Hot glue sueding

That was really helpful, thanks so much! The photographs were great. I want to do this for my doll at some point, and this has made me feel more confident ^__^

 

Gah! A blushed DZ body, I'm lovin it! ^^
Your photos are incredibly helpful.
I'm just wondering when the glue dried does it go rock hard and dry like or does it still have that kinda sticky feeling? I'm still wondering how glue sueding can help posing.

 

how glue doesn't dry "rock" hard but it isn't sticky/soft either, its kind of rubbery but a little more firm

 

Hmmm...looking at your photos I think when I tried hotglue suedeing before and it didn't work so well, it might be because I only covered a bit of the socket in a ring. I think I'll have to try this again! Thanks for the pictures! Now, to the glue gun!

 

It's the best tutorial than I have seen! OwO
Can I take this tutorial for write in my forum?

Thank you!

 

Pure awesome! I have been scalding my poor fingers; your paper trick is ingenius! Thanks a lot for posting this! It's super useful 3

 

very awesome tutorial, you did a wonderful job!

 

Great tutorial! I read the other thread about using hot glue, and was a bit confused about how to do it, but this totally cleared up all my confusions!

 

It's like Volks Kips or pilver sueding with actual...suede. It gives the very smooth resin parts something to have a little friction against. That little extra "grab" sometimes can make all the difference in the world to, say, holding an arm outstretched or in some cases, just standing unassisted!

I have to admit extreme embarrassment now at my own hot gluing, after seeing those marvelous smooth finishes you've got. I just use the nozzle of the glue gun to smear and sometimes re-melt and smear, the glue in. And they of course never come out as smooth as one would like...

Very helpful and a great idea with the paper. You can bet there are a couple of critters who will be re-glued around here very shortly!

 

awsome !! thank you for showing how its done - tbh i am quite nervy about doing it myself should i have to to but your tut makes it look so easy!

 

I'll try for sure, thank you for your tutorial!

 

I have a big newb question. wat does this do? @_@ PM me with an answer please!

 

I would also like to know what this dose. Wouldn't the glue roll off after a while?

 

omg, this was really helpful. >< I pictured sueding totally different!

Thank you so much! I'll be sure to know how now....=P

 

Both my boys are awful at keeping a pose. One can't stand at all and the other can only manage it with his hips thrust forward. This seems a good solution and the tutorial is clear and well presented, but what a hassle! When bjd's are so expensive, I wonder why the companies don't supply their products in a manner which is already fit for purpose?

I have to admit a measure of disappointment that the dolls have such limited posability without making modifications.

 

Say if you mess up, can the glue be taken out no problem?

 

oooh yay thanks!

 

Thank you so much for posing this Tutorial! In my n00bishness, I really had no idea what Hot Glue sueding was.

But thank you again, this is exactly what my Faust needs! His joints are rather loose and I know it's not the string. x_X

 

Definitely. Wait til it dries, then just pick it out. It comes out with a little bit of picking, no residue left behind, no damage.

I've done this for a couple of my dolls, and my roommate's doll... I'm planning on getting it for my Bobobie... so many joints that he wobbles!

 

Excellent, thank you so much. We had some hemostats laying around the house and I got a cheap $3 glue gun at Lowes. So this Saturday my friend and I are going to try our first restringing and hot glue sueding job! I'm very excited and confident now!

 

thank you for this tutorial.
I have one question:

is is better to sand the joints bevore you start with hot glue sueding?
or is it better not to sand them at all?

 

Fantastic tutorial!!!

 

i knew sueding and wiring had something to do with improving the dolls posing but i didnt know exactly what it was or how it worked. now i know what sueding is and how to do it. you make it look easy, lol but im sure its not going to be for me (sim a bit of a short bus) but thanks for the tutorial! now i just need to find out how wireing a doll works

 

Thank you very much for making this tutorial! I thought the process of sueding was something else. I'll definitely be using it on my boy's arms at the very least.

 

Yes, thanks for this. I realized that I didn't understand what "suedeing" was at all! Thought people were putting bits of suede cloth in there...

I've seen some washer-like silicon rings recently. Seems like some manufacturer heard the earlier poster who wondered why they don't take care of this in the first place.

 

Bumping an old thread for a question. I have some Volks kips but have no idea how to use them. Does anyone know how I fit them? I want to try those before doing the hot glue thing. Actually what I was thinking was trying to cheat a little and fit the kips without unstringing (They have a hole in the middle and I could cut a slot to the hole and fit it around the string perhaps?).

Thanks!

 

Does anyone know how to remove hot glue suedeing?
Will freezing work?

 

I use my fingernails. The glue ought to peel right out. It's a tight fit in the elbows, but seems to work OK

 

Just noting something down that came to me this week whilst using the hot glue technique. Before you put the glue on a joint, tear your paper into a wide strip and wrap it around your finger, before pushing it down into the joint. This will shape the paper into a cone which makes it far easier to smooth down the glue whilst it is still warm.

Hope this helps other newbies like me.

 

I have a question. Im getting my bobobie bei in a month. I want to sued her because Ive heard bobobies arent very good posing and stringing wise. Does rubber cement work? Or is it too sticky?

 

I have a question about the temperature of the glue. My hot glue gun is fairly old and it heats the glue to very scalding temperatures, as in I can see steam coming off of the glue when I press the trigger. Would this have any adverse effect on the resin or would I be better off getting a low temperature gun? I know resin can take a bit of heat, but I don't want to risk damaging my dolls because the glue is too hot. Thanks.

 

Rubber cement is organic and contains volatile chemicals that evaporate as it dries. Hot glue is better because heat just makes it spreadable, but it does not change chemically. I think you're safest to go with hot glue. Ditto on the chemicals, but I think I'd roll the dice with silicone glue before I tried rubber cement.

