March 9, 2019

Angela's Dolly Care Corner - Glue Hair Cure

So, this is for those of you who have had a Mattel doll in the last several years that has come down with the dreaded glue hair problem. When your doll’s head is full of hard, sticky glue that seeps out into her hair and makes it all sticky, clumpy and nasty.
Baby powder only works on the ones with light colored hair cos’ it leaves a dusty residue. Ditto for cornstarch. A lot of the suggested cures are toxic, nasty chemicals that can remove the doll’s face paint if you get it too close and they don’t always want to work the first, second or third time out. Even good old trusty Dawn dish soap doesn’t cut this greasy mess. But this does:

Turpenoid, pictured above, is a natural, nontoxic cleaner and conditioner for paint brushes –meant as a solvent for oil based paints!

It’s nowhere near as harsh as degreasers and other cleaning chemicals and it has conditioner meant for synthetic bristles built into the formula. The best part? It won’t take your doll’s face off and the fumes won’t suffocate you!
The cleaning process for doll hair is a two to four step process depending on the amount of glue ick in your doll’s hair.
1. Start by pouring some Turpenoid into a tupperware or other dish of your choice - I used a disposable tupperware- and dip your doll’s hair into it. Work it around with your hands the same as you would to clean a paintbrush and don’t be shy about getting it on the doll’s scalp too, where the glue seeps out from.
2. Now take your doll to the sink – and make sure you use COLD water only!!! Hot water will only make the glue seepage worse as it softens the glue inside the head! – Add some Dawn dish soap to her hair and lather it up real good and bubbly before you rinse. Repeat Step 2 at least 2-3 times to make sure you've got the Turpenoid out.

**If your doll’s hair feels odd between your fingers after it’s rinsed, don’t worry, That’s as much from the turpenoid and sticky glue that has come off on your hands as anything. I repeat those two steps a second time for safety, just to be sure the remaining ick feeling IS what’s on my hand and not the doll’s hair.
Final step is to lay your doll out on a towel and let her dry thoroughly!
Thanks to the brush conditioner in the Turpenoid, your doll’s hair should come out not only clean but soft and smooth as new and easy to brush.

Don't use heat drying/styling methods unless you have a device with extra low heat settings and you know the doll's hair fiber is NOT Saran.


Courtney Blaire, before and after Turpenoid Natural wash



Emma, the tech behind this blog's layout and graphics - Left and bottom right are post wash, top right is pre-wash.

And that's our show for today, folks! Thanks for reading. More dolly care tips coming soon!
--Angela--

No comments: