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this has been posted on the DOA, but i thought it would be wise to post on here as well. these are some off my list of no-no's, as well as other people's thoughts. i'd hate for anyone to permanently fuss up their doll by accident because they weren't informed of what NOT to do. so here is a thread that is just the opposite of all those "how-to" threads, this is the "do not's".

if you've got tips that aren't listed here, please do post ^_^



~do not use acetone on your doll unless you know that the resin is a hard type and will not melt. soft resins will melt and be ruined, even if the acetone is washed off immediately. rubbing alcohol is a good (and cheap) alternative.

~don't scrub when removing a doll's faceup. the resin is porous and by scrubbing, the dyes will get pushed in further to the skin.

~do not sand a tanned-skin doll, because it has a different color underneath.

~do not leave any doll in the sun, especially tan dolls. there has been one case of a tanned kiss doll left in the sun for under an hour, and it has been discolored (green-ish!)

~do not use any oil-based product on a doll because it will stain, and sanding won't make a difference.

~ Do not spray MSC in the wind, and wear a mask when spraying.

~Do not get elastic wet as it will damage it.

~Do not use markers, they will stain the doll. sharpies will actually eat away the resin and scar the doll as well as stain it.

~Do not use enamel paints.

~Do not rush through ANY customization, wait until everything is dry before adding another coat or spraying.

~Do NOT inhale resin dust, it is not good to get in lungs. if you are sanding, use a sand paper that can be used wet, and/or wear a mask.

~Non oil-based products can stain too - depends on the staining ability of the pigment and on how well you coated you doll with MSC or Testor's Dullcote before using the the proper materials - acrylic paints, watercolor pencils, and chalk (non-oil) pastels - on your doll. So don't paint a doll without coating it first.

~Don't use Winsor and Newton brush cleaner for cleaning brushes you are painting with. Winsor and Newton is very strong and any residue on brushes can remove the MSC and any painting under it too. It is one of the products sometimes used to totally remove a faceup. Use a another brand acrylic-only brush cleaner if you need to clean a brush well.

~Don't try to MSC or customize a new uncustomized doll without first washing it carefully but fully with a gentle soap. Use a soap that is not made for human washing, because handsoap has oils in it. Dish soap would be a good example, since it won't leave the doll oily. This generally will require unstringing the doll. Brand new uncustomized dolls may still have mold release on them, slippery stuff that kept them from sticking to the mold the resin was poured in. If you don't clean it off, your MSC and faceup can slip off.

~Don't use paper towels with colored patterns when cleaning, drying, or painting. The dye can transfer to your doll.

~Don't try to remove a faceup without first removing the wig, eyes, and all traces of eye putty from the doll's head. The products that remove faceups can sometimes liquify eye putty and even pull dye out of it if it is a colored product. This can stain the doll around the eyes.

~Avoid touching a doll's face or other painted areas even after it dries. Finger oils and friction can eventually cause the paint to come off. Also avoid touching areas you have not coated or painted yet, due to skin oils. If you are handling your doll's head, grab the side of the head on or near the ears.

~Don't use sharp hard objects or excessive pressure on the inside of a doll's eyelids when removing or installing a doll's eyes or cleaning out the putty. Some dolls have very thin resin around the eye holes and you might chip it.

~Don't ever let your brushes stand in the water while you are not using them! Especially the very thin liner brushes used for doll faceups. It can warp the bristles, rust the metal, and crack the wooden handle in little time at all, not fun!

~Don't brush a wig with an ordinary brush. Most wig fibres break and then you have a stupid curley bit on the fibres of a perfectly straight wig...^^;;; a comb is slightly better, but if you have one of those highlight brushes from a hair die kit, those work magic!

~Don't use sculpty to hold in acrylic eyes, the sculpty will eat the eyes. if using another substance to hold in the eyes, make sure it is oil free. one way to test this is to leave it sitting on a piece of paper. blu-tack is questionable, as it has dried hard for some people. white kneeded erasers are the only alternative i have seen that have no downsides. even the putty that can be bought from the doll companies has been known to become rock-hard after a year.

~Don't panic if your doll gets a stain. Most things can be fixed with a magic sponge or very light sanding, except if your using markers. Which leads me to...

~NEVER. USE. MARKERS.

~DON"T leave your Work in Progress (WIP) to rest on an printed paper, including newsprint.. it might and CAN transfer to your doll, and be horrendously hard to remove.

