How to whiten yellowed ss ponies

[lindsayrose1985]

Hello what's the best method to whiten ss ponies.  I have aquired a ss sundance and I would maybe try sunfading her but as it's winter and I've forgotten what sun looks like is there another way to do it?
The yellowing is even and she has no stains I can see
She has no glue yellowing i can see and her flocking is good otherwise so I'd like to spruce her up a bit if possible.
Thank you

[ValeofSpring]

Hello!  Well are you *sure* the yellowing isn't from glue?  I feel like the yellowed So-Softs I've seen have had a case of aged glue.  Or I least I strongly suspected they did.  I tried various tactics to whiten a Taffy (short of sunfading) w/ no luck.  Even though I'm not much help, I can at least give you a bump in the hope that someone else has answers!

Also--I have a SS Paradise for sale if you're looking--she is in nice shape aside from being very yellowed.  I am in the US, so you'd need to take shipping into account.  Just PM me if interested!

[lindsayrose1985]

Well it doesn't look like the glue, but it may be i'm not an expert in these kind of things. I hope it is curable though as she's my first ss sundance but I'll love her either way
i just brought a lot with 2 ss paradises in otherwise I would of snapped yours up lol I now have 4 in total haha

[hathorcat]

A picture of her would help

I do agree with ValeofSpring though, yellowing on so softs is typically a result of the glue holding on the flocking breaking down...kind of like if you leave a piece of sellotape on something for too long. If it is that, there is no fixing it. You can clean her up the way you would normally clean a so soft but you can remove the yellowing effect.

[Mermaid]

I've heard of people whitening SS with a bleach mixture and a soft wash. Not 100% sure on the outcome, or the solution mix. Hopefully someone else can come along and help out!

[Teddy]

Yeah, a picture would definitely help, but for SS ponies it's pretty much always a result of the glue yellowing over time. I have an MOC SS Gusty who's never been touched by hands or dust or dirt, but she is still yellowed due to the glue that holds on her flocking. It's unavoidable and as far as I know, impossible to reverse.

[Haruna]

Hmm . . . yes, I tried to use a bleach solution to fix two yellowed Sundances and a Taffy. Taffy seemed to get a little worse after I tried, and one of the Sundances seemed to improve a little, but I'm hesitant to say it because you say it's your first Sundance, and I don't want to ruin her!

But if you want to try it, I *think* my bleach solution was one part bleach to five parts water, and I filled the sink with that and then put the pony in for five minutes (I think?) on one side, five minutes on the other. To be safe, you could do a shorter amount of time and see if there's any improvement. Then, of course, you rinse the bleach solution off. Their hair does get a little rough from being in the bleach, so I made sure to shampoo and condition it right after.

I couldn't find the tutorial I used when I was doing that, but here's a bit from the MLP Restoration Project:

"For more heavily stained, or completely yellowed so softs, many collectors have had luck whitening them with a bleach bath.  Use bleach with caution as other collectors report bleach having made their ponies even more yellow.  The amount of bleach seems to be pretty arbitrary, but over all people seem to use a pretty weak bleach/water solution.  This is often used in conjunction with sun fading.  Be extremely careful as the bleach will fade the ponies hair, so don't let them soak for too long, and this cleaning method seems to be safest on white ponies.  Be certain to thoroughly rinse off any chemicals you use and it's best not to use hot water on so softs."

[hathorcat]

My only warning with using bleach or any other chemical is that so soft flocking can be very susceptible [especially if the glue is breaking down]. Make sure before you use anything aggressive, that you test a yellowed area of flocking [ideally under the hoof] to see if the flocking is going to come away. And try and prevent her hair from getting into the bleach - nylon hair can become yucky after exposure.

[Elisto]

Hmm, I may try the beach on a grayed SS I have.

I can only speak from my own experience, but my yellowed ones were all due to the glue discoloring, and sunfading actually made it worse.