Cleaning dolls, different from Ponies?

[Tenar]

Hi All,

Recently I was lucky to pick up some Jem dolls from the thrift store.  I've cleaned and removed marks from ponies before but I've never worked with dolls.

Is it generally the same processes?  What about their clothes?  Is it best to use clothes washing soap or something more gentle (I'm assuming a hand washing)?  Is there any problem in washing the hair or any special problems to be considered with joints?

Thanks!

 

[MiRaja]

Handwashing for sure.  Dollspart sells some different clothes cleaner that are gentle enough to be used on bisque doll clothing and stuff from the 40's and 50's where I specialize in dolls. 

Every vinyl/plastic is going to react differently.  You know how the acne / removezit cleaners bleach ponies out?  Most dolls it works wonderfully on!  I unfortunately learned it didn't work on ponies the hard way.  Not that there were much in way of warnings, as that was when the product first came out.  :Looks forlornly at her Cranberry Muffins, noting that it was AT LEAST her NDS side: 

I would consult a Jem forum or such to find out what chemicals are and aren't safe to be sure.  Clothing is generally a sure go, I would suggest the dollspart clothing cleaners even for ponywear, just beware of things with red dyes, and clean them separately.  Also, do your cleaning like you'd do your own laundry in your sink.  Lights with lights, darks with darks, and as said, reds are kept separately.  If they bleed, at least they bleed on each other! 

[Bow Tie]

 PM FairyDust! She's really knowledgeable on Jem!

[Tenar]

Thanks very much for the advice!

[FairyDust]

Didn't see this thread, sorry! I'd go about washing the clothing the same as any other doll collector would recommend.

As for cleaning Jem doll's hair you condition just like you would a pony!  I haven't really hard of bleeding problems with people washing Pizzazz's hair but you wanted to you could always wash it in warm water and not hot just to be safe.  If you were boil perming multiple Jem dolls or other toys at one time I'd recommend you either boil perm her last or change the water before you boil another doll/toy.

Sometimes Jem doll hair can stand up funny before or after it's washed.  Just use the normal tricks of wrapping the hair with paper towel (I actually use a really wide netting for mine) and just tighten it down to the head/around the neck.  I've Glitter N Gold Jem's that I wanted to have her hair straight down.  Turned out really nice.  Just boil the water, put her arms above her head, pour the boiling water on her head.  I then quickly dump some cool water on her and also put some netting around her head and also on the top part too to make sure while it dries that it doesn't have a chance to dry and puff upward any.

As for cleaning the Jem doll bodies I'm a big fan of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.  Just a little water and a gentle wipe and she's clean again!  If you had marker on her face or something I'd think you could treat her like you would a pony.  Some Jem chest and necks can be found to be discolored.  I'm not sure if that can be fixed or not.  I know some of them probably can't be since the "SuperStar" knock offs (look really similar with some small and some big differences) bodies on Shana always seem a bit green tinted.  I wouldn't worry about any of the joints while cleaning them.  I do recommend you be careful not to dunk a Jem doll with the battery powered earrings into water.  Did that once when I was little and Jem only blinked on one side of her head after that.  I was probably lucky that she blinked at all after that.  Jem with the earrings hair can be washed easily as the others I just get the water on the hair and not the whole head as much as you can help it.  Don't forget to take the batteries out of those Jem dolls too. They can corrode and damage the clothing.  Plus it's messy to clean up after too.

[Tenar]

This is amazing information!

I haven't yet cleaned them as I was hesitant I case I didn't do it correct but with this information I think I can now manage it with more confidence.

I've not heard of boil permimg. Is there a tutorial with more information?