Cleaning Question *UPDATE!- Now Pic heavy Sunny Daze Restore!*

[Moss]

Oh. My. Gawd. You guys. You guys. These Magic Erasers... they must be filled with actual magic. For reals, you guys. For reals. Because I got the 6 pack one with different sizes at Waldbaum's tonight, and tried one out on 'ol Sunny Grays (becuase she was definitely gray). And now? Well, take a look!
Before
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You can pretty clearly see how dirty her head was compared to her body here.
She's embarrased that these are online...
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Her other side, and you can also see the gap where I cut her neck ring. Not too bad, though, right?
She hates me for posting these, though...

After!
These pics, she is okay with. Sunny feels much happier after a good scrub with that Magic Eraser!
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Look, now her head is the same color as her body! Woohoo!
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Another pic of her neck gap. I don't think I'm gonna glue her head back on, though. I'll just style her hair to cover it up.
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Mr. Clean's newest spokespony! Just look at that smile! Actually, this side of her face was the worst, I just didn't get a good before pic. There was icky dirt all over her cheek and up near her mane, which is now all gone!

So tomorrow's goals are as follows:
- Find some zip-ties for when Sunny's tail goes back to it's permanent home (they're in this house somewhere...)
- Fix dat hair. I might give the iron method a go. I just need lots of conditioner, right? And I only have a clothes iron, but I think that'll work.
- Leave the poor thing alone to dry so her head will eventually get back on her neck..
- Also, hide the decapitated pony from my relatives who are coming!

I like this restoring stuff. It's fun, and I feel like I've helped out Sunny Daze immensely. She looks so much nicer already! My sister saw me erasing her, and thought it was the weirdest thing. I was told, "I would have given you mine!" (our old childhood Sunny Daze, who lives in my sister's herd). I told her that I felt bad for her in that bag of toys, and she just rolled her eyes. I have a soft spot for pathetic looking things, inanimate or otherwise. My sister thinks I should just leave her as a headless, tailless pony, though, because for some reason she finds that amusing. -sigh- I'll update after tomorrow's steps!

Totally OT, but I drove my mom and sister back from the supermarket! First time really driving somewhere since getting my permit! yay me~

[hathorcat]

Yay! She looks fantastic and yes I completely agree magic erasers are awesome - you cannot keep and buy ponies without one!!

When gluing her head back on use as little glue as possible and make sure it doesnt get out of the head/neck join on to her body - superglue and the like yellow incredibly quickly and you dont want to ruin all that perfection

[rybett]

You can also make a pretty necklace to help hide the gap.  I ran out of zip ties, so I have been using ribbon to hold the tail together.  Once it's in, I have been knotting it several times to secure it.  So far so good.

[Sugar]

Wow, Mosspath, she's beautiful!  Great job with the Magic Eraser, and congrats on getting your favourite pony back in good nick.  I can't wait to see the finished product!

As an aside, I don't know about clothes irons and pony hair... I am addicted to my flattening iron for my own hair, so I've been using that for pony hair too, on the next-to-lowest setting and with stunning results.  Let us know how it works out - maybe that'll motivate me to do some actual ironing around here!

[Moss]

Well, the ironing wasn't a total disaster! I did her tail first as a test, with the iron on the super low nylon setting. Worked a bit, then I made the mistake of turning it up a little. Her tail melted a little, but I trimmed the worst parts so it looks decent. Turned the iron back down and did her mane, which didn't melt at all! It's still a bit frizzy at the ends, but I didn't want to turn the iron back up, so it's good enough. I also used ribbon to secure the tail, which is now thin, but is back in her butt lol. Sunny's drying out for at least a day or two now, after which I'll post the final pics!

All in all, there were a few mishaps along the way (which makes me glad she's not rare!), but I'm glad I did what I did. She looks better now, and aside from her tail and neck ring, I didn't do any major damage on my first restore!

[Sugar]

You know, it's the mishaps that help us learn.  And this Sunny Daze, no matter her flaws (and her neck ring doesn't look bad, just fiddle with it until you find a position in which it doesn't show; I did that to my Waterfire, and she displays nicely now) will always be special to you, as she's your first restoration.   Good job, and can't wait to see the photos!

[hathorcat]

Well, the ironing wasn't a total disaster! I did her tail first as a test, with the iron on the super low nylon setting. Worked a bit, then I made the mistake of turning it up a little. Her tail melted a little, but I trimmed the worst parts so it looks decent. Turned the iron back down and did her mane, which didn't melt at all! It's still a bit frizzy at the ends, but I didn't want to turn the iron back up, so it's good enough. I also used ribbon to secure the tail, which is now thin, but is back in her butt lol. Sunny's drying out for at least a day or two now, after which I'll post the final pics!

All in all, there were a few mishaps along the way (which makes me glad she's not rare!), but I'm glad I did what I did. She looks better now, and aside from her tail and neck ring, I didn't do any major damage on my first restore!

Are you ironing straight on to the tail? Dont do that You should make sure the hair is filled with conditioner and water then put it between 2 damp pieces of fabric [a pillow case or similar] and then iron - be quick and dont let the head build up - keep the cloth wet by spraying it with cold water between iron sweeps

[Bebopgroove]

I hate the way G3 hair frizzes up. I had a perfectly good Autumn Crisp until I decided to innocently style the hair, and consequently turned the ends of her mane and tail into a disaster.

