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Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Safflower on December 09, 2017, 10:40:17 AM

Title: Tail washers
Post by: Safflower on December 09, 2017, 10:40:17 AM: Hello! I have been wondering what people do with tail washers for quite some time. A lot of cleaning tutorials I have seen don't really say what to do with the tail washer when cleaning a pony, so I wondered what you all decide to do with them. I actually keep them :) I can't bear to throw away anything G1, anything G1 is too valuable! My collection is small too. (I rarely find G1s in my area.) About half of my ponies were found in one day at one Goodwill, so I cleaned them all at once. Everyone had their washer removed, and I found them interesting. I glued them down on a big notecard so I could keep track of which one belonged to each pony. And so, my washer card began!
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I know it looks weird, I promise I'm not crazy! I couldn't think of any other way to display or store them though. I noticed some similarities in the washers, though. There seems to be two different types: flat and spiky. Starflower, Nibbles, Forget-Me-Not, Moonstone, Dancing Butterflies, and Baby Lickety-Split all have two spikes coming out of the center of their washers while the others don't. There seem to be different sizes of each too. The flat ones have two: a thin, small one and a thick, large one. The spiky ones have three which are all thin: small, medium, and large.

Now that we have sizes out of the way, we can talk about who has what sizes :) My three collectors pose ponies and Sprinkles all have small, thin, flat washers. What's interesting is that Medley has a large, fat, flat washer but Sprinkles and Medley share the same pose and year. They should have the same washers, right? I would think so. I also noticed that Forget-Me-Not's washer is colorful, like an oil spill. I wonder if that was from the factory or if the previous child who had her did something.

Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble about what I have noticed about tail washers! If you keep yours, what have you noticed? Are there any sizes or kinds I missed? Thanks again! :biggrin:
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on December 09, 2017, 11:02:21 AM: The only times I've ever removed washers was with ponies with tail rust, and I would prefer to not keep anything rusty around, so I discard them as I'm cleaning the rust, since there's really nothing you can do to fix a washer after it's rusted.

Clean washers remain inside the pony.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: Mlp Sunsparkle on December 09, 2017, 11:33:46 AM: I only take out washers if I need to clean rust, and depending on how rusty it is, I either keep it or get rid of it. My last rusty ponies' washers had gotten so bad that I could snap them into pieces, and the other two had them crumbled into bits and stuck in their tails. I usually try to clean them, but if I cant get the rust off I'll chuck them. I keep ones with a tiny bit of rust, and leave clean ones inside the pony :)
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: pinkkittywinks on December 09, 2017, 11:37:12 AM: I have a washer collection too!

Nirvana washers are pretty fun too as they are unique to each country.

Love pkw xxx
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: Baby Sugarberry on December 09, 2017, 12:36:16 PM: Same as most of the above; I toss washers that are rusty, and leave non-rusty ones where they belong. I know I'm not about to dunk any of my collection into water and our house never gets excessively humid, so they're pretty safe.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: lovesbabysquirmy on December 09, 2017, 02:43:35 PM: Quote from: Baby Sugarberry on December 09, 2017, 12:36:16 PM
Same as most of the above; I toss washers that are rusty, and leave non-rusty ones where they belong. I know I'm not about to dunk any of my collection into water and our house never gets excessively humid, so they're pretty safe.

Yep, same here...
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: lockette on December 09, 2017, 02:59:13 PM: oh I always throw them away, but I can absolutely appreciate the sentimentality of keeping them! they're just as vintage as the toy is, lol. I absolutely loove your card where you keep and label them, though.

I never thought about nirvanas having varied washers, that's just such a neat little detail to learn about.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: applejackbunny on December 09, 2017, 03:51:08 PM: I always remove the washer and throw them away...however, after reading this thread and seeing your lovely washer chart, I might actually keep them now! :lol:
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: Leave a Whisper on December 09, 2017, 03:58:03 PM: I only toss em if they're rusty.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: achab1984 on December 09, 2017, 04:27:59 PM: I remove them when they are rusting and the tail and whole inside of the pony are brown. I also take them out and replace with a zip tie when they are broken in half and moving around inside of the pony.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: RavenPaw on December 09, 2017, 05:23:45 PM: I always like to keep the washer in if possible since it helps hold the tail in place. If it's not too rusty but has some rust what I do is this: Soak it in some CLR for a while to get rid of the rust, then paint the corroded parts with clear fingernail polish to make it smooth and try to stop any leftover rust from spreading. If they are too rusted to save then they get replaced with zip ties to help the tail stay in place. I like to keep my ponies as complete as possible.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: SkyCakes on December 09, 2017, 05:39:55 PM: I get rid of them, If the pony is rusty I just clean them out and replace them with zip ties. Once I was crazy about replacing them now I only do that when I notice they are too rusty.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: tailrustedtealeaf on December 09, 2017, 06:23:56 PM: Saving them like that is kinda cute! My first G1 (CF Cotton Candy) had her washer rattling around inside her, so I just got rid of it. It would feel too late to save them all at this point.
If it's loose or rusted, I just chuck it.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: Stormness_1 on December 10, 2017, 12:52:21 AM: I only remove rusty ones. If they're rusty, I toss them, I'd never want to put them back in, and I doubt any new owners would either - not to mention that it might be quite difficult for ponies with tinsel (tinsel breakage) or double tails. I can understand keeping them though, I'd probably use those little ziplock bags and label them with sharpie, like I do with my small accessories.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: bright rabbit 1 on December 10, 2017, 01:18:26 AM: I throw the washers away, I use cable ties to replace the washers.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: NightGliderSA on December 10, 2017, 11:23:21 AM: I do the same as many other people who have replied: rusty washers are thrown and replaced with cable ties. OK washers are kept on the tail where they should be. And if a pony's neck seam is still intact and she shows no sign of rust I do not open her up just to have a look.