~If you are using pastels to blush or colour a face in any way, make sure you check the ears BEFORE you seal each coat. Its surprisingly easy for colour to settle there as it comes off the brush, and if you spray sealant on it.. its there to stay :/

~do NOT be afraid to try something you haven't done before.. there are OOODLES of tutorials and people willing to answer questions before you start.... and you just may surprise yourself with new found talents.

~if you are using acetone:
you DO NOT need to use baking soda to neutralize acetone, acetone is already pH neutral and the baking soda does nothing more than water does. Acetone will melt latex gloves however, so if you're using gloves get the non-latex kind. there's really no need to "neutralise" acetone with anything, as it evaporates virtually to nothing. I use it to clean lab equipment all the time and we often can't have any residue (even water) on glass or it could wreck an experiment or even cause an explosion! Acetone is a solvent so it's meant to dissolve things (yes even resin) but if you swab a little on (never soak!) and allow it to evaporate, it's fine. If you're really worried, rinse it with water - acetone is water soluble and will rinse away. Baking soda / sodium bicarbonate won't do anything at all - it's for neutralising acids, and acetone is a very weak acid (lemonade is stronger!).

~do not: if you do that and have the brushes that have plastic instead of wooden handles, DO NOT let the acetone touch the handle of the brush.

~do not use nail polish to paint a doll, there have been cases of the nail polish dying the doll, even through MSC coats. also, so it can potentially dissolve resin, and since it dries slowly it has more time to cause damage. Plus it's harder to remove.

~do not use stickyback foam tape to hold a wig on. It's very sticky and holds the wigs on great, but when you try to remove the tape, instead of peeling off cleanly, the foam flakes and you have to pick little foam bits off the headcap.



well that's all i've got for now ^^ i hope it is useful to those who are wanting to customize their own doll.

Oooo. Very good. I needed some questions answered.
hmmmmmm.
What about a paint sharpie? I used it to paint Toby's fingernails black and on the insides of his eye sockets, to make them dark. I understand if it's too late to fix it if it's bad, but at least I'll know what not to do in the future.
EDIT: Woops. Too late... But i wonder, since it's sharpie paint...

Also, is it bad to use rubbing alcohol to remove paint? I know it removes the paint marker paint i used on Toby's upper eyelids and tiny bits of paint sharpie (while it's still wet) when I was painting, but do you think it could damage him? His head's resin but his body's plastic (he's an EB-N model).
EDIT: Okay, good. Rubbing alcohol is okay. >w>

Hmmm, someone said using doub.sided tape was okay. It did leave sticky stuff on Toby's head, but I got it off with rubbing alcohol.

If you're not supposed to scrub, then how on earth do you get a faceup off?

Double stick tape also leaves residue. The most nonintrusive way to keep a doll's wig on is a rubberband, like the type that they hold asparagus/broccoli together at the supermarket. The thick blue and purple (sometimes white) ones. Place them around the hairline of your doll and it should keep the wig on. You might need two or three if the wig is rather big on your doll.
Also, the rubberbands can loose their grip, so you'll have to change them occasionally.

Good luck on finding something small enough for your boy. You're probably best off with double stick tape or the Volks wig tape (which I own, but have never tried. I think Tea Time swears by it though. It seemed to keep CW's wig on really well.) for him. :3

Yeah so lets go through this list shall we:


I can personally attest to this as Costa's lip started peeling off when I used straight acetone on it. Nail polish remover is fine, but rubbing alcohol is your best bet. Plus if you have a Rainydoll, be especially careful as I've heard a case where a girl's Soah's face melted after just one application of paint thinner to remove the face-up.



I heard about this. It was a rare case indeed, as not only did the parts exposed to the sun turn green, they formed these deep icky pores in the resin and it happened in about 20 minutes. This tan resin is used in Kiss dolls as well as tanned Hounds. Only two cases like this so far have been reported, but BE CAREFUL!!!



This I can vouch for as well. Even after you think that the sealant is well dry, the oil and friction from your fingers can (and usually does) make the sealant moist and sticky-ish, which make sit easy to rub away.



Normal brushes aren't the best idea for straightening out a wig, but wire brushes and brushes made especially for wigs will do the trick and not ruin the wig. Small, purse sized ones can be picked up from any beauty supply store or just about any store that sells hair products for very cheap.



DON'T DO THIS!!! Unless you have very low quality polish, it will stain (and even then I wouldn't take the chance). It is possible to use clear polish as a gloss AFTER you've painted and coated, but it should be low quality (not that you'll know the difference until after you've done it and it does or doesn't start bubbling and eating away at the paint beneath). I say go the say route and buy acrylics and gloss.

All the rest of the DO NOTS go as written and they should all be followed to preserve the life of your doll.