Help! Oxiclean baths

[Cheyennethepony]

I have a Lemondrop that I'm thinking of giving her a soak in Oxiclean. I never found a clear answer on: do you have to remove their mane and tail before soaking? She's already missing her tail, which is fine because I have hair for her coming in the mail but her mane still looks good. I don't want to re-root her mane. Will Oxiclean damage the mane?

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I think it makes the hair a bit nasty, so you have to give it extra-special cleaning afterwards (probably involving a lot of conditioner). To my knowledge, it doesn't cause irreversible damage to the hair, but perhaps someone can say if they had a particularly bad run-in with oxiclean and manes.
Removing the tail is advised because it isn't hard to replace with the original or a new tail, and it allows for the oxiclean to get in and clean out all the gunk.
I'd try just soap and maybe magic eraser first, what are the flaws that you notice on her?

[Cheyennethepony]

I think it makes the hair a bit nasty, so you have to give it extra-special cleaning afterwards (probably involving a lot of conditioner). To my knowledge, it doesn't cause irreversible damage to the hair, but perhaps someone can say if they had a particularly bad run-in with oxiclean and manes.
Removing the tail is advised because it isn't hard to replace with the original or a new tail, and it allows for the oxiclean to get in and clean out all the gunk.
I'd try just soap and maybe magic eraser first, what are the flaws that you notice on her?

I have given her a surface clean before. She sorta looks dirty and "grungy" plus she does have pink marks on her legs (I'm not sure if that's something Oxiclean can clean or not).

[tulagirl]

I have never had oxy ruin a pony mane. I have had soaking in oxy change symbol colors, remove glitter and even slightly change eye color.  The problem was probably I used too much oxyclean.  The key really is not to soak long and check/recheck.  I used conditioner and shampoo on the hair to get the stiff oxyclean out of the hair.  It dries out a pony's hair but doesn't ruin it.  Now when it comes to neon yellow it will pull out the color of the hair some.  Do not ever put a flocked pony in Oxyclean.  I actually quit soaking and dipped my magic eraser in warm oxy and cleaned the pony by hand due to some of the issues I have found happened to me.  Oxyclean will most likely not remove any marker stains that have had a long time to soak into the vinyl.  It really is best for cleaning dirty ponies that have clogged pores.  Hot water opens the pores and oxy on a magic clean eraser will get in there and remove the ground in dirt.  It is not really good at other types of stains.

[Cheyennethepony]

I have never had oxy ruin a pony mane. I have had soaking in oxy change symbol colors, remove glitter and even slightly change eye color.  The problem was probably I used too much oxyclean.  The key really is not to soak long and check/recheck.  I used conditioner and shampoo on the hair to get the stiff oxyclean out of the hair.  It dries out a pony's hair but doesn't ruin it.  Now when it comes to neon yellow it will pull out the color of the hair some.  Do not ever put a flocked pony in Oxyclean.  I actually quit soaking and dipped my magic eraser in warm oxy and cleaned the pony by hand due to some of the issues I have found happened to me.  Oxyclean will most likely not remove any marker stains that have had a long time to soak into the vinyl.  It really is best for cleaning dirty ponies that have clogged pores.  Hot water opens the pores and oxy on a magic clean eraser will get in there and remove the ground in dirt.  It is not really good at other types of stains.

I think I'll give her another surface clean. I would do an OxiClean bath on Majesty but she has glitter symbols

Post Merge: August 29, 2018, 12:05:01 PM

Okay, I gave Lemondrop an Oxiclean bath (I couldn't help myself) she only stayed in there 5 mins tops. After the soak, I did some surface cleaning with Dawn and a magic eraser. Then I washed her hair and put conditioner in it. Right now she's drying with straws in her mane. Honestly, I'm glad I gave her one, even if she didn't have any major stains or discoloring it still killed all the germs and now she is fully clean! 

