Cleaning Peek-a-Boo Ponies

[ringwraith10]

Okay.  I'm continuing my giant task of trying to catalog all of my ponies before the fair (it may be a losing battle). I have come across one of my childhood ponies, Baby Sweet Stuff, who is a Peek-a-Boo pony, i.e. the ones with weird wobbly heads. She needs to be cleaned, but I am really not sure how! I read some older threads that gave a link to this tutorial on taking them apart, but I've never done it before and I don't want to try on a childhood pony! And the only other Peek-a-Boo pony I have is another childhood pony that is much more valuable and will definitely NOT be a good candidate for experimentation.

BUT... I think this pony may have mold inside. And it seems like even a light washing would cause water to get inside her. What do I do about that? How would one usually go about cleaning this type of pony?

[Doedeardarling]

Maybe you could just clean her with baby wipes, and wash the lenghts of her hair without getting the roots wet? I've never removed the head of a peek a boo pony, so I can't really help with that.

[daffodil101]

And the only other Peek-a-Boo pony I have is another childhood pony that is much more valuable and will definitely NOT be a good candidate for experimentation.

BUT... I think this pony may have mold inside. And it seems like even a light washing would cause water to get inside her. What do I do about that? How would one usually go about cleaning this type of pony?

Ooh, I think I can guess who   Well, I have removed the head of a peek-a-boo baby, but I haven't gotten it back on again.  Not that I've put a huge amount of effort into it, she's in a pile of ponies in various stages of being cleaned.  Hope you can find out!!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Ah yes.  These can be tricky.  Use very hot water to loosen the plug while gently pulling with needle-nose pliers.  Then clean as normal.  You will likely have to glue the plug back in when you are done - I've never had one fit back in perfectly enough to hold a head in position after cleaning. 

[hathorcat]

Its a bit of a balance - if you remove often its very hard to get it back together and working. However if you want to do an internal clean the best option is to take the pony apart.

I used this tutorial when I tried it first - http://mlparena.com/archive/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=135049 - and 3 times out of 4 they go back together and work but unfortunately sometimes its easy to damage and you loose the movement.

So if you decide to take him or her apart for cleaning inside, just be aware you may not get them back together and working completely. Be as gentle as possible however and if anything looks close to ripping dont proceed.

[ringwraith10]

Thanks for the advise, guys! And thanks for the alternate tutorial, hathorcat. I'm super afraid that I will mess up taking her apart, but if she does have mold inside of her, I will probably have to.

At least I think I got her externally clean without getting any water in her, which is good. I used soap on a toothbrush, then wiped it off.