Porcelain Doll Clean Up

I first started collecting dolls in the early 1990's. I purchased a few specialty dolls, left them in their original boxes, and put them in a safe place. Years later when my daughter went off to college I think I went through separation anxiety. Suddenly I started buying some dolls from thrift stores. I felt like they needed saving. It gave me something to focus on. After they were cleaned up I packed them up and figured I would give them to my daughter to one day display in a dance school. She teaches dance, and the idea is that one day she will have her own school. It seemed like a good idea to have her display them so that young students could appreciate seeing them, and maybe relating to them on some level.

Recently my husband came across a box of dolls that needed some tender loving care. So I have decided that this bunch of porcelain dolls could be used to show you how I revive them to the best of my ability. I am no expert. I do not fix the porcelain. We can leave that to the professionals. I simply do the clean up, and maybe some glue. That is it! I hope you find something here helpful in some way. I learn as I go.

I used a scoop of OXIclean and Dawn Dishwashing liquid to a bucket of water. Not to hot, but hot enough to be effective to wash the clothing, socks, and undergarments. Not all doll clothing should go in this mixture. If you have any type of velvet or plush clothing it will bleed. What I did for some dolls was to hold the dress tight along the sleeves so that any adjoining material that might bleed onto white lace or other parts of the dresses would be at a minimal for color bleeding. I didn't submerse dresses that were not completely cotton. For the boy dolls I had no issues putting the clothing in the soapy bucket. I hand washed the cloth and let anything that was badly yellowed sit in the solution. One of the boy dolls had mostly white clothing, and it came clean with this solution. The under shirt for the Matthew doll was very yellow at the colar, so where his socks. I placed those items in a smaller plastic container with very warm water, a small amount of OXIclean and a drop, and I really mean a drop of clorox bleach. I did this only because the portion of this seperate totally white cotton top had no other color on it. The sox were so yellow I took the chance on doing this with them, and I let it sit overnight occasionally checking whenever I was near the sink just to see what was happening and if the items were indeed whitening. They did. Very white and clean. This was my fist experience ever using OXIclean and had no idea it would make such a difference. I suggest using gloves because my hands did get raw, and the OXI clean does feel a bit warm when it starts to react with whatever else. you are using. The rest of the clothing did come clean with no bleach at all. I didn't use any bleach with any of the dresses for the girl dolls accept for the socks.

While the clothing was soaking I washed the hair and faces for these dolls with a soft paper towel. When needed I recommend rinsing the hair if you are able to. I did not do that to the Nellie doll. Her hair was dusty and faded but in good shape. I just whipped it on top gently and slightly combed it. I did not wet the bodies of these stuffed dolls. All I did was dust them down with a almost dry damp paper towel. You could use a cloth. I just didn't bother. They don't smell, and I didn't want to start any kind of mold or dampness on the stuffing. Use your own judgment. Trust yourself. It's a learning experience.

One of the dolls had a very bad wig that was already off. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to reuse it. It was a matted mess. I don't have a photo of it. What I did was rinse it with dawn dishwashing liquid. Rinsed it really well, and started picking through section with the comb and brush. The wig was so tangled I chose to use some oil on it. I decided to use a very light oil, and very little. Almond oil. It dries fast and is not greasy. I am not recommending any particular brand. The brand I used just happened to be hanging around. And I only used a dab on my hands and ran it through the doll hair that was damp. I mean just a very very little as needed to make the brush slide.

One of the dolls is Nellie, from Little House On The Prairie. Her clothing was in sad shape. She must have been in a window for a long time. I spent some time washing out her dress and noticed that her face was cracked. I added some glue along the seam.

Step two was just to redress the dolls after all the clothing was dry. I had completed the comb out of their hair. All of their shoes were just damp wiped down. And this is how they all turned out. If you had any luck cleaning up thrift store dolls please let me know how you did. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for visiting this blog.

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