Cleaning doll without unstringing? (Smoke from a fire)

I think the main problem is that the elastic itself probably holds more of the smell of the smoke than the plastic does and so would likely need to be replaced. And you would need to clean the inside of the channels anyway.

You could potentially take it apart, clean the doll the usual way, wash the elastic and restring the doll with the same elastic later and so maintain the same tension, but there is no guarantee that the elastic doesn't hold the smell even after washing.

 

If you find her difficult to restring perhaps you could commission someone in your general region, or state to do it for you. But I do agree, there will be no getting the smoke smell out without replacing the elastic, I'm afraid. If you were in my neck of the woods I'd offer, but I am in the Rockies, not New England. Luckily that's a pretty densely populated area so someone local to you might be able to help. My real condolences on your other losses and just how difficult this all must be for you.

 

I would say there is a slim chance that you could de-smell the whole doll by locking in a sealed container (with baking soda) for a period of time. And people always advise in the freezer. I haven't done it. But I'm concerned about the elastic too, it might not be enough. But if restringing is a huge burden to you right now then a good surface clean and trying what I mentioned is surely going to make a difference to start.
I'm so sorry for your loss. I really hope you have a place to stay and the resources you need right now. I hope things get better for you quickly.
I'm sure if you could get to a local community event there would be someone confident to help you restring the doll with new elastic when you are able.

 

Freezer only works for smells caused by bacterial growth, not smoke and even then it's usually a temporary fix at best.

edit to add: Freezing will also weaken most types of glue used to fix magnets and such.

 

I've heard it advised specifically for cigarette smoke and I have a doll head that went from owner to friend to me and supposedly reeked horribly of cigarettes before they did the baking soda freezer thing so. *Shrug* not sure if you are saying just the freezer part is unnecessary or what, I do not personally know either way.

Agree it will weaken glue on magnets. Anyway, just pitching in my two cents. The perfect solution is to unstring the doll but maybe it's just not feasible.

 

I don't really have any advice (although there seem to be good tips above) but I wanted to say that I