Restoring scents on scented ponies?

[paradiserain]

Hey there!

Newbie to MLP Arena here, but I've been collecting since ~2005.

So this past year I've collected quite a few G3s that used to be scented, but due to age and years of playtime from the previous owners, the ponies have lost their scents.

The scented ponies I've got so far are;

Lavender Lake
Citrus Sweetheart (very very very faint smell of oranges)
Apple Spice
Pretty Pop
Party Cake
Chocolate Chipper
Coconut Grove (still faintly smells of coconut, but needs restoring)
Tropical Surprise (2005 version)

All except two of those ponies have no smell at all other than the normal sweet G3 plastic smell. I've thought about finding some good-quality sample bottles of essential oils that would match their original gimmick scent and just put a little drop or two on their cutie marks, and then leave them sealed in a plastic bag for a few days.

My concern is that I don't know if the oils would stain the ponies or not. I've used tea tree oil on a few of them to rub out stubborn pen marks and such and it has worked very well for me and hasn't left any stains on the ponies.

So I guess I'm just looking for some tips? Advice? Do any of y'all have any ideas as to what would be the best way of doing this? Or would I just be better off leaving them as they are?

Thanks for reading.  

Edit: Wow! Thank you all for the helpful tips and advice! I will be giving some of them a try. I've stared by trying the sealed plastic bag on two of my ponies to see if that brings out any of their original scent. Also the comment by Artemesia's Garden about the different types of oils was very informative! Thank you for that! Y'all are awesome! I will make an update post in a few weeks to see if I have any luck.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Welcome!

Sometimes, just throwing the ponies in the bags themselves will help to restore their scents. I would keep them away from the cold too, since I find this kills smells. There is a risk of discoloration with any attempt to restore scent, so I would be a bit wary of trying to restore them using external oils, but the plastic bag is your best bet at restoring their Original scent. This should at least work partially with Citrus & Coconut since they have faint smells, but you may get lucky with the others as well.

[paradiserain]

Thanks for the suggestions! I will certainly give the plastic bag trick a try. 

[lowpolyzoe]

If I can drop another question in here,

I have a couple scented ponies too that have lost their scents as well. I don't have the bag or box for any of them as I got them in second hand played with condition. I've tried soaking a pony's hair in strawberry essence + water for a while to experiment with re-scenting but it didn't work and the scent came out once the pony's hair was dry (and it became sticky too )

Is it worth trying good quality essential oils to re-scent ponies at all if I don't have a bag?

[Marshie]

Is it worth trying good quality essential oils to re-scent ponies at all if I don't have a bag?

With oils, I don't think there would be a problem? I have never re-scented a pony before, and I'm almost positive that essential oils don't cause issues on materials at the figures are made of, but it may be worth a shot!

[Ponybookworm]

Keeps a beady on this thread as I too would love to scent/ rescent Ponies

[Artemesia's Garden]

OK we can talk biochemistry. So one of the best ways to remove pen I have found is just allow a drop of mineral i.e. Baby Oil to sit on the stain, then wipe off after a wile. This is because a lot of biro ink is oil-based. Pony plastic is also made from refined fossil oil i.e. petrochemicals. Cars and boats often use similar soft plastics and restoration advice is always to use mineral (petrochemical) oil, once any cleaning products have been used and thoroughly removed. It's used by buffing in a thin layer, like a final conditioner. If I have to wash a pony with water and detergent I always finish it off like this once clean and dry.

So now to scents. Most scents in every day products are also made from petrochemicals...perfumes etc. My Little Ponies are scented with petrochemical scents. Essential oils are made from very specific plant material using cold pressing for the most expensive, or steam pressing for cheaper versions. They have a unique biochemical signature and have particular properties. Production is expensive, high demand from the wellbeing industry makes them expensive, so the good news is that ponies were never scented with essential oils. In fact I have a hunch that some may contain chemical groups that may actually damage soft plastics over time.

So what to use? You can buy petrochemical scents in the shape of 'scented oils' these are usually a lot cheaper than essential oils and are used for scenting candles or potpuorri etc.. My suggestions is to try these, as long as they are colourless. I would think about soaking something inert like cat litter in the scented oil, then putting it inside a muslin bag and then putting it inside the pony. I would test this on a white bait for a few months first just to check that nothing bad happens. Would be good to try some and see which brands best match the original scents. I have a citrus sweetheart that still smells quite strongly like sherbet orange, but none of my others are still scented. I don't know how they should smell so I'd love some advice!

[starrynights]

OK we can talk biochemistry. So one of the best ways to remove pen I have found is just allow a drop of mineral i.e. Baby Oil to sit on the stain, then wipe off after a wile. This is because a lot of biro ink is oil-based. Pony plastic is also made from refined fossil oil i.e. petrochemicals. Cars and boats often use similar soft plastics and restoration advice is always to use mineral (petrochemical) oil, once any cleaning products have been used and thoroughly removed. It's used by buffing in a thin layer, like a final conditioner. If I have to wash a pony with water and detergent I always finish it off like this once clean and dry.

So now to scents. Most scents in every day products are also made from petrochemicals...perfumes etc. My Little Ponies are scented with petrochemical scents. Essential oils are made from very specific plant material using cold pressing for the most expensive, or steam pressing for cheaper versions. They have a unique biochemical signature and have particular properties. Production is expensive, high demand from the wellbeing industry makes them expensive, so the good news is that ponies were never scented with essential oils. In fact I have a hunch that some may contain chemical groups that may actually damage soft plastics over time.

So what to use? You can buy petrochemical scents in the shape of 'scented oils' these are usually a lot cheaper than essential oils and are used for scenting candles or potpuorri etc.. My suggestions is to try these, as long as they are colourless. I would think about soaking something inert like cat litter in the scented oil, then putting it inside a muslin bag and then putting it inside the pony. I would test this on a white bait for a few months first just to check that nothing bad happens. Would be good to try some and see which brands best match the original scents. I have a citrus sweetheart that still smells quite strongly like sherbet orange, but none of my others are still scented. I don't know how they should smell so I'd love some advice!

That's super interesting!

[Artemesia's Garden]

I'm glad. Maybe I'll try buying an orange scented oil to see if it matches Citrus Sweetheart. They are very cheap and if it's a good match I can use it to top her up.