Questions about removing marker & discoloration

[babystarz]

Soaking Ember in hydrogen peroxide with sunlight hitting the jar might also be an idea to restore her original color...

It's okay to get it in her hair? and about how long should I soak her? 

Hydrogen peroxide can do weird things to pony hair, I know lots of people only use hydrogen peroxide if they're planning to rehair because of the drying effects. It can also change the hair color. I haven't used it much - I tend to find that sunfading accomplishes the same purpose with less harsh methods. There are situations where hydrogen peroxide can do things that normal sunfading can't, or it speeds up the process. I have used it for spot treatment with some success, but never a whole pony.

I guess sunfading could help Baby Ember, but it really depends on why she is the color she is, if that makes sense. Certain things can be removed by the sun, and some can't. It's difficult to know just what caused the yellowing - tobacco smoke? Simply the effects of aging plastic? Ingrained dirt particles? That's what makes her a toss-up for sunfading in my eyes. If you do want to give it a go, you'll need to be more careful with her than for Windy because those darker ponies can have odd things happen much more quickly. So check on Baby Ember daily ^^

[hathorcat]

Well, I think it works like this, the foil you use to cover eyes, blush ans symbols protect them so they don't fade but the plastic itself absorbs the sunlight somehow, must be something chemical. That's how I experienced it but I'm not a chemist. What wasn't supposed to fade didn't and what was supposed to fade did. The paint, glitter and hair didn't fade but the yellowed plastic did.

Is it my ponies that look that they're getting / have gotten surgery? Hm, I never thought of like that. It worked wonders on Gusty, just hope it will do the same on the pen mark on Baby Gusty.

Interesting! But odd! So could you maybe just wrap the whole pony in tinfoil and heat her up [not suggesting a microwave of course just like cooking a baked potato by the sun]

[balletpot]

I'm so far from a chemist you can come but the sun must have something to do with it. Feels like most of the plastic has to be exposed though. I checked under the foil covering the symbols as she was sunfading and after a couple of weeks when the pony had started getting whiter, it was still yellow around the symbols but at then end (after two months) it was white around the symbols too. Just as white as the rest of the pony.

Edit: Most of the yellow on my pony was probably caused by cigarette smoke because that's what she smelled of.

[Elisto]

It's not heat but UV rays that cause the fading. I suppose exactly whatever the process is that the plastic undergoes from UV rays can spread a bit, explaining why the fading effect can be seen under the foil/tape/whatever. Or maybe the UV rays can travel through the plastic a little and affect covered areas? I don't know, I'm just guessing. The plastic is a little translucent...

[hathorcat]

It's not heat but UV rays that cause the fading. I suppose exactly whatever the process is that the plastic undergoes from UV rays can spread a bit, explaining why the fading effect can be seen under the foil/tape/whatever. Or maybe the UV rays can travel through the plastic a little and affect covered areas? I don't know, I'm just guessing. The plastic is a little translucent...

Ok...lol I am now quizzing everyone on UV light....apparently tinfoil [aluminium foil] depending on the density that you are using will only absorb [i.e. prevent from getting to the material underneath] a certain percentage of UV light - so its likely that whatever percentage of the rays are still getting through the foil is what is lightening the area. However, this does mean that symbols, blush and eyes, etc are also all being affected by the UV rays - they wont fade as fast but left there indefinitely they will fade eventually as well.

[ShannonInPonyland]

Thank you all for the great tips! Very helpful and makes me feel less nervous about having to do this for the first time    Is there any set amount of time that I should sunfade her for? Or is it more of a thing that you just do by eye?
I might be receiving a Gusty soon so I'm going to hold off starting to sunfade my Windy until she gets here 
As for Baby Ember, I think I'm just going to give her a little scrub down with the Magic Eraser and just leave her. As I said before, she's in wonderful condition other than her discoloring but I guess I'll just look past that and start calling her my Baby Green Ember   

[Elisto]

I would just do it by eye. I've had some discoloring fade in as little as a few days, and one that's been there over a year and still isn't completely faded (lots of red marker). Most take a few weeks for me, but it really depends on how much sun/UV you get and what you're trying to fade.

[ShannonInPonyland]

I would just do it by eye. I've had some discoloring fade in as little as a few days, and one that's been there over a year and still isn't completely faded (lots of red marker). Most take a few weeks for me, but it really depends on how much sun/UV you get and what you're trying to fade.

Okay, thanks!    Gunna put them in the sunniest window in my house and hope it will only take a few weeks 

[babystarz]

It's not heat but UV rays that cause the fading. I suppose exactly whatever the process is that the plastic undergoes from UV rays can spread a bit, explaining why the fading effect can be seen under the foil/tape/whatever. Or maybe the UV rays can travel through the plastic a little and affect covered areas? I don't know, I'm just guessing. The plastic is a little translucent...

Ok...lol I am now quizzing everyone on UV light....apparently tinfoil [aluminium foil] depending on the density that you are using will only absorb [i.e. prevent from getting to the material underneath] a certain percentage of UV light - so its likely that whatever percentage of the rays are still getting through the foil is what is lightening the area. However, this does mean that symbols, blush and eyes, etc are also all being affected by the UV rays - they wont fade as fast but left there indefinitely they will fade eventually as well.

Actually, the tinfoil does not absorb the light, it reflects it back either to the source, or if it's angled, off in another direction. But it prevents that UV radiation from ever hitting the plastic underneath it. If it's not taped down, light (and UV rays) will get in the sides and potentially affect the paint around the edges underneath. And yep, the plastic surely fades faster but that doesn't mean paint won't. For a short bit of sunfading it probably won't be lightened at all, but left much longer than a few weeks it will start to fade. Probably faster if left in direct sunlight.

I would just do it by eye. I've had some discoloring fade in as little as a few days, and one that's been there over a year and still isn't completely faded (lots of red marker). Most take a few weeks for me, but it really depends on how much sun/UV you get and what you're trying to fade.

Same here, usually it takes about a month to start seeing dramatic results but sometimes it will happen much more quickly/slowly depending on what type of mark it is, and how big/what color it is. Also the type of sun-fading; one little dark mark tends to take longer than an overall body fade for dinginess. And of course pony color makes a difference. The darker the pony, the more UV light that gets absorbed per square inch. That is why it's important to keep a close eye on those blue/purple ponies ^^

[hathorcat]

Actually I have checked it out and some UV rays will get through regular aluminium foil...only a tiny percentage of course and only if the tinfoil is regular household grade anything stronger and it will be completely blocked but I assumed most people would be using what they picked up in store. I did get the terminology on the other the wrong way around apologies as aluminium foil reflects about 85-95 of light and only absorbs a small amount which it it simply reflects back out as visible light anyway.

Sorry for the thread derail!

[balletpot]

Actually, the tinfoil does not absorb the light, it reflects it back either to the source, or if it's angled, off in another direction. But it prevents that UV radiation from ever hitting the plastic underneath it. If it's not taped down, light (and UV rays) will get in the sides and potentially affect the paint around the edges underneath. And yep, the plastic surely fades faster but that doesn't mean paint won't. For a short bit of sunfading it probably won't be lightened at all, but left much longer than a few weeks it will start to fade. Probably faster if left in direct sunlight.

This could have been what happened to my Gusty, that the foil wasn't 100% taped down but still there were some bits in between the leaves that were covered with foil and still the plastic got whiter. I don't mind if this is what happened. I started out trying to trace the leaves of the symbol on a baking paper and then cut the foil after that but I quickly gave up. For me, the pony got whiter and I can't see any fading on the symbols, eyes or blush. Maybe that there is some minor fading but nothing that can be detected by the eye.