So soft pony head removal- is it safe?

[Strawberry Swirl]

I have a couple of fuzzy ponies that I wanna open up to address issues with(if I need to be specific, one has tail rust and the other somehow got water inside through the tail during a wash) but I'm concerned that soaking them in very hot water will damage their flocking.
I just wanna know if I can do this without damaging the ponies?

[FarDreamer]

No promises, but I think you're ok to take the heads off.  I've only done it for de-flocks so I'm not sure how it will look when you put them back on, but if you're careful it'll probably be fine.  I definitely wouldn't soak them in hot water, that often hurts flocking.  If you absolutely needed to use hot water (and you may not need to), I pour water directly into a pony's body all the time when I don't want it to touch the outside and that works really well.

[banditpony]

What about using a blow dryer instead of the water?

[FarDreamer]

Sorry, I thought you meant the water was needed for cleaning the rust.  I also think a hair dryer would work.   

[banditpony]

Sorry, I thought you meant the water was needed for cleaning the rust.  I also think a hair dryer would work.   

Ooooh. Maybe I misunderstood!

[kissthethunder]

A blow dryer will just heat up whatever is trapped in the pony imho. I wouldn't worry about messing up removing the so softs heads at all, I've popped off plenty and had no trouble getting them on and off If they sit funny back on they just need to be resealed with some glue

[Strawberry Swirl]

Oh dang, I didn't know there would be any confusion lol...

Here lemme help.
I am only referencing the part about soaking them in hot water,
a part I must do because I am not physically strong enough to use other methods + my mom
still orders me around even though I'm an adult and says I can't use x-acto knives.

[kissthethunder]

Oh I see!!

Well, I still advise against using a blow dryer for head removal reasons because it will not only soften the neck glue, but also the flocking glue ;o; you may accidently take flocking off

[prancingstag]

I haven't taken the head off of my SS Truly, but when I was cleaning her I noticed that some of her neck seam had a gap in it. I grabbed her head in one hand, body in the other and twisted them opposite ways. Her plastic is mostly hard and the glue had become brittle around the seam, so it separated quite nicely. So if I should ever need to take her head off the glue is loose now. Perhaps you could try a little bit of elbow grease with yours? Sometimes the seam isn't completely sealed after a few decades.

[hathorcat]

As long as you are not putting anything else in the hot water and you are not going to wipe the pony when she has been exposed to the water, you should be fine. However, as ever with so softs, I would point out that you really never know for certain what will affect one so soft. The glue could be so far deteriorated that just the hot water is enough to remove some of it. A hair dryer could have a likewise detrimental condition. However both options are preferable to a knife - you are more likely to damage the plastic, the plug and yourself with that than with the hot water or hot air.

So I would tread with caution but if the neck cannot be removed by simply gentle tugging, then the hot water soak is the best idea.

Good luck! And let us know how you get on!