[Safflower]

Just popping in this thread to add that you can probably sunfade her pink marks away I'm glad she is all clean and dirt free! (I haven't had much experience with oxi since it's harsh and I don't need it because I can use other things so I can't add on that)

[KottonKandy]

I have never had oxy ruin a pony mane. I have had soaking in oxy change symbol colors, remove glitter and even slightly change eye color.  The problem was probably I used too much oxyclean.  The key really is not to soak long and check/recheck.  I used conditioner and shampoo on the hair to get the stiff oxyclean out of the hair.  It dries out a pony's hair but doesn't ruin it.  Now when it comes to neon yellow it will pull out the color of the hair some.  Do not ever put a flocked pony in Oxyclean.  I actually quit soaking and dipped my magic eraser in warm oxy and cleaned the pony by hand due to some of the issues I have found happened to me.  Oxyclean will most likely not remove any marker stains that have had a long time to soak into the vinyl.  It really is best for cleaning dirty ponies that have clogged pores.  Hot water opens the pores and oxy on a magic clean eraser will get in there and remove the ground in dirt.  It is not really good at other types of stains.

All of my so-softs have received oxiclean baths and they turned out so so much nicer. Cleaner looking and way softer!

Have you personally had issues in regards to flocking? Or is this more of a better-safe-than-sorry warning?

[Cheyennethepony]

I have never had oxy ruin a pony mane. I have had soaking in oxy change symbol colors, remove glitter and even slightly change eye color.  The problem was probably I used too much oxyclean.  The key really is not to soak long and check/recheck.  I used conditioner and shampoo on the hair to get the stiff oxyclean out of the hair.  It dries out a pony's hair but doesn't ruin it.  Now when it comes to neon yellow it will pull out the color of the hair some.  Do not ever put a flocked pony in Oxyclean.  I actually quit soaking and dipped my magic eraser in warm oxy and cleaned the pony by hand due to some of the issues I have found happened to me.  Oxyclean will most likely not remove any marker stains that have had a long time to soak into the vinyl.  It really is best for cleaning dirty ponies that have clogged pores.  Hot water opens the pores and oxy on a magic clean eraser will get in there and remove the ground in dirt.  It is not really good at other types of stains.

All of my so-softs have received oxiclean baths and they turned out so so much nicer. Cleaner looking and way softer!

Have you personally had issues in regards to flocking? Or is this more of a better-safe-than-sorry warning?

I haven't had any so-soft ponies so I'm not sure.

[TravelingTwinkler]

SO glad Lemondrop emerged from her bath sparkling clean!

After your experience with Lemondrop, do you feel Oxiclean is an all or nothing soak-it-in kind of approach to cleaning ponies? Or can you lightly surface-clean with Oxiclean without a soak?

I've had a ton of success with Dawn, Magic Eraser, and all-natural shampoos and conditioners. No experience with Oxiclean tho.

—mari

[Baby Sugarberry]

OxyClean is overkill for 99.9% of ponies. 

It happily ruins glitter, iridescence, metallics, most of the neon hair colours (charteruse, red, orange), weak flocking, certain paint colours, magic message symbols, glues, and can further damage nylon hair.  Unless your pony has a serious fungal problem or other biological contaminant that requires sterilization or is already 'bait' quality to begin with, I wouldn't go near OxyClean.  There are plenty of other cleaning products that are safer for you and your ponies.

It also does NOT fix ink, stains, or yellowing.  Safest to start with the easiest and mildest treatments before moving to more aggressive ones.  Even soap and water can damage certain types of ponies; there's a risk with any efforts, but minimizing them will save you a lot of potential grief.

[Cheyennethepony]

SO glad Lemondrop emerged from her bath sparkling clean!

After your experience with Lemondrop, do you feel Oxiclean is an all or nothing soak-it-in kind of approach to cleaning ponies? Or can you lightly surface-clean with Oxiclean without a soak?

I've had a ton of success with Dawn, Magic Eraser, and all-natural shampoos and conditioners. No experience with Oxiclean tho.

—mari

I wouldn't use Oxiclean on every pony that I would get. I made sure that Lemondrop didn't have any glitter or other paint issues like that before giving her a soak. I always give my ponies surface cleanings first. I mostly wanted to experiment with this and see how much it would clean her. But I wouldn't give her one again, just because it might be harsh on ponies. I only used a little amount of Oxiclean. I just like knowing that a pony has been really cleaned and rid of germs.