[Moss]

Well, the ironing wasn't a total disaster! I did her tail first as a test, with the iron on the super low nylon setting. Worked a bit, then I made the mistake of turning it up a little. Her tail melted a little, but I trimmed the worst parts so it looks decent. Turned the iron back down and did her mane, which didn't melt at all! It's still a bit frizzy at the ends, but I didn't want to turn the iron back up, so it's good enough. I also used ribbon to secure the tail, which is now thin, but is back in her butt lol. Sunny's drying out for at least a day or two now, after which I'll post the final pics!

All in all, there were a few mishaps along the way (which makes me glad she's not rare!), but I'm glad I did what I did. She looks better now, and aside from her tail and neck ring, I didn't do any major damage on my first restore!

Are you ironing straight on to the tail? Dont do that You should make sure the hair is filled with conditioner and water then put it between 2 damp pieces of fabric [a pillow case or similar] and then iron - be quick and dont let the head build up - keep the cloth wet by spraying it with cold water between iron sweeps

I did everything but use the wet cloth. I just used a lot of water and conditioner. I think my mistake was just turning the iron up past the nylon setting. Once I put it back to that, there were no more melting problems. Thank you for the advice, though! Might try the cloth method next time.

[hathorcat]

Well, the ironing wasn't a total disaster! I did her tail first as a test, with the iron on the super low nylon setting. Worked a bit, then I made the mistake of turning it up a little. Her tail melted a little, but I trimmed the worst parts so it looks decent. Turned the iron back down and did her mane, which didn't melt at all! It's still a bit frizzy at the ends, but I didn't want to turn the iron back up, so it's good enough. I also used ribbon to secure the tail, which is now thin, but is back in her butt lol. Sunny's drying out for at least a day or two now, after which I'll post the final pics!

All in all, there were a few mishaps along the way (which makes me glad she's not rare!), but I'm glad I did what I did. She looks better now, and aside from her tail and neck ring, I didn't do any major damage on my first restore!

Are you ironing straight on to the tail? Dont do that You should make sure the hair is filled with conditioner and water then put it between 2 damp pieces of fabric [a pillow case or similar] and then iron - be quick and dont let the head build up - keep the cloth wet by spraying it with cold water between iron sweeps

I did everything but use the wet cloth. I just used a lot of water and conditioner. I think my mistake was just turning the iron up past the nylon setting. Once I put it back to that, there were no more melting problems. Thank you for the advice, though! Might try the cloth method next time.

You are right it will probably have been the little bit extra heat that did it! Hey its all learning itsnt it! I know I still get surprises by what works and what doesnt work when restoring!

[Moss]

Well, the ironing wasn't a total disaster! I did her tail first as a test, with the iron on the super low nylon setting. Worked a bit, then I made the mistake of turning it up a little. Her tail melted a little, but I trimmed the worst parts so it looks decent. Turned the iron back down and did her mane, which didn't melt at all! It's still a bit frizzy at the ends, but I didn't want to turn the iron back up, so it's good enough. I also used ribbon to secure the tail, which is now thin, but is back in her butt lol. Sunny's drying out for at least a day or two now, after which I'll post the final pics!

All in all, there were a few mishaps along the way (which makes me glad she's not rare!), but I'm glad I did what I did. She looks better now, and aside from her tail and neck ring, I didn't do any major damage on my first restore!

Are you ironing straight on to the tail? Dont do that You should make sure the hair is filled with conditioner and water then put it between 2 damp pieces of fabric [a pillow case or similar] and then iron - be quick and dont let the head build up - keep the cloth wet by spraying it with cold water between iron sweeps

I did everything but use the wet cloth. I just used a lot of water and conditioner. I think my mistake was just turning the iron up past the nylon setting. Once I put it back to that, there were no more melting problems. Thank you for the advice, though! Might try the cloth method next time.

You are right it will probably have been the little bit extra heat that did it! Hey its all learning itsnt it! I know I still get surprises by what works and what doesnt work when restoring!

Yup, and now I know for next time! I feel a bit bad that my "learning experience" had to involve melting the poor girl's tail, but I don't think it was -that- bad. It's a little crispy now but it's not all that noticeable, thankfully.

Sunny's in the final stages of her restore. Her head and tail are back in their rightful places, and now she's just sitting in rubber bands and toilet paper for a day so her hair will look all nice and styled. The final pics will be up tomorrow!

[hathorcat]

I learned not to use magic eraser on glitter only after I de glittered my Pinwheel *eye roll* - well she was glittery on one side at least! So I know the feeling

[all4fun]

You did a great job with the magic eraser. Those things have lots of uses. Sunny looks nice and happy now

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Great work!

[Moss]

After a few days of work, here's the final after shot:
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I'd say she looks pretty darn good for my first attempt at a restore! Sunny Daze has now found a happy home on the top shelf of my pony collection, where she towers over the g4s. Actually, Pony towers over her, but at least she's got some tall friends to make her feel less self- concious. I hope to someday add other non- g4 ponies to the heard, and now I know I can do a bit of fixing up if I find them in less than perfect condition!