Need (urgent) Sunfading Help!

[FluffleNuff]

My poor, poor Fizzy!

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The marker stains are definitely recent, will that make them easier to remove?

There is also no shortage of sun in sunny Singapore, so I'm not worried there. I do need help in what to do and what not to do, how long I should sunfade and other stuff like that because I've never sunfaded before!

Please help me, this girl was given to me by a really dear friend of mine in Near Mint condition and I'd really like to restore her back to normal!

[rosietrot]

That looks like a job for acetone, not sunfading.   Sun fading will make her entire body lighter, unless you mask it off, and with a dark color of marker like that it may actually set it in just a lighter version of that color over time.  I would first try isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol and in the highest percentage you can find, usually up to 99%) or simple dawn soap and water, if that doesn't work, then acetone (active ingredient in nail polish remover) and if it doesn't go for that you can choose something more intense like xylene (I've always had success with it but it's more dangerous and requires protective gear) or sunfading. 

Anyone else have magic cures?

[Snapdragon]

Oooh, yeah, I've heard it's risky to sunfade anything other than white or yellow ponies, because it's very easy to sunfade the mark away AND the color of the plastic!! So you might end up with big white blotches to replace the blue marks!

I'd do as rosietrot suggested, but if those don't work, I'd say try covering the rest of her in tin-foil and test-fading a spot on her body that might not be as obvious. Could you try, say, the bottom of a hoof, and see how her plastic takes it?

Ultimately, you have to decide which is more annoying to you; blue stains, or white/lighter splotches, which is what sunfading might result in.

Here's an example of a much-darker pony than yours, just as an example; the "M" is gone, but now she has a greyish spot on her shoulder in the shape of the old mark!

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For my own sunfading experiments, I think I did several weeks (three?) on each side, for the two-sided ponies, and there was a marked difference in almost all of my test subjects. (Age spots, however, did not fade, ditto for regrind and cancer.) So for such a delicate procedure, I'd check her at the end of every day, to make sure she's not fading too much!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Oh, acetone will likely take that right off.  Best of luck with cleaning her up!

[slj84]

Be very careful on her cheek with the acetone though.  It will also stop the paint off her.

[hathorcat]

I do agree acetone is a good first bet. And if you have no luck on that then a magic eraser is a better idea. If the staining is recent it has not had time to soak into the plastic and therefore will hopefully be easy to remove.

Sun fading however, especially if you are in a sunny country, and even as a last resort, will work for you. Excluding hair colour and paint on symbols, even if you popped a whole pony in the sun the staining of ink will fade before her body will. And even if it does cause a body colour issue, its a minimal fade unless you over expose the plastic. As per Snaps picture, it is possible for the colour to change but that really is not super common and it if you get a colour change with sun then you would just be as likely to get one with rubbing alcohol/acetone or even a magic eraser on that particular pony. Its all about doing things carefully and keeping an eye on the your work.

Good luck! I am sure you will get her looking great again. And if you do sun fade her make sure to cover her symbols and hair as those pink shades will fade pretty fast.