Can Gingerbread be saved? First experience with mold :(

[InkyMilk]

You wouldn't believe how ecstatic I was to find Gingerbread in my recently acquired mass of G1's. I adored her on the spot, only to realize, that despite all the other ponies being in fair to near mint condition, somehow only sweet little Gingerbread has mold! 

Since then I have been searching and reading like crazy and yet I STILL feel clueless and have no idea if she's contagious (and if she is, just how far away is "far away" from the rest of my ponies do I have to keep her?) or exactly what type of mold she has. I can see a darker dot in the middle of the mold, but it still doesn't look like pindot to me? These are the best pictures I could manage and hopefully someone can better identify what she has.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


I am afraid of boiling her as seems to be the preferred method (also because I don't have a non-cooking pot I could use and I doubt super hot water from the bathtub would work), but I'm really unsure of what to do. She and Sweet Stuff are my absolute favorite Twinkle Eye ponies, but if I have to keep her far away from my other ponies (interesting since she's been stored with others for years and none of them even have a speck of mold on them) I don't even know if I could bear to keep her knowing she's some kind of reject.  I know this is probably like the zillionth thread posted about mold and I apologize for the repetition, but I'd really love any advice on maybe helping this beautiful pony out.

[BabyIceCrystal]

Many people believe that to be a type of mold, but I personally believe it to be a form of bacteria that does this. Unfortunately Gingerbread is indeed very prone to cancer. This has to do with how the plastic is breaking down for her and has attracted the mold or bacteria to come have a feast. Scrub her inside and out with Dawn dishsoap. Dawn brand has antimicrobials instead of just anitbacterials, so it's good for either of the causes. This will kill off the existing bacteria and mold so those spots won't spread further but it won't remove the discolouration from it. If you're really nervous about it you could follow up with a bleach bath as that also kills of organic things. The bad news is that since Gingerbread is prone to these problems it's very easy for her to start developing new ones. You will need to continue to wash her every once in a while just in case.

As for getting rid of the spots themselves, some people have had some luck with sunfading, others not. However, Gingerbread is also prone to "sunburning" and may go a tan or brown colour if you do try sunfading her. In general she's just an unlucky pony!

[hathorcat]

In my opinion thats not mold per se but age marks and the plastic breaking down. Gingerbread is one of the worst ponies for this - the flame retardant chemicals break down [and out] of the body of the plastic - the bromide leaves a dark stain at the point of breakdown and the brown colour spreads through the plastic. The reason it hasnt spread is that age marks cant spread its a break down in the plastic of that one pony - the chemical integrity of one plastic pony is not able to affect the plastic of another pony.

I would give her a good scrub inside and out but dont sunfade her as she will initially burn [the burning is caused by significant volumes of bromide being mobilized in the plastic - please see below].

Bromide is mobilized by UV light so heat and light are both potential causes of the breakdown but also potentially the cure. "In theory" [please note in theory as this one is for the brave only to try although I have seen it work with a Baby Moondancer - I think it was sd dreamcrystal if I remember rightly] you need to get all the mobilized bromide out of the plastic - this can be done with a UV light/sunlight. This will make the pony more brown but over exposure it should then remove the staining again.

A further option is to simply decolour the stain - you can use pure acetone to do this [but be careful of the gases this gives off when reacting with the bromide]. You use a needle to prick a hole in the very centre of the dark brown mark and drip acetone into it - into the body of the plastic. It may not completely remove the stain and it may take several treatments and a long time but it will react with the brown and make it colourless.

Before you try either of these, please be aware if not done correctly they may not work and as such you could make the pony worse. I would suggest practice on a bait if you are even a little unsure.

[Elisto]

Huh, I never heard this bromide-theory before. To me, in general, those spots with the dark dot in the middle look just like the ones BlackCurtains found something like bacteria inside, but acetone would certainly kill that if that's what it is, os that may be a good idea either way. I'm not sure about just washing with something anti-bacterial/microbial because if there is something alive there, it's embedded in the plastic, not sitting on the surface.

[hathorcat]

I have mentioned the theory in a couple of threads before Its a pretty established justification for the yellow/brown colour which happens to plastic over the years - a lot of on line collectors communities have established the science behind what happens to flame retardant chemicals in plastics over time.

I know the bacteria research on the marks - I am not saying that bacteria could not be attracted to the sections of broken down plastic - obviously there has been an example of them living there on the one film I am aware of [I only know of the fantastic research BlackCurtains has done]. All I was saying is that I dont believe the reason for the discolouration is bacteria more than it is present after the break down. 

[Elisto]

Oh, I wasn't saying I thought the Bromide theory wasn't a good explanation, just that I'd never heard it before (just looked it up...I think it's bromine that's a flame retardant?). Actually, it sounds reasonable. I do wish I knew more about bacteria that live in plastics, though and I hope at some point there's more research done into things like you mentioned: whether the bacteria "moves in" after the plastic starts to break down or is the cause of it.

