what to do about musty smell on G1's

[lonewolf]

I picked up these G1's for $2 at a garage sale today. They had some dirt and stains on them (the SS is in great shape), but all of them have a strong musty odor, and one of the babies has tail rust. Is the tail ribbon original?
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


I cleaned them up with some cleaner for pet stains, but the smell is still there (I haven't washed the hair yet).
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


And the garage sale that has these was a half block from my house.

[Kazzellin]

Are we talking a musty, moldy smell, or a musty, dusty smell?

Either way, the one with tail rust should be opened up (carefully cut around the neck seam; there's an inner ring that holds the head on, and while it's no biggie if you cut into it, it's nice if you can avoid it; just make sure you're cutting *away* from your body, with a table betwene your legs and the blade ), and the tail removed so said pony can be cleaned - that rust can continue to soak into the rest of the pony plastic, and cause spotting. Usually, it's the washer around the tail, thought it can also be the tail crimp. If you can remove it, awesome - replace it with a zip tie. Clean the pony out nicely (rust dust can still spread), put the tail back in (I normally use a heavy thread lark-knotted around the tail with a heavy needle on it - put the needle in, pull it out the pony neck, the looped tail will follow, put on the zip tie and partially secure it, undo the lark knot, center adn tighten the zip tie, glue if you want (not required), and pull the tail back out the hole it comes out of. Voila! Put the head back on, reglue, and you're done!

If you haven't visited them yet already, the MLP preservation project is a wonderful cleaning and restoration resource. http://www.mlppreservationproject.com/

[lovesbabysquirmy]

What pink hair!  Keep that outta the sun!    Congrats!

[SaraMari]

I have read that washing them with a mixture of one part water and one part white vinegar helps. I tried this with a musty Lady Lovely Locks I found, and it has reduced the smell. Just put the mixture in a spray bottle, mist them and let air dry, don't wipe any of the mixture off.

I'm sure covering them in baking soda and letting them sit a couple days would help too

[kissthethunder]

What pink hair!  Keep that outta the sun!    Congrats!

THIS!!!

Also, feel the ribbon, if it's double sided satin ribbon that feels moderately thick it could be original. Either Sunbeam came with a yellow or white ribbon but I'm not certain. Someone who has her moc could say yes or no to that. I can tell by touch whats an mlp ribbon but it's kinda  hard to explain =/

[lonewolf]

What pink hair!  Keep that outta the sun!    Congrats!

THIS!!!

Also, feel the ribbon, if it's double sided satin ribbon that feels moderately thick it could be original. Either Sunbeam came with a yellow or white ribbon but I'm not certain. Someone who has her moc could say yes or no to that. I can tell by touch whats an mlp ribbon but it's kinda  hard to explain =/

Thanks for the tips. The ribbon is soft, but it's pretty thin.

[lostpony]

1. Absolutely do NOT use anything sharp taking off the heads. Use a very dull butter knife if needed to get through the glue.

Take off all their heads and soak in some Oxy Clean solution to deal with smells, maybe overnight then scrub them us using a non-colored cleanser like bon ami and a toothbrush.

Pull out the rusty tail with some long needlenose pliers (through the inside of the pony) and get rid of that failing iron tail washer. You dont need it. When its time to put it back in, use a piece of wire to pull it back in.  Soak the tail in straight liquid laundry detergent, i like Tide Free. Use a toothbrush with the detergent to scrub away rust on the tail and any inside or outside the pony.

Awesome finds! Cant wait to see em all cleaned up.

[kissthethunder]

What pink hair!  Keep that outta the sun!    Congrats!

THIS!!!

Also, feel the ribbon, if it's double sided satin ribbon that feels moderately thick it could be original. Either Sunbeam came with a yellow or white ribbon but I'm not certain. Someone who has her moc could say yes or no to that. I can tell by touch whats an mlp ribbon but it's kinda  hard to explain =/

Thanks for the tips. The ribbon is soft, but it's pretty thin.

Hmm- Is one side satin and the other side dull? Or are both sides satiny? Compared to other ribbons mlp ribbons feel thicker and are double sided satin ribbons. If it's not double sided satin it's deff not mlp

[Prince Primbrose]

Omg that pink hair! And Shady looks great! Congrats on finding them. <3 I've been trying to pony hunt but I can't seem to find any around here, not since several years ago.

[aintnobuffalo]

Great find! Some good advice has been given already, but I want to add that some time in the open air helps a lot of you aren't in too humid of an environment. If the smell doesn't improve after that, a gentle wash, or some rust cleaning, you could use the method of shutting her in a tote/container with kitty litter (the litter would be separated, in a pan, not touching) for a bit.

[lonewolf]

What pink hair!  Keep that outta the sun!    Congrats!

THIS!!!

Also, feel the ribbon, if it's double sided satin ribbon that feels moderately thick it could be original. Either Sunbeam came with a yellow or white ribbon but I'm not certain. Someone who has her moc could say yes or no to that. I can tell by touch whats an mlp ribbon but it's kinda  hard to explain =/

Thanks for the tips. The ribbon is soft, but it's pretty thin.

Hmm- Is one side satin and the other side dull? Or are both sides satiny? Compared to other ribbons mlp ribbons feel thicker and are double sided satin ribbons. If it's not double sided satin it's deff not mlp

Both sides feel the same.

Well I tried getting the head off with a butter knife, but it looks like they loaded it with glue as it wouldn't budge, and when I tried the head half ripped off the neck. Will leave it alone for now.
 The good news is the musty smell died down (the 2 babies and Sunny were in a ziploc bag which no doubt contributed to it), and after washing their hair it's even less noticeable. And WOW Shady's hair is glowing after washing it. 
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[kissthethunder]

If both sides feel the same there's a good chance it's genuine! I have a habit of just keeping the ribbons on the ponies I get if they were put there by someone else even if I know they're not real mlp. I got a baby TiddlyWinks and she had a sloppy braid in her tail ties with a ribbon and all I could think of was some little girl learnign to braid on her pony. So I fixed the braid, retied the obviously nonmlp ribbon, and kept it there under some sentimental story my braid came up with.

In any case, as I said before, Sunbeams ribbon was either white or yellow so it's a good chance its authentic! Hold onto it

Also, they all cleaned up very nice!! Be careful with that pink hair and CONGRATS! They're lovely!!

[lostpony]

Sorry lonewolf I should have also said when you use the butterknife to go real slow and rotate it one way then the other while pushing forward only slightly, and it takes a long time but breaks the glue in teeny tiny little steps.  Glad the tear really doesn't show though.  I ripped a pony's neck most of the way off before someone told me about how to use a butterknife.

Those look great all cleaned up.  Nice work on the hair!