ponies that come my way get cleaned inside and out. I live in a humid area and I have not yet had the funds for a dehumidifier for my pony room. Where possible I remove the washers from ponies while others that I know don't have heads that come off easily, I leave them on. If the glue pops off easily though, they're getting cleaned. In several instances I've been able to nip serious problems in the bud before they ruined the pony. Outwardly the pony would look fine but then I opened her up and -wham- the beginnings of mold.

So yeah, I most often remove their heads and leave them loose. My ponies are staying with me so I'm not worried about their resale, I'm worried about preserving them.

[Glitter Yolk]

I wouldn't unless there's a visible sign of rust or mold, or any other detectable rank smell. I sometimes remove heads if I can hear that the washer is loose and fallen into the foot, but otherwise I have a heavy preference to leave the seal intact when cleaning them. Like others have said, it probably won't pose a major issue if you merely rinse them. Submerging them in water is just not the way to go, unless you already need to get at the insides for cleaning.

Though, I don't mind the head being loose if it's a pony I plan on keeping permanently for myself.