And on topic, I was just thinking the acetone solution you gave may be a good idea whichever it ultimately is.

[hathorcat]

Lol...sorry I just read back my post and realised I typed it in a rush! Yes, the bromide [based] chemical is the flame retardant base. I first encountered the theory through a friend who collects old computer consoles. He actually uses a UV light to mobilize the bromide completely and the panels turn a tan brown, wipes it down and then exposes it to the UV light again [usually repeats several times] and between that and some acetone wipes the colour converts pretty much back. I havent been brave enough to basically sun burn a pony and then keep her exposed to light to see if it works completely. And as mentioned I have only seen someone once manage the "tan" and then "back" in the past.

[partypony566]

I've never been ale to get rid of those marks before but I hope you have some luck, poor Gingerbread always seems to get those marks.

[BabyIceCrystal]

This is very interesting. I have two extra Gingerbreads in terrible (bait, only I'd never bait her) condition. One is already a light tan colour and I was planning to try sunfading her dispite the risks because of her condition. Now I think I'll try this method and report my findings with her.

I agree completely about plastic breakdown attracting bacteria, that's why I usually think bacteria in these cases. I had thought the discoloration to be caused by the bacteria getting in there and partying, which would be the cause of the spot in the middle. I had assumed the plastic breakdown itself would be evenly coloured which is why I never considered it. Thanks for the informative theory.

[hathorcat]

Ooooh! BabyIceCrystal - that would be amazing if you were able to try and see if it worked or not

I ll ask my friend for any other tips on it and report them in the thread as well!

[BabyIceCrystal]

I've inspected the two of mine and I think I have a very fortunate setup actually. They are both a very similar state of tan, but the discolouration of one is very even while the other is more splotchy. The splotchier one does have one area with the small dark brown spot and lighter patch around it. So I can do the acetone method with her and the sunburning method with the other one. I've got lots of before pictures of the splotchier one, I'll have to see about getting similar documentation of the other, and some pics together so I can compare them to each other down the road.

[Enolaalone]

Ooh this is exciting, although of course sunfading takes the longest time so I'll have to wait to be excited about the results! 

[hathorcat]

I've inspected the two of mine and I think I have a very fortunate setup actually. They are both a very similar state of tan, but the discolouration of one is very even while the other is more splotchy. The splotchier one does have one area with the small dark brown spot and lighter patch around it. So I can do the acetone method with her and the sunburning method with the other one. I've got lots of before pictures of the splotchier one, I'll have to see about getting similar documentation of the other, and some pics together so I can compare them to each other down the road.

Awesome! There are some pictures floating around of the acetone attempt and the white to tan to white Baby Moondancer but at the moment only one of each. So this will be great to see if it works all the way around.

My friend mentioned that the only thing he sometimes does on the tan is use some hydrogen peroxide cream after the tan and when fading back to white again - the only issue with this is he has done this on hard plastics not the soft malleable plastic of a pony so I am not sure if that will help or hinder to be honest.

[InkyMilk]

Holy smokes, I think trying to save my Gingerbread might be a little too advanced for my talents  I might have to let her go...though I think she absolutely needs to be replaced in my collection <3 I am very nervous though, if Gingerbread is so prone to these spots, is there any way to try to prevent it? This particular Gingerbread was stored in the exact same way as about 20 other ponies and not a single one of them has any mold or bacteria spots on them, so it seems she really needs some special care? Or is there just not a whole lot one can do, and if my new Gingerbread gets spots then that's just the way it is?

[BabyIceCrystal]

There isn't a whole lot you can do. This is a known issue for Gingerbread and you will be hard pressed to find one without at least a few patches. It has to do with the makeup of her plastic and as she ages she slowly breaks down and gains discoloured patches. The way that the plastic breaks down and separates is what attracts the mold or bacteria, which then causes further problems like what's going on with yours with the small dark dots in the middle of larger discolouration. The best you can do is wash her more often then you normally would to get rid of bacteria which is unfortunately all around us and unavoidable in normal households.

Gingerbread is one of my childhood ponies and similar to the new set you've just received, mine is breaking down slowly while the rest of my ponies are just fine. I was always particularly fussy about caring for my ponies and most are perfectly mint in comparison. I guess my fussiness is the reason why she doesn't have any bacteria spots, just going an off colour. She was kept together with all my others just like your new batch was, so I can assure you the plastic breakdown in itself is not contagious.

I have heard of people "restoring" cancer-ridden ponies by painting over the spots with the body colour. While this is like slapping tape over a leaking cup and declaring it fixed, at least it makes her display worthy. The underlying problem will still be... underlying... but it's an out of sight out of mind situation for some people.