Post Merge: August 30, 2018, 07:07:31 AM

OxyClean is overkill for 99.9% of ponies. 

It happily ruins glitter, iridescence, metallics, most of the neon hair colours (charteruse, red, orange), weak flocking, certain paint colours, magic message symbols, glues, and can further damage nylon hair.  Unless your pony has a serious fungal problem or other biological contaminant that requires sterilization or is already 'bait' quality to begin with, I wouldn't go near OxyClean.  There are plenty of other cleaning products that are safer for you and your ponies.

It also does NOT fix ink, stains, or yellowing.  Safest to start with the easiest and mildest treatments before moving to more aggressive ones.  Even soap and water can damage certain types of ponies; there's a risk with any efforts, but minimizing them will save you a lot of potential grief.

I don't think I would use Oxiclean again on any future ponies, this was more of a 'test' I suppose. Even though Lemondrop came out good and no damage that I could see I might get a different result with another pony and it could turn out damaged.

[chateaushelton]

I've only used Oxiclean once (to clean up a WigWam that was filled with rust). I didn't soak him though. I had to behead him to remove the remains of tail washer anyway, so I sprinkled a small amount of the powder into his body, poured some hot water inside and watched all the rust and gunk fizz out (which admittedly was kinda cool).

He is much better now and I haven't seen any ill effects from his treatment.

[Cheyennethepony]

I've only used Oxiclean once (to clean up a WigWam that was filled with rust). I didn't soak him though. I had to behead him to remove the remains of tail washer anyway, so I sprinkled a small amount of the powder into his body, poured some hot water inside and watched all the rust and gunk fizz out (which admittedly was kinda cool).

He is much better now and I haven't seen any ill effects from his treatment.

I think if I do decide to use Oxiclean again I would not do a soak but instead put some power on her body and rub her with a magic eraser.

[Baby Sugarberry]

Oxyclean requires water to activate, applying it dry isn't a good idea nor is getting it in direct contact with your skin.  It even says not to allow it to dry or remain on the surface of items being cleaned.  The pH of OxyClean is very high which is why it's caustic.  Magic Eraser is sandpaper. Yes it can remove certain surface marks but it will also take out coatings, paint and the like.  Both, if used, should be with extreme care.

[TravelingTwinkler]

I wouldn't use Oxiclean on every pony that I would get. I made sure that Lemondrop didn't have any glitter or other paint issues like that before giving her a soak. I always give my ponies surface cleanings first. I mostly wanted to experiment with this and see how much it would clean her. But I wouldn't give her one again, just because it might be harsh on ponies. I only used a little amount of Oxiclean. I just like knowing that a pony has been really cleaned and rid of germs.

Post Merge: August 30, 2018, 07:07:31 AM

OxyClean is overkill for 99.9% of ponies. 

It happily ruins glitter, iridescence, metallics, most of the neon hair colours (charteruse, red, orange), weak flocking, certain paint colours, magic message symbols, glues, and can further damage nylon hair.  Unless your pony has a serious fungal problem or other biological contaminant that requires sterilization or is already 'bait' quality to begin with, I wouldn't go near OxyClean.  There are plenty of other cleaning products that are safer for you and your ponies.

It also does NOT fix ink, stains, or yellowing.  Safest to start with the easiest and mildest treatments before moving to more aggressive ones.  Even soap and water can damage certain types of ponies; there's a risk with any efforts, but minimizing them will save you a lot of potential grief.

I don't think I would use Oxiclean again on any future ponies, this was more of a 'test' I suppose. Even though Lemondrop came out good and no damage that I could see I might get a different result with another pony and it could turn out damaged.

Thank you everypony for laying out the situations where OxyClean would be useful! I'll definitely be starting out easy when a few G1 sparkle ponies arrive in the mail soon. The bodies are such a unique opacity, I wouldn't want to cloud them up or #ponyfail them in any way during a cleaning.

 

—mari