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Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: applejackbunny on May 15, 2021, 02:01:56 PM

Title: Using acetone
Post by: applejackbunny on May 15, 2021, 02:01:56 PM
I just went through my G1 collection to inspect each pony for rogue marks that could be gently removed by using acetone on a cotton bud. These were most often just random specks of paint for which acetone works perfectly, and I've used it before and heard on here many times that others have used it successfully (being careful, of course, to avoid any painted areas on the pony such as the eyes and symbol). I've literally never had any issues with it at all.

However, there were three ponies today that did NOT respond well to the acetone  :huh: These were Sweet Pocket, her UK counterpart Singing Pocket and Snowdrop (the German Flower pony). In each case there were a couple of dirty marks or a fleck of paint where I went straight in with the acetone cotton bud to remove (having previously treated dozens of other ponies similarly), when, to my horror, their actual body colour came off as well!  :shocked: I could instantly see the purple and yellow of the dye on the cotton bud, and on the pony there was left behind a small pale spot that had been stripped of its dye  :yikes:

Now, I realise there are many seasoned pony ppl on here who may be throwing up their arms in horror at what I've done (tbh the damage isn't bad - you'd have to be really scrutinising the pony in pure daylight to see it - I caught it immediately and stopped), but I genuinely didn't know the dye/colour (or whatever) could come off a pony's body in that way! And I've literally never heard anything like that being discussed on here...

I thought I'd better tell everyone what happened in case anyone else is planning to use acetone on these particular ponies. My advice is please DON'T!

I had to make myself a nice cup of tea and watch an episode of Line Of Duty in order to get over it  :lol: UK folks will understand.

Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: gabumon on May 16, 2021, 07:31:20 AM
ah. sorry to hear.  I think we’ve all had those “whoops” moments. (like when I cut off Quarterbacks mane instead of trying to detangle)

thanks for sharing
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: applejackbunny on May 16, 2021, 08:44:20 AM
Yeah, I just wanted to alert ppl to the fact that acetone can be damaging to certain ponies. I was unaware of that fact. I'd love to know if anyone else has ever had that happen to them (specifically with the acetone)...

Sorry about your Q'back Gabumon  :(
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: HollowZero on May 16, 2021, 09:17:12 AM
This is interesting. We're these ponies from later in the line?
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: applejackbunny on May 16, 2021, 09:23:41 AM
This is interesting. We're these ponies from later in the line?

I believe so, yes. Do you have a theory?
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: BlackCurtains on May 16, 2021, 10:09:01 AM
My Snowdrop was full of rust when I got her and I used acetone, among other things, to clean her and didn't have this happen. I've never had it happen.

Do you have pictures?

edit: If it was just yellow, I'd assume it was nicotine. I'm not sure what purple could be though.
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: applejackbunny on May 16, 2021, 11:17:53 AM
My Snowdrop was full of rust when I got her and I used acetone, among other things, to clean her and didn't have this happen. I've never had it happen.

Do you have pictures?

edit: If it was just yellow, I'd assume it was nicotine. I'm not sure what purple could be though.

Unfortunately, I don't have pics (or at least I'm not set up to load them onto here).

It was definitely the pony's actual colour coming off and not an external substance. They had already been thoroughly cleaned prior to that and Snowdrop didn't smell of smoke or anything. They were both clean.

You could clearly see it was the actual dye coming off of the pony's body and staining the cotton bud either purple or yellow and there was a coresponding area of almost white left behind on the pony...  :huh:

It has never happened to me in 20 years of pony collecting so I was very shocked. That's why I'm sharing. I don't know why it didn't happen with yours...

Out of dozens and dozens of ponies it has only ever happened with these two (three if you count the UK version of Sweet Pocket).

Post Merge: May 16, 2021, 11:21:41 AM

Maybe I should add that I was using 100% pure acetone. Is that the issue, do you think?? Should it be more dilute?
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: BlackCurtains on May 16, 2021, 11:25:32 AM
I use 100% pure acetone too. Hmm. Interesting. Maybe something happened to them prior that made the plastic leech easily.
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: applejackbunny on May 16, 2021, 11:47:05 AM
I use 100% pure acetone too. Hmm. Interesting. Maybe something happened to them prior that made the plastic leech easily.

I hadn't considered that. It's certainly possible, I suppose... It is very odd as I had thought that a pony's colour was very stable (no pun intended!  :lol:).
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: BlackCurtains on May 16, 2021, 11:51:40 AM
Weird things can happen. I have 5 Big Brothers who I'm pretty sure were heavily smoke damaged from a fire. Their plastic is so weird. It has swirls and dark lines in it. I bought them as bait but so far haven't used any of them (probably had 'em for 10 years now).
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: applejackbunny on May 16, 2021, 12:25:49 PM
Weird things can happen. I have 5 Big Brothers who I'm pretty sure were heavily smoke damaged from a fire. Their plastic is so weird. It has swirls and dark lines in it. I bought them as bait but so far haven't used any of them (probably had 'em for 10 years now).

