Dirty Ponies And Broken Parts

[systemcat]

I've read advice around the net for cleaning dirty ponies and I really don't have the guts to dip one of the little buggers in nail polish cleaner, given what that does to cutie marks & eyes.

Another piece of advice has me using pore cleanser on them, but that doesn't do any thing.

Chemical advice please  ?

Also I have a Brush 'N' Grow that ceased to work a very long time ago. As an adult I've tried to remove the head to see what is wrong to fix it, but I just don't seem strong enough to do the job. Advice on this too would be welcomed  .

[kezrob23]

magic erasers are great for cleaning, as are baby wipes if it's deep ingrained dirt, then try hot water, dish washing liquid, and scraping the dirt with your fingernails in regards to the brush in grow, they are pretty tricky to take apart, but i do believe there is a tutorial somewhere on the net, if i can find it i'll post it - or someone else may know it

[mlp4me]

http://www.mlppreservationproject.com/misc.html#MechanizedParts
Look for the mechanized parts.
I've done a brief tutorial here as well. http://mlparena.com/index.php?topic=305746.0 Sometimes they can be fixed, sometimes not. Depends on how far gone the parts are...

[systemcat]

kezrob23 = I've never tried to use a magic eraser on one of these because I used to be a janitor and consider that a heavy duty scrubber. I've always wondered if one of those would do more harm than good. Baby wipes actually never crossed my mind. I'll have to buy some next time I'm in the 99 Cent store. As for dish soap, I have used that before, but it doesn't seem to to any good. Lastly, I've thank goodness have never had one so far gone it needed me to scrap my nails on it to clean it, but I do have some ponies that I got from Goodwill once, I wonder what the heck the previous owner did to them.

mlp4me = That looks like it could be a good tutorial to work from. When I have the time and some spare ribbon the work with, I'll try it out.

Now, later today when I'm not running around which I'm about to do, I'll show the bad cases I wonder how to fix. I know my Butterscotch is so bad off I had to turn it into a kind of redo custom, so that one is out.

[kezrob23]

magic erasers are pretty safe, most people on here would swear by them the fingernail/hot water/dish soap method is for ingrained dirt or smooze that alot of ponies get - if you do a search on here for smooze, you will bring up quite a few pics that you may be able to compare to your pony to see if it is a similar kind of dirt that you are dealing with i've personally never tried baby wipes, but have seen quite a few recommendations for cleaning with them. but please post your pics, we all love to see before and afters!!

[WildBlue]

I do not use magic eraser on eyes/blush/symbols but for some stains it does work I have found. I do not scrub very hard when I use magic eraser either, I read somewhere here on the arena that it is abrasive.
I like to use hot water, give a Dawn dish soap soak/bath and gentle scrub with soft bristle toothbrush/my hands. Then if that doesn't get it all I like to do a hot water and oxiclean soak. Oxiclean especially good for removing rust! After oxiclean the hair will need to be conditioned and combed ect.
Nail polish remover I only use sparingly and if other methods do not work. It is good at removing glue. I now have both acetone and acetone free polish remover in my pony cleaning supplies, sometimes ponies have nail polish on them and it does remove a few stains.  I feel though it is good to be careful with both of those.
All of this I have learned from the arena and experimenting. A lot of good advice in threads. Still lots to learn though. Next I will try sun fading for whitening a pony further - as the methods above got her pretty white and clean - she could be whiter. So I think the best thing I've taken from learning this stuff is that some ponies take multiple tries/methods to get them looking their best.

[Elisto]

I primarily just use toothpaste and a brush, rubbing alcohol (usually safe on the paint), and sunfading,in that order. There are lots of options before you get to acetone. Also, if you do use acetone, you'll want to wipe it on, not dunk the whole pony in it.

[moonflower]

Magic erasers are awesome for cleaning up ponies, they really do the a great job!

[systemcat]

The ones I first think of that have issues, not counting attempted repair jobs.

This G3 came from Goodwill and I have no idea what the marks on it are from.

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Once more no clue to how they got this way being second hand and actually from the same store. I'm not sure how well their coating of dirt appears on camera. Also I'm not sure if the eyes are in as good a shape as they were when new. I have my doubts.

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At first the hair was awful, but after much careful grooming it isn't filled with knots any more. Unfortunately it's more fuzzy than I've seen with my other older ponies and I wish I could fix that. This one came from eBay. It also has the issue of being dirty.

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From Hong Kong & from a seller that had a ton of G4s to sell. The mark seems deeply embedded in it.

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Unknown dirt. I asked the seller after buying it what was on it and they said they didn't know with having bought it from a flea market.

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This one came from a retro store quite a while ago. I worry from seeing a photo else where on damage & dirt, if it's cancer.

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The seller on eBay admitted in selling it, it wasn't in good shape.

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One that I got as a kid ...I'm pretty sure I'm the moron who used the ballpoint pen on it.

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[PrincessKelliee]

I use an Antibacterial soap and a toothbrush for their bodies (kid toothbrush for the eyes and symbols) and on spots I use either Alcohol or Nailpolish remover (one to remove glitters and such) on a q tip Some stuff comes off, some spots don't..

I have a spot on my Peppermint Crunch that I can NOT get off, I'll take a picture tomorrow. I used some nailpolish remover, and that took away her blush, but not the red stains  (I figured I'd rather have no blush than red stains)

[WildBlue]

systemcat - looking at your pictures, though hard to see everything and inside, overall the ponies look to be in decent condition in my opinion, especially hair, eyes and symbols. I think the methods described by posters above will help these gals out a lot and should not be too difficult to fix. I would inspect really closely around their tail holes for signs of rust from the washers.
Those BBE eyes look great compared to rusty eyes I've seen before. Not seeing signs of rust at least on their eyelids. For those, since I dont have them and never cleaned one I am not sure if there is a special way to clean those or not since they are prone to rust.
Birth flower ponies hair, after cleaning her body, I think leaving a conditioner in for 24 hours or so and then wet, gentle comb through and maybe a pass with a flat iron on low should do the trick for her hair. Which doesn't look too bad at all, just needs some taming. And I've left conditioner sit in pony hair for at least a week, by accident, with no ill effect... but the hair did turn out super shiny and soft.
Snuzzle's brown mark looks more like a rust stain to me than cancer, but I could be wrong about that.
If you ever had your sea pony in the bath tub as a kid, I'd say pop her head off and check if the magnet is still there/rusty and yucky. But magic eraser and/or oxiclean will remove that ball point pen.

I forgot to add, for those with glittery symbols be cautious with what you use around them. Some G1 can get glitter rust and magic eraser, oxiclean and other cleaners may take it off.

[hathorcat]

Great line up of ponies there

The first thing I would second is magic eraser. As you will know it is essentially a fine sandpaper and it does remove the surface of the plastic but at the same time it should remove many stains and it wont cause clear visible damage [just dont go over paint or glitter]. As for the acetone, dont dip the pony in - just use a q-tip and swipe it over the stain in order to remove it or at least test to see if its remoable. Make sure to wipe the acetone off the pony as soon as you are used to it.

If all the methods here are not of any help then your next best bet for the pony is sun fading. That should remove any stubborn surface issues.