Care & Cleaning, Repairing & Restoring

• Care & cleaning of dolls, hair, and clothing



• Repairing and restoring dolls



• Rerooting hair on vinyl dolls



• Restringing dolls



• Storing and displaying dolls

Care & cleaning (some websites here include repair and storage tips)
Some websites still suggest oiling eyes in composition dolls. This is NOT recommended, as oil on eyes seeps into and damages composition over time!

http://www.adollysworld.com/doll_cleaning_and_care_tips.html
http://www.angelfire.com/bc3/blackdollzine/dollcare6.html
http://collectdolls.about.com/od/restoration/a/top10preservat.htm
http://www.collectdolls.about.com/library/weekly/aa081800a.htm
http://www.dollinfo.com/caretips.htm
http://www.dollreader.com/tutorials.php?id=86
http://www.dollreader.com/tutorials.php?id=82
http://dollykruger.tripod.com/id12.html
http://www.eloradollhouse.com/help/care.php
http://www.madamealexander.com/hospital/
http://www.prillycharmin.com/restore/index.htm
http://www.tonnerdoll.com/dollcare.htm
Antique conservation:

http://www.throughtheeyesofachild.info/conservation.html

http://www.ufdc.org/OnlineClubSeminar1.htm

http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/conservation/. Search keyword: dolls
Avoiding problems: http://tinyurl.com/yjnp6b7
Barbie, modern 1980s–
Barbie, vintage 1959–1970s
Cloth-bodied dolls, modern; re-stuffing: http://tinyurl.com/zskxk
Cloth dolls, care & cleaning:

http://www.clothdollcreations.co.uk/pdfs/care%20of%20dolls.pdf (PDF file)

http://tinyurl.com/5jf58c (scroll down)
Clothing, cleaning:

http://www.dollreader.com/tutorials.php?id=80

http://tinyurl.com/yeckkhw

http://www.dollstringing.com/2009/04/washing-vintage-doll-clothes.html

Fabric cleaning & storage: http://www.fabrics.net/joan300.asp

Fabric identification and care: http://www.fabrics.net/fabricsr.asp
Composition dolls: http://www.louiseslittleladies.com/care.htm
Eyes, cloudy: http://dollykruger.tripod.com/id12.html
Felt & cloth: http://www.lenci-dolls.net/hints.html
Hair care for Barbie dolls, modern 1980s–
Hair care for Barbie dolls, vintage 1959–1970s
Hair care, vinyl dolls: http://tinyurl.com/yzstok4
Hair curling/setting: http://www.odaca.org/tips/wigsherrod.php
Hair, mohair wig: http://www.thisolddoll.info/hosp/mhwig/mhwig.htm
Hair, saran 1950s:

Cleaning: http://tinyurl.com/yoeo9e

Curling: http://tinyurl.com/2fwe6h
Hard plastic odor or breakdown
My Child dolls:

http://www.users.bigpond.com/armstroj/Restoration%20Tips.htm

Refreshing face color: http://www.prillycharmin.com/restore/3my_child.htm
Paper doll care & preservation: http://www.opdag.com/Preserving.html
Plastic action figures: http://www.toymania.com/resources/beginnersguide/
Plastic dollhouse furniture, care & cleaning: http://tinyurl.com/lpj4l
Repairs
Rerooting
Rubber dolls: http://tinyurl.com/yg75dm4
Vinyl dolls:

http://dollykruger.tripod.com/id12.html

http://www.justmagicdolls.com/articles/vinylcleaning/BodyCleaning.htm

http://vintdolls.com/makeover.html

Eye mold: http://www.crissyandbeth.com/crissyfiles/EyeMold.pdf (PDF file)

Deterioration: http://www.strawberrybonkers.com/miscd.html

“Green ear,” removing: http://tinyurl.com/m3535

Stains, removing: http://tinyurl.com/2hyf78
Wood:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art48966.asp

http://www.oldwoodtoys.com/care_&_cleaning.htm


Repairs, reproductions, and restorations. See also Cleaning.
http://collectdolls.about.com/library/weekly/aa081800a.htm
http://www.thisolddoll.info/hosp/hosp.htm
http://www.thisolddoll.com/qa.htm
Antiques: working on
Barbie, removing "green ear:" http://tinyurl.com/m3535
Bisque head, reattaching to body
Celluloid, repairing: http://tinyurl.com/lqlu4
China head dolls, antique vs. reproduction:

http://dollreference.com/china_heads_antique_repro.html
Clothing, shoes, repairs, wigs: http://www.thisolddoll.com/
Composition:

Dwayne (Doc) Gipe’s guide: http://tinyurl.com/p6q76

Nativelady’s guide: http://tinyurl.com/3bdyc6

Repair example: http://tinyurl.com/ylz9txe

Repairing a crack: http://www.thisolddoll.info/hosp/split/split.htm

Repairing limbs:

http://www.louiseslittleladies.com/dollcastle46-1.htm

http://www.thisolddoll.info/hosp/newfoot/newfoot.htm

Cloth body, restuffing: http://tinyurl.com/ye4up4e
Eyelashes, replacing: http://www.thisolddoll.info/hosp/lashes/lashes.htm
Eyes, repairing or replacing:

Composition dolls: http://tinyurl.com/ghubs

Hard plastic dolls: http://www.thisolddoll.info/hosp/eyealign/eyealign.htm

Vinyl dolls, sleep eyes: http://tinyurl.com/nhk46
Hair, replacing, see Wigs or Rerooting
Hairstyles how-to: http://www.dollydiva.50megs.com/articles/hairpage.htm
Hard plastic breakdown, two different types (depends on plastic formula):

“Pedigree disease,” vinegar odor, British & Australian doll makers:

http://tinyurl.com/y89e9lm

http://tinyurl.com/yjgoaw6

http://tinyurl.com/yd5jprz

http://www.wondersofyouth.co.uk/index.html

Urea migration, sour milk/vomit odor, American doll makers:

http://tinyurl.com/nzbg2

http://tinyurl.com/y9whvsm

http://tinyurl.com/yec2lm4
Hard plastic cracks: http://www.thisolddoll.info/hosp/plastic/plastic.htm
Porcelain dolls, modern; repairing
Repainting (specific for vinyl, but also good general tips):

http://www.juanalbuerne.com/PaintingClass.html

http://tinyurl.com/ydnb99b
Replacement parts, supplies: http://dollspart.com/index.html
Restorationist, choosing a: http://www.antiquechild.com/doll_repair.html
Rerooting
Restringing
Tools & hints: http://www.thisolddoll.com/tools.htm
Vinyl dolls: http://www.prillycharmin.com/restore/index.htm
Wigs, repairing/replacing:

http://www.odaca.org/tips.php

Ginny-type, replacing: http://vintdolls.com/wigs.html

Mohair wigs: http://www.thisolddoll.info/hosp/mhwig/mhwig.htm

Removing & replacing: http://www.allaboutdolls.com/howto.html

Vinyl doll wigs: http://www.justmagicdolls.com/articles/rewig/rewig.htm


Rerooting hair on vinyl dolls
http://www.dollraves.org/arttips/reroot-mauro.html
http://www.dollraves.org/arttips/qdreroot.html
http://www.fatcat.com/dollraves/arttips/reroot-mauro.html
http://www.fatcat.com/dollraves/arttips/qdreroot.html
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/550212941InHTCl
http://www.modcolors.com/modbarbiecare/reroot1.htm (warning: music)
http://www.restoredoll.com/rerooting-guide.htm
http://www.wideeyedgirls.com/rerootinstruction.html
Barbie, modern, removing head:

http://home.comcast.net/~tefaz/cdarchive/Nov99/beheading.html
Dawn, rerooting: http://tinyurl.com/2g2zrt
Dollikin, rerooting: http://home.att.net/~dollikin/reroot.html
Dying hair: http://www.dollraves.org/arttips/dye.html
Hairstyles: http://www.dollydiva.50megs.com/articles/hairpage.htm
Kanekelon: http://www.angelfire.com/de3/blackdollezine/dollcare10.html
Male dolls: http://www.dollreader.com/modern-repaint.php?id=3
Molding hair: http://www.rebeccachulew.com/ezine/moldedhair.html
Painting hair: http://home.comcast.net/~tefaz/cdarchive/Jan2000/painting.html
Tressy, rerooting: http://tressydoll.com/page13.htm#re-rooting
Tutorial (recommended):

http://www.meandmydolls.com/index1.htm Click Menu > Craft > Reroot


Restringing dolls
http://www.adollysworld.com/doll_stringing_tips.html (scroll down)
http://collectdolls.about.com/od/beginnerscollectingguide/ht/dollrestring.htm
http://www.prillycharmin.com/restore/
American Girl: http://tinyurl.com/k2xxm
Cord: http://www.thisolddoll.info/hosp/restring/restring.htm
Rubber band: http://www.argomo.com/hosp/latex/latex.htm
Little Miss Revlon: http://www.thisolddoll.info/hosp/lmr/lmr.htm


Storing and displaying dolls. See also Care & cleaning.
http://www.angelfire.com/ak3/dollworks/hottips.html
http://bamagal.com/alexdolls/collecting3.htm
http://collectdolls.about.com/library/weekly/aa012201a.htm
http://collectdolls.about.com/od/restoration/tp/ruinyourdolls.htm
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1198209
http://www.justmagicdolls.com/articles/DollClutter/clutter.htm
http://historicalamericangirls.webs.com/storagedisplaytutorial.htm