Acetone on ponies -yay or nay?

[katrine2309]

Hi everyone!

I’m not very knowledgeable about cleaning and restoring ponies, and it has been awhile since I was truly active in the community. I have used acetone on some ponies years ago (2006), but from discussions around that time or perhaps a Little later I understood that you shouldn’t use acetone on old pony plastic.

But I was on a FB group recently and someone recommended to a non-collector to use acetone on her ponies to clean them for selling. I commented and adviced against it (both because it is easy to do something wrong when you are not a collector and because I honestly believed that acetone is not good for pony plastic).

The other collector was really surprised at my comment. She also asked other collectors who seemed surprised over the suggestion that acetone could be bad for plastic. So now I am really confused. I know I am a old-timer, and things can have happened that I am unaware of. It has been a while since I restored ponies- but what is your understanding about acetone? Do you use it? Or don’t you?

[nhal039]

I have never had a problem with acetone. It was the zit cream that's bad, I forgot the name of the active ingredient that cause damage in it

[Pokeyonekenobie]

I only use acetone to remove paint from baits, and I make sure to use it sparingly--generally applying what I need with a q-tip--and then I wash it off as soon as I am done removing the paint.  Didn't someone do an experiment where they put a pony in acetone for a long time and it expanded?  Or am I thinking of something else?  I think they used a Peachy as their bait for it.

If I was selling a pony, I would do a general clean with soap and water and allow the buyer to decide if they wanted to use harsher chemicals to get off other marks.

[nhal039]

I should have clarified, Acetone is indeed paint stripper and should be used to remove paint marks only (care needs to be taken around symbols), it wont remove mold and embedded stains.

I can also be used for dissolving glue on flocked ponies

[BlackCurtains]

Didn't someone do an experiment where they put a pony in acetone for a long time and it expanded?

Yes, I remember that (it wasn't me though). But I did have acetone eat through a pony head once. I put it inside to soften the glue (it was a G3) and kinda... forgot about it. The next day, the acetone had made pock marks and melted through.

So yeah. I use it on baits. I wouldn't risk it with a collection pony just because things can go wrong.

Also, I saw someone ask about glue recently, and some people suggested super glue, but super glue has acetone in it It will eat away at the plastic slowly. I just wouldn't use it for anything I want to keep and definitely don't use it on a rare pony or one that has sentimental value.

edit: What can be used instead to clean and disinfect is rubbing alcohol. It's safe around symbols but will remove dirt and grime.

edit2: Oh, also wash the pony when you're done with whatever you do to it. I use dawn dish soap and a soft toothbrush.

[katrine2309]

Thank you, guys! So I wasn’t totally off then *puh*. It’s nice to know as my memory is crap, and I was a little worried I remembered it totally wrong. Although it might not sees to be as bad as I remembered it

[SunbeamV]

it's fine for the plastic but one wrong swipe and a symbol/eye/etc is gone so i also wouldnt recommend it to a non collector 😭

[Artemesia's Garden]

Personally I don't believe that organic solvents are safe to use on ponies. When I worked in museums we were told that dish soap also has an impact on anything it comes into contact with. Soft soap and warm water, then toothpaste, then magic erasers are my suggestions in increasing order of strength. Sunlight, extremes of temperature, temperature fluctuations, high humidity and other chemicals such as peroxide also have an impact. The damage only becomes apparent after a time delay. Sunfading of yellow ponies is a good example of this - the pony colour is freshened up but the effect is only temporary and long-term the pony degrades faster.

[LadyMoondancer]

Acetone should be okay as long as the pony isn't soaked in it (like, in the literal sense. Submerged.). . . From the doll customizing tutorials I've seen, soaking vinyl in acetone will cause it to shrink.  But that would be hard to do by accident anyway.

Acne cream is the one to avoid.

[milkywaymochi]

I don't use straight acetone for cleaning, but I do use nail polish remover pads for getting glue off during deflocking, and they're really effective for that. wash them off with soap and water afterwards, and I haven't had any problems afterwards, so I wouldn't completely discount acetone, but definitely use with caution 

[poniesthatsparkle]

I don't use a ton of acetone to clean ponies. I really only use it to remove marks that won't come off with a magic eraser or rubbing alcohol. Whenever I do use acetone I rinse the pony off thoroughly with soap and water right after the marks are removed.

All of my ponies that had acetone used on them have held up fine for the past 7-8 years. 

[BomChorom]

I always used just water and soap to clean ponies. I would use acetone to repair pen markings/smudges and stuff. People must be cautious though cause it can erase the symbols

[Raindrop]

Acetone is highly volatile.  I believe it is relatively safe used in small quantities to remove surface paint and marks, because it quickly evaporates.  I haven't seen any evidence of it soaking in/reacting with pony plastic unless there was prolonged contact (like soaking in an acetone bath, which does affect the plastic, since it is a pretty strong organic solvent).  Obviously it does remove eye and symbol paint, blush, etc., so should be used with care.