As an interesting side note I have one pony who's neck seam was sealed when I received her but who rattled, so I opened her up thinking that her washer was rusty. But it wasn't. They had just thrown it into the pony instead of attaching it to her tail as they should have. So I have left it like that as a memory. Crazy Hasbro people.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: Artemesia's Garden on December 10, 2017, 11:34:00 AM: This sounds great Safflower!

I wish I'd done that. I've kept the rusty tail washers but not kept a note of which belongs to which pony. I've always been interested in this thing with the washers. I rarely take heads off unless the tail rust is obvious so I haven't had many non-rusty ones to put back.

Quote from: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on December 09, 2017, 11:02:21 AM
The only times I've ever removed washers was with ponies with tail rust, and I would prefer to not keep anything rusty around, so I discard them as I'm cleaning the rust, since there's really nothing you can do to fix a washer after it's rusted.

Clean washers remain inside the pony.

I've heard that you can sand it down and coat it in a clear, matte acrylic varnish.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: Stormness_1 on December 10, 2017, 11:40:04 AM: Quote from: NightGliderSA on December 10, 2017, 11:23:21 AM
I do the same as many other people who have replied: rusty washers are thrown and replaced with cable ties. OK washers are kept on the tail where they should be. And if a pony's neck seam is still intact and she shows no sign of rust I do not open her up just to have a look.

As an interesting side note I have one pony who's neck seam was sealed when I received her but who rattled, so I opened her up thinking that her washer was rusty. But it wasn't. They had just thrown it into the pony instead of attaching it to her tail as they should have. So I have left it like that as a memory. Crazy Hasbro people.

I've seen this where the pony's tail was forcefully pulled out through the tail hole. So many ponies were carried by their tails by children, and if the tail becomes uneven, it can pull through the washer. I've had many a tail-less pony with an intact neck seal.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: pinkkittywinks on December 10, 2017, 11:56:29 AM: Quote from: Leave a Whisper on December 09, 2017, 03:58:03 PM
I only toss em if they're rusty.

Same here! They will only get worse :(

Love pkw xxx
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: invaderhorizongreen on December 10, 2017, 02:45:37 PM: I toss them if they are coated in rust, otherwise they stay, as long as they are rust free.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: Ponyfan on December 10, 2017, 02:58:54 PM: I played with my childhood Cotton Candy so much her tail would come out when I brushed it or pulled on it too hard. I was always able to put it back in though. If I remember correctly there is a metal clamp around her tail.

Ponyfan
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: NightGliderSA on December 12, 2017, 08:22:04 AM: Quote from: Stormness_1 on December 10, 2017, 11:40:04 AM
Quote from: NightGliderSA on December 10, 2017, 11:23:21 AM
I do the same as many other people who have replied: rusty washers are thrown and replaced with cable ties. OK washers are kept on the tail where they should be. And if a pony's neck seam is still intact and she shows no sign of rust I do not open her up just to have a look.

As an interesting side note I have one pony who's neck seam was sealed when I received her but who rattled, so I opened her up thinking that her washer was rusty. But it wasn't. They had just thrown it into the pony instead of attaching it to her tail as they should have. So I have left it like that as a memory. Crazy Hasbro people.

I've seen this where the pony's tail was forcefully pulled out through the tail hole. So many ponies were carried by their tails by children, and if the tail becomes uneven, it can pull through the washer. I've had many a tail-less pony with an intact neck seal.

Ahhhhh, ok! That would definitely explain it then :)
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: Princess Fizzy on December 12, 2017, 09:21:00 AM: I keep mine, but I also don't remove them unless they are rusty or have fallen out. I de-rust them & put them in ziplock bags.

Your Forget-Me-Not's washer has probably just oxidized. Some metals like steel change colors depending on how hot they are heated.
Title: Re: Tail washers
Post by: Safflower on December 12, 2017, 04:09:09 PM: Quote from: Princess Fizzy on December 12, 2017, 09:21:00 AM
I keep mine, but I also don't remove them unless they are rusty or have fallen out. I de-rust them & put them in ziplock bags.

Your Forget-Me-Not's washer has probably just oxidized. Some metals like steel change colors depending on how hot they are heated.
Thanks! That's interesting.

Also, thanks for the replies and votes everyone! It is very interesting to see the results of the poll and hear what you all do! :biggrin: