Hi all,
I have a music post coming up soon with a rare song, but here’s a post in response to a question I received the other day from Marina.
You may or may not be aware, but Substack has a feature called “Notes” which is similar to a Facebook or Instagram “feed” where you can see short posts or photos from any number of writers on Substack particularly writers you follow. I post there a few times a week. Often, I post the same or similar things to what I put on Facebook or Instagram, but sometimes I’m just wild and post something else entirely.
The other day, I posted a note about this beautiful doll which was in the very bottom of a box of bears and other plush friends I won at an auction on Tuesday.
I believe she is wearing her original dress here because it has factory press studs in the back. Underneath her, I found a plastic bag filled with an entire handmade wardrobe for her! What are the chances?! Here I am, a confessed doll nut, and these things found their way to me. I’ve decided that this doll’s name is Betsy.
Even more strange, is the fact that many of her beautiful clothes were knitted AND knitted using the SAME doll knitting booklet that I own. For me, it’s a vintage booklet which I found at a charity shop. For the knitter of the past in the 1950s or 60s, it was a current publication. Wow!
My friend Angela suggested that Betsy’s extensive wardrobe may be a record of many birthdays and Christmases where a mother, aunt, or grandmother made a new outfit for Betsy as a gift to her child friend.
Now, on to Marina’s question. Can you see how Betsy looks shiny in the photo? That’s because she has what’s often called “plastic doll disease” in the doll world. In my note this past week, I mentioned that I was going to treat Betsy for plastic doll disease and Marina asked me how to do this.
I started to write a short reply and realized that I’ve accumulated a lot of knowledge about this in the last year or so. One of my absolute favorite dolls – Francie – started to develop this last year and that got the ball rolling in my research. Doll research. Seems to sit comfortably beside songwriting and playing my banjo.
Dolls and stuffed animals can be companions, friends in self-soothing, and bridges between generations. They can be lifelong friends and emergency helpers in crisis. Do you have a special doll or plush friend? Maybe someone like Stanley Bear and Odile Bunny?
In 2025, I am beginning a new project called The Doll Library (a project which I dreamed up while I was a teaching helper at Penland in 2022). It’s my idea to talk about ourselves, our families, our communities, and our planet through the world of dolls and stuffed animals.
It is my intention to begin touring again in 2025 (I am still, however, waiting for my visa from the UK Home Office and can not legally travel or make practical plans outside the UK until that comes through which could be as late as March 1, 2025). I plan to combine my musical travels with visits to doll makers, doll hospitals, doll clubs, and museums with doll collections. I aim to talk with people about dolls and bears and record those conversations and photograph the dolls and plushies for all of us. I’m excited about the new exhibition in Paris devoted to Teddy Bears!! When I get my visa, Stanley Bear says it’s the first trip on our list.
These are my dreams. Musical travel again and The Doll Library!
In the meantime, if you, too, have a doll with plastic doll disease (stickiness, yellowing, white wax blooms), I’ve compiled my research, so far, into the thoughts below. I also welcome thoughts and suggestions from your doll repair experiences! The doll repair world is very much about collective knowledge, trial and error, and the exchange of techniques.
Things feel rather fraught and fractious in the wider world outside my studio. I find it harder and harder to listen to the news and I need a break from current events more often now. I saw a video about Sally Winey from Winey Bears Repair in North Carolina the other day. Sally said, “When you repair a stuffed animal for ‘em, it’s just beyond anything, and just to be able to have somebody’s heart warmed like that in today’s world where everything seems to be going wrong, it’s just such a blessing.”
I agree, Sally.
Look for a rare song coming up soon!
Always with kindness, your friend,
Jeni
P.S. Just by leaving Betsy out in the air on a tea towel in the living room, I’ve reduced her stickiness by more than half. She just didn’t like being inside a cardboard box in the dark on top of a plastic bag under a bunch of bears. Who would? Let your dolls roam free!
What I’ve learned about fixing plastic doll disease, plus some resources . . .
by Jeni Hankins
What I've learned so far is that plastic doll stickiness can come from the doll being in an enclosed space like an airless box or it can be from overexposure to sunlight. Those two things we can control by displaying our dolls in our rooms, but away from harsh light.
The thing that we can’t control is plastic decay. Because a lot of dolls were made with early plastics or experimental plastics (PVC, vinyl, etc) and not necessarily for longevity, and because the makers were trying to achieve a certain “skin” texture or flexibility, the plastics can decay. They contained chemicals/compounds and waxes that change with age and storage conditions, and even your climate. Sometimes, this change is permanent and cannot be repaired. I’ve seen dolls with shrunken faces and limbs and even ones that have just turned to a kind of dust. I remember when my Western/Cowboy Ken’s “leather” (pleather) trousers became sticky and started to flake off in my hands. The same thing has happened with the ear covers on my posh Audio Technica studio headphones – it’s a risk with all plastics.
I’m using the word “plastics” broadly here but I’m including hard plastic, soft plastic, vinyl, PVC, rubbery plastics, etc, in this category. Each one – and there are thousands – will react differently to restoration methods.
So, what can we do? From watching several YouTube videos and keeping an eye on the DO IT YOURSELF DOLL HOSPITAL Facebook group, I’ve learned two methods one milder than the other.
Some people have success by just washing the doll with dish soap. Some doll collectors do this once a year because over the course of a year the stickiness resurfaces. For some dolls there is no permanent fix because the plastics are slowly degrading, so they need a yearly spa treatment.
In the USA, folks use Dawn brand dish soap because it’s a de-greaser and, in the UK, they use Fairy brand because it’s also a degreaser. You can make a bath of warm water and soap and let your doll soak for a few hours. Then take a cellulose sponge and a toothbrush or soft nail brush and go over the doll. A washcloth works, too. I’ve seen some people use the scratchy (usually green colored) side of the sponge, but this scares me a bit. I’d rather make more hand motions/passes over the doll with a softer tool than risk abrading the surface of the doll with a harsher tool. Then I rinse the doll and let it dry or dry it with a lint-free towel like a tea towel. I’ll see how the doll feels once she’s had her bath. Sometimes, I will repeat this method a second time if there is still stickiness.
The slightly more lengthy process is to use oxygenated powder dissolved in water. This product sells under a lot of different names in different countries. In the USA, there are OxyClean and Biz. In the UK, there’s Vanish. OxyClean uses hydrogen peroxide to break down stains. Biz uses enzymes (I would use OxyClean and Biz in combination). Vanish uses a combination of sodium percarbonate and enzymes. I wear gloves when using these because they contain chemicals.
Folks who use this method, immerse the doll in a hot water and oxy solution. Ideas vary on how much powder to use because doll sizes vary. I start with two scoops (about two American tablespoons) in 2 1/2 liters or 3/4 gallons of water. If you’re treating a Barbie or small fashion doll, the container would be smaller and you’d use less water and less powder. Basically, you want enough powder to make an effective solution, but you don’t want to overdo it. It’s hard to be more precise when dolls are so many sizes. So, a rule of thumb is to use less powder at first and see how things go.
The water may change color and go brown or yellow over the course of the day. If so, change the water, make another solution, and leave for another day. Make sure that the doll is submerged, so you if need to put a ceramic plate or bowl in the water to weigh the doll down, do so. They will want to float. I often remove the head of the doll, if possible, because the plastic is perishing on the inside as well as the outside, after all. So, I like to get either the dish soap or the oxy solution inside the doll, too.
After the first day of immersion, rinse and dry the doll and see how she or he is doing. Are they still sticky? If so, make a new batch and keep going.
If your doll was very dirty as well as sticky and the soap or oxy solution has removed the stickiness, but not the dirt, I use a magic eraser (white sponge) and water (no need for soap with a magic eraser) to remove the dirt. WARNING! Magic sponges can be controversial in the doll restoration world because they are ultimately an abrasive, but I use gentle pressure and stop if I feel it’s removing the finish. I always test under the doll’s foot or the back of the neck or bottom rather than starting with somewhere really precious like the face. Magic erasers are essentially a very fine plastic “sandpaper.” They are made of melamine. So, use caution and test an inconspicuous area. Ultimately, some dirt is just fine and the dirt is preferable to scarring the surface of your doll.
A few things to remember. Washing the doll means their hair will get wet. You can use human hair conditioner or fabric softener to make it easier to comb. Sometimes, with very tangled hair, you might let the conditioner or softener sit on the hair overnight wrapped up in plastic. Comb it from the bottom and work your way up to the scalp leaving the product in the hair. You can rinse it when you’ve finished detangling. You can use plastic straws and bobby pins to curl it. Let it dry in the air. It’s probably plastic hair, so don’t use a curling iron or a hot hair dryer.
Always be careful around the painted features of the doll. These aren’t places to do hard scrubbing. I have a doll who was obviously washed so much in her past life, that her eyebrow paint disappeared. When she came to me, I painted some new eyebrows after cleaning her.
Also, antique dolls were made of composition – compressed glue, and sawdust – or paper, cardboard, and wood, and can not be cleaned as described in this guide because they will disintegrate. Cloth dolls are a whole other subject. Also, some antique doll hair is made of mohair which a complete nightmare to comb and rescue once it’s wet. So, these methods aren’t appropriate for dolls with mohair wigs.
What I’ve said in this guide is really limited to the world of plastic dolls. Dolls made of other things need other types of care.
I am not an expert. I am learning by doing and these methods have worked for me.
Always be kind to yourself. These processes have been learnt through trial and error and there are so many different kinds of plastic dolls, that your doll might not respond to these treatments.
Some dolls can’t shake sticky doll disease and we just have to love them as they are and hope they last a little longer. They have been our good friends.
Here are the resources I’ve found most helpful and I hope you’ve found my letter helpful. Good luck and lots of smiles to you. Saving a doll or teddy bear or other special friend means they can go on bringing joy and they aren’t taking up space in landfill either! Good for you! Comment below if you’d like!
Click below for the:
DO IT YOURSELF DOLL HOSPITAL Facebook group.
YouTube videos I found helpful about soaking sticky dolls:
This video focusses on sticky hair which can also be a problem:
And this is an academic study by museum conservators at the Cultural History Museum in Denmark about a collection of PVC dolls which disintegrated in their archive due to wax leaching. I found this fascinating and also took heart because it shows that even museums can’t always keep plastic dolls from perishing.
All the best to you and your dolls,
Jeni
In real life, I’m a songwriter and you can learn about me and my music here!
I cannot express how grateful I am for this thorough, resource packed post and for your generous advice. Your doll project sounds wonderful. Now when I run across a doll in the wild (thrifts, estate sales) I will be confident enough to see what can be done. For me, it’s the clothing that fascinates.
I'm blown away by how much knowledge you've accrued on this topic. And I love your idea for the Doll Library. Please consider coming to the west coast when you tour! But not in May, when I'll be in England or September, when I'll be in France. Because of course, it's all about me. Kidding. I just really want to meet you in person!