posted on July 6, 2006 01:04:29 PM new
I recently purchased some 1950's Uneeda and Sweet Sue dolls from a woman who had them sitting in her basement for a while. Unfortunately, they have developed that wonderful basement odor and they also have the green ear thing from old earring posts and white filmy eyes going on too. They sound lovely don't they? I put them into a plastic bag with Bounce dryer sheets hoping this would at least help with the smell, but now they just smell like stinky old-lady perfume mixed with a musty stench.
Any ideas on how to eliminate the odor and how to take care of green ear and filmy eyes? I think they would actually do well on eBay if they could be cleaned up a bit.
posted on July 6, 2006 01:23:09 PM new
Charcoal will absorb the smell. You can get fancy and by a cartridge that fits in a high end refrigerator or an air filtration unit, or you can use the economy method and get a sack of barbecue briquettes and take a hammer and smash several of them, pour the dust, crumbs, chunks and powder into a box, line lightly with tissue paper and throw the dolls in. Seal the box and let it set a few days and your odor should be gone. DO NOT let anyone talk you into using Fabreeze. If your buyer has asthma, it could trigger a severe attack when she opens the box. As far as the green ears go, if the green is caused by metal, the first thing that comes to mind is a little ammonia on a q-tip, but that will depend on what the ears are made of and how the ammonia might affect them.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on July 6, 2006 01:38:22 PM new
My mother had a huge collection of buttons. Some with metal shanks or trim develop a green coating my mother called canker. My friend who is a chemist suggested lemon juice. We used it with a Qtip and it removed the green. Not sure how it would react to doll ears.
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
I'll have you know, that, just for that totally UNCALLED FOR comment, ole "Chemical Ralphie" (AKA: MOBILE CHEMICAL WEAPONS LABORATORY) is "processing" a "special" OLFACTORY TREAT just for YOU!
After carefully preparing the TOP SECRET INGREDIENTS (jalepenos + B&M BEANS + Yawkey Way Sausages) I assisted him in his "work" by throwing everything in his DISH & then...running for them thar hills!"
At yer earliest in-convenience, please email him yer street address so he can POST to you the RESULTS, lovingly captured and preserved in AEROSOL cans, making it so much easier to SHARE with friends & family...
posted on July 6, 2006 09:12:51 PM new
Did you give them a bath? that would help are they the kind that can have a bath and hair wash? My wife does that all the time to dolls and even sets their hair with permanent rollers as they are real small. She even uses the papers to keep ends smooth.
She has used alcohol drop on cloudy eyes then I think a drop of baby oil??? don't try that until you google cloudy eyes on sleepy eye dolls... I am not real sure exactly how she clears them but am thinking alcohol first. She is asleep so can't ask her.
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You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me!
posted on July 6, 2006 09:15:50 PM new
I can't tell you what might work, but I can tell you what didn't work for my old doll that was found in the attic in a plastic doll suitcase from the 50's...cat litter, that's right, dummy me listened to a neighbor and put the doll into a bag that had cat litter in the bottom and sealed it with a twist tie for a week. What a HORRID smell when I took her out of that bag!
She not only smelled like that stinky plastic from the 50's but she acquired a most unpleasant odor from being in that bag. No, I didn't let the cats use it first, but it sure smelled like some animal got into there.
And Classic...how could you say something like that about cute little Ralphie...shame on you...
posted on July 7, 2006 12:54:51 AM new
are there clothes on the doll? If so, can they be carefully washed in cold water with a drop or two of liquid mild soap in the bathroom sink and air dried?
If she needs some cleaning, there is some dry cleaning stuff (Kind of like rubbing alcohol) you can try using but be careful. I would test it on a small area of hair and body before using it all over.
