Monster High Glue Seepage Thread

[rayedelsol]

Correct me if I'm wrong, [I'm not trying to be rude, just understand] but greasy isn't always glue seepage. The saran hair they use is naturally greasy [my 2.0 Frankie has the slickest hair ever]. Glue seepage is the stickiness from the scalp where the glue is actually coming out. Right?

I can't find one of my dolls that fits that profile [knock on wood!] and I just want to make sure I'm looking for the right thing.

[Chi]

From what I've gathered, that's right. My Rochelle had greasy hair as do most, but she's also the most prone to glue seepage as well (which she's started to develop). There's a difference between both. Glue seepage is not a greasy feeling from the hair, but an actual stickiness from the scalp itself. If you touch the plugs after seeing a distinct separation between them and touch your fingers together, it will feel sticky, not greasy. Greasy hair from the maufacturing of the saran will leave a spot on the cardboard for many dolls, but that seems to be just that - oils from manufacturing. With dish soap or even laundry soap it will usually come out completely after a few washes. Most people tend to think conditioner is an option to fix that but from what I noticed, the conditioner makes the greasy hair even worse!
If you can't fix a greasy scalp at ALL after *several* washes with something like a heavy duty laundry detergent and long air dry, there's a chance she's also already started to develop a glue seepage.

My Howleen had glue seepage right out of the box after washing her curls down and it's noticeable enough that it's all over her hair and almost feels like a hair gel since the curls are stiff. Her hair has been washed multiple times because I thought it was leftover hair product from packaging but considering her curls are SO stiff and tacky all the way down to the scalp, I've given up. She's still as cute as can be so I'm not going to try to fight it with anything other than natural remedies such as tea tree oil whenever I find it since I don't want to mess with those precious curls. ;_;
Rochelle has had adhesive remover applied twice, blowdried her hair after I washed the stuff out and it seemed to help quite a bit. 

[pukunui]

I have a feeling that Mattel has just been ignoring everyone's complaints about this issue. Hasbro's G4 ponies have a similar sort of manufacturing issue in terms of many of them having a color mismatch between their heads and bodies, and last year when I contacted Hasbro about it, they said they would direct the factory to rectify the problem. Well, my girls just gave me Sunny Rays and Lyra for Father's Day and Sunny has a pretty noticeably mismatch, so obviously nothing was ever done about it, and in my book, Hasbro has a better customer service track record than Mattel anyway, so I'm thinking that if Hasbro can't be bothered to make sure all their ponies have matching colors, then it's even less likely that Mattel will be bothered to make sure their dolls don't seep glue out their hair.

I think the only way we'll be able to get either company to change their manufacturing processes is to get a real seriously organized grassroots campaign going, either through Facebook or Change.org or both!

[ElusiveLily]

Well...hearing all that makes me feel a little better, but I'm still concerned. I'll try the washing with dish soap a few more times and see what happens. I can live with slightly greasy hair, but I can't stand the thought of glue.

[Chi]

@Puku: Not to mention someone called them and they said they've never heard of the issue, that's total bull since I know for sure many of us have complained about it before. I love the idea of the change.org petition that I previously brought up but we'd have to do so much planning for it to make sure we get all the facts, stories from collectors, parents and children, etc. ;_;

@Elusive: If dish soap doesn't work, try laundry detergent. Be sure to scrub right at the root of the plugs as well since a lot of the grease is there. If it was glue, rubbing the scalp would leave a sticky residue on your fingers so you'd know if it was that. 

[pukunui]

@Puku: Not to mention someone called them and they said they've never heard of the issue, that's total bull since I know for sure many of us have complained about it before. I love the idea of the change.org petition that I previously brought up but we'd have to do so much planning for it to make sure we get all the facts, stories from collectors, parents and children, etc. ;_;

Exactly.

[TheFuzz]

Exactly half of my dolls have this issue, GB Frankie and Basic Lagoona are bad enough that I have no choice but to reroot them. Frankie even got her sunglasses all sticky! :C

I've been working on coming up with a hair color match list, but this is pretty hard to do with my collection in storage. I can tell already that color-matching Clawdeen is going to be quite a job, she almost never uses the same brown twice, and often has at least two different shades.

I heard somewhere that Ice White saran is a perfect match for Frankie's white, Sherbet Pink is the closest match for GB Draculaura, just a tad light (I'm not sure if all Lalas use the same pink or not), and I'm fairly certain that Cleo's brown streaks are Bitter Chocolate Brown.

I'm getting my dolls out of storage soon and ordering some hair shortly after they arrive so I can make comparisons and begin the list. I'll be starting with dolls of mine that need/will need reroots so I can get working on them right away, the others will come after. I'll need help on this project for the dolls I don't have that people are gonna want color-matches for (Rochelle comes to mind). I'll probably make a separate post for the list once I have quite a few matches so people can add on.

[saply]

Does anyone know if Venus or Robecca are made in China or not? If they are, are their heads rigid or squishable?

[pukunui]

Does anyone know if Venus or Robecca are made in China or not? If they are, are their heads rigid or squishable?

Mine is made in Indonesia. Her hair is super-dry, though. Not even any oily residue. I'm chuffed.

It's got that annoying chink in it from where it was held in the box, though, so I'm going to have to boil wash it anyway. I just need to make sure the flocked part doesn't get wet, right?

[TheFuzz]

Does anyone know if Venus or Robecca are made in China or not? If they are, are their heads rigid or squishable?

My Venus is Indonesian, so it's very likely that all of them are.

It's got that annoying chink in it from where it was held in the box, though, so I'm going to have to boil wash it anyway. I just need to make sure the flocked part doesn't get wet, right?

Be VERY careful not to get the flocking wet, I'm afraid to touch it dry! I can tell (on mine anyway) that the flocking isn't on there very good and it will come off easily.

[pukunui]

Be VERY careful not to get the flocking wet, I'm afraid to touch it dry! I can tell (on mine anyway) that the flocking isn't on there very good and it will come off easily.

Yes, I have already somehow rubbed a little bald patch into the flocking at the back. I did not get it wet. I might have put my finger there while trying to brush her hair, though. 

[saply]

I wonder if it's possible to mist her flocking with Mr. Super Clear or Dullcote or something, just to help it stick better?

[pukunui]

I wonder if it's possible to mist her flocking with Mr. Super Clear or Dullcote or something, just to help it stick better?

I've got some Dullcote, so I could try it. I'd have to try and cover her face and ear, though, I think, so it doesn't dull them too. LOL.

[LuvlyMelody]

Hmmm, this may be a silly thing to do, but I'll bump it in case anyone has this issue and hasn't seen this thread.

Also, It's been almost been a month since the last post has been made, so let me ask you guys this: Since then, has there been any update from what you've done so far that you'd like to share?

[Catlein]

I'm the person who suggested tea tree oil as a solution. I tried it on my SS Frankie a while back and said that it improved things immensely though she was still sticky in some places. Well, my Toralei had serious glue seepage (why of all my dolls did it have to be her!!!), so I brought out the tea tree oil again and WOW! Her hair is back to perfect! I just made sure to use a lot of oil, brushed it through the hair, and gave it a few minutes to sit. Now she's soft and fluffy again! This is now going to be my primary solution for dealing with this issue!