10 tips for taming the wild hair and cleaning the skin of your vinyl doll...

Our doll's hair before it was cleaned up.

       I used the following tips to clean up this lovely Alexander doll from resale. The skin tips are for a vinyl doll of course.

1. Use a newly purchased, flexible tooth brush for combing through doll hair. You don't want oils from a human scalp transferred into the wig of a doll. This will only serve to further dirty it and make it tangle more in the future.
2. Be careful combing through the tangles. Start at the bottom of the wig and gradually work your way up. This will help to prevent removing more hair from the wig.
3. Wig shampoo is the very best solution to clean your doll's hair with. If this cannot be purchased, Woolite or a mild hand soap used for washing dishes may be used.
4. While washing the hair, do not get the eye sockets wet. Water can damage some eye balls of different dolls. So use masking tape over the eye sockets if you think that you will not be able to prevent splashing!
5. Very hot tap water is best for getting rid of fuzzy, frizzy hair. The heat will smooth out the surfaces of the artificial wig.
6. For play, it is best to keep a doll wig braided or styled up into a ponytail of some sort. This makes it easier for a child to get around the doll's hair when changing it's clothes. It will also keep the hair from getting roughly tangled in the first place. Save the long hair fashions for special occasions.
7. To remove general dirt and grime, use water and a soft dish rag on the skin to begin with. You don't want to pull of paint if it isn't necessary.
8. Second, use a mild dish soap and the tip of your fingernail before using any rougher chemicals.
9. A benzol peroxide can be used to remove ink pen stains. See the process here.
10. Blow the hot air from a hair blow dryer to loosen up sticky oils and dust in the eye sockets. Run the blow dryer for just a few seconds into the face of the doll to see results.

Left, the doll's hair soaks a bit in Woolite, was rinsed and then I poured very hot tap water over
it to prevent "frizzy" hair. Right, the doll's hair is braided neatly to keep it soft and smooth for
playtime. She will get a different hair style for a holiday party perhaps.