Oh wow!  :shocked: Poor things... Hope you manage to resurrect them at some point  :)
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: SunPony on May 16, 2021, 06:13:54 PM
Wow, that is such a bizarre thing to happen.  :blink:  I've never encountered it myself.  I also use 100% acetone, but admittedly more of my experience is with using it on G3s.  Hmm.  I think in future I'll just check on a hoof first before using it on a non-bait pony... thanks for the warning.
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: Artemesia's Garden on May 16, 2021, 11:18:53 PM
Ditto, thank you for the warning. I use acetone sometimes then I wash it off afterwards with a little soap and water. I usually tryt soap and water, baby oil or magic eraser first.

P.s. I'm about to have a cup of tea and watch Line of Duty!!
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: applejackbunny on May 17, 2021, 09:18:53 AM
Wow, that is such a bizarre thing to happen.  :blink:  I've never encountered it myself.  I also use 100% acetone, but admittedly more of my experience is with using it on G3s.  Hmm.  I think in future I'll just check on a hoof first before using it on a non-bait pony... thanks for the warning.

That is an excellent idea, Sun - I wish I'd done that, but then hindsight is a wonderful thing!  :lol:

Post Merge: May 17, 2021, 09:22:35 AM

Ditto, thank you for the warning. I use acetone sometimes then I wash it off afterwards with a little soap and water. I usually tryt soap and water, baby oil or magic eraser first.

P.s. I'm about to have a cup of tea and watch Line of Duty!!

You're most welcome - anything to stop what happened to me form happening to anyone else!

Yes, I wash all my ponies with soap and water first and then use the acetone for any stubborn marks or flecks of paint etc. I'll certainly be more careful in future and test it on the underside of a hoof first  :lol:

Hope you enjoyed Line of Duty! Which series are you on?
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: mlp4me on May 18, 2021, 12:17:50 PM
Purple is so very unstable. It would have only been a matter of time that the color would probably have completely leeched out. You just sped it up a bit... I've had red dye completely rub off with just water and kleenex on TE Bright Eyes and Baby Rainribbon. Yup, TE Bright Eyes, who did not look reddish at all prior to cleaning.
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: SunPony on May 18, 2021, 05:44:19 PM
Purple is so very unstable. It would have only been a matter of time that the color would probably have completely leeched out. You just sped it up a bit... I've had red dye completely rub off with just water and kleenex on TE Bright Eyes and Baby Rainribbon. Yup, TE Bright Eyes, who did not look reddish at all prior to cleaning.
:scared: The mind boggles!!!
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: applejackbunny on May 19, 2021, 11:19:08 AM
Purple is so very unstable. It would have only been a matter of time that the color would probably have completely leeched out. You just sped it up a bit... I've had red dye completely rub off with just water and kleenex on TE Bright Eyes and Baby Rainribbon. Yup, TE Bright Eyes, who did not look reddish at all prior to cleaning.

Oh, wow!!  :shocked: :shocked: :shocked:
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: BlushingBlue on May 20, 2021, 11:27:17 AM
Purple is so very unstable. It would have only been a matter of time that the color would probably have completely leeched out. You just sped it up a bit... I've had red dye completely rub off with just water and kleenex on TE Bright Eyes and Baby Rainribbon. Yup, TE Bright Eyes, who did not look reddish at all prior to cleaning.

Agreed. I've wiped the purple right off of Seashell and TE Sky Rocket before, using nothing but water. >_<

Snowdrop is a new one to me though. IME yellow ponies are relatively stable. :huh: I guess you can never be too careful. Acetone is usually a method of last resort for me anyway, but thanks for the heads-up, applejackbunny!
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: applejackbunny on May 20, 2021, 01:12:55 PM
Agreed. I've wiped the purple right off of Seashell and TE Sky Rocket before, using nothing but water. >_<

Snowdrop is a new one to me though. IME yellow ponies are relatively stable. :huh: I guess you can never be too careful. Acetone is usually a method of last resort for me anyway, but thanks for the heads-up, applejackbunny!

You're most welcome!  :)

I shouldn't say it, but it's gratifying to hear that some others have had issues with purple pony dye coming off - at least I know I'm not alone!  :lol:

But yeah, I think it probably pays to always test a small area under a hoof before using any strong substance on a pony, even if you have never had an issue before. (And, in light of the last two posts, even water apparently!  :blink:)
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: Twizel on May 22, 2021, 10:26:41 AM
Wow, I've never had this happen before. I've used 90-100% acetone with no troubles, even on a purply Up Up & Away.

could there be a difference between US and UK batches?
Title: Re: Using acetone
Post by: applejackbunny on May 22, 2021, 12:22:50 PM
Wow, I've never had this happen before. I've used 90-100% acetone with no troubles, even on a purply Up Up & Away.

could there be a difference between US and UK batches?

I've used acetone on Up Up and Away with zero issues too. The only ponies I've ever experienced this happening with are the two I mentioned: Sweet/Singing Pocket - which is both a US and UK release, and Snowdrop.

I'm really not sure and I'm very surprised more ppl haven't experienced it.
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