 

That is definitely too hot, the glue will bond to the resin and you'll never get it out DDD:. Best to just buy a low heat one.

 

Thanks. I was almost positive it was too hot, but I figured I'd ask anyway.

 

Thanks for that amazing tutorial! ^^ I'll do it someday ò_o

The paper you used, it's a normal paper?

 

I was wondering, could this technique also be used on the doll head to help give wigs a little more friction to cling to?

 

That was really helpful, thanks so much!

 

Great tutorial, I read it before hot-glue sueding mine. I actually didn't unstring him completely - just took his feet off and threaded ribbons through the elastic to loosen things enough to get into the joints. Halfway through I realized that my low-temp glue gun really is pretty low-temp, and I was able to just smear it with my finger (quickly). It worked wonderfully! He poses so much better now.

 

i think for that i would try
putting the glue on the head cap
as not to ruin the wig in any way
and so you don't have to do it to ALL your wigs.....>.>
just a thought

i'll definitely have to try this.....

 

I found a old glue gun laying around. I found the specs for it online and I'm wondering if this is too hot to use.
Its set to heat up to 350°F. (176°C.) and its 10watts.
Anyone have any suggestions?
I want to try this out tonight but if this is too hot ;I'll try to wait for the weekend when I can get a lower temp gun.

 

This is great! I always wondered exactly how sueding was done. I've heard a lot of people talk about it but the idea always sounded so bizarre to me. Now I understand, thank you!

 

I kept skipping over this thread cause I thought it had to do with suede cloth of some sort... xDD;;

But I'm glad I looked at it, cause it sounds very useful! I'd never even heard of sueding your doll's joints to make them more posable! thanks very much for the information ^^

 

That sounds too hot to me. Boiling point for water is only 212°F, and my low-temp gun is so low-temp that I can actually touch the glue a moment after applying it. It's HOT, but not "causing a painful burn" hot. Not all low-temps are necessarily THAT low-temp, though!

That said, it might work fine. But low-temp glue guns are pretty cheap, so I personally would just get one of those. Partly because I have a nice scar on my hand from a previous hot-glue accident with an older very hot gun, and I know I'm likely to get the glue on me even when I don't intend to!

 

I took the advice and bought a low temp one. I took him apart (soo nervous) and tried it out. You were right about it being hot, but not painful. I was able to use my fingers to spread the glue evenly. It went really fast and the restringing actually wasn't bad at all. So he can hold a pose better now.

Thanks for tutorial Giggy. Thanks for the advice AmyAngel.

 

Does anyone use a Dremel glue gun? I have been using a cheap one I picked up which is 'low temp' but I think its too hot (definatly not cool enough to touch right after, it scalds me even through paper/card)

the Dremel also has funky interchangable nozzles (including a flat ish one which I think will be perfect)

I'm kind of on a tool diet though *cough cough* not supposed to buy any more unless I really need them (everyone elses deffinition of need and mine are different though XD)

 

Thanks for the tutorial. If I hadn't seen this thread I would have done it wrong. I tried this and it helped a lot but it seems that the joints don't align as perfect as they use to. Is this common or am I putting too much glue?

 

vuples>> oh dear, i hope you are okay. =)

Any recommendation of good glue guns that are safe on doll?

 

Buy smaller one that is written low-temperature on it It's very cheap. mine ( AD Tech Low Temp) cost around 4usd and you will need low-temp glue stick that goes with it

 

This tutorial was awesome and the q's I had were answered throughout the thread. Thanks so much

 

Thanks so much for the wonderful tutorial! I'm still kinda dubious about re-stringing my first boy, but it sort of needs to be done (one arm is much harder to pull out than the other) so I thought I'd try hot-glue sueding him at the same time.

 

I've tried putting narrow, thin hotglue strip around on the headcap and it has helped keeping wigs in place. Quite good alternative for Blu-Tack.

 

Thanks for the in depth tutorial! I tried hot gluing my boy, we'll see how he poses after I string him back together now!

 

Awesome! I know if I end up needing to suede my doll, hot glue will be the way to go, and this is incredibly helpful. Thank you!!

 

Oooh, this will help lots for me (Reaiah has that dreaded kicky-leg syndrome which makes standing him a real pain in the you-know-where )! I'm curious about the glue gun you've used in the tutorial though: is the nozzle made of plastic? I'm searching for small glue guns in my place and all of 'em only got the metal nozzle. Will that scald the resin even though it's low temp?

 

Mine has a metal nozzle and it's fine. The nozzle is hotter than the actual glue seems to be. It only touches the doll briefly when you put the drop of glue on, though I have also smoothed out bumpy sections using the nozzle... I wouldn't leave it touching the doll, but brief touches have done no damage to ones I've done - I've now sueded all 5 of mine and my cousin's boy. YMMV.

Just make sure it's low temp. They're so cheap, I saw them for like $2.40 recently.

 

Thanks a lot, I got a good tip to solve my boy posting XD!

 

I see that paper is used to spread glue in the socket. I tried paper and found out that glue dries too quickly so the layer is too thick (I think last photo in the 1st post shows this pretty well).

I'd recommend to find a glue gun with rounded tip instead:



So you can put a bit of glue and spread it with a gun tip. It saves valuable seconds because the glue dries VERY fast. Also it gives better results and thinner layer because paper is flat and gun tip is rounded and fits in the sockets pretty well.
Also in this case hot glue wouldn't do harm to your skin

 

Thank you so much for the tutorial! With a friend's help, my doll is successfully sueded! We used scrap pieces of fabric instead of paper and that worked really well too.

My doll poses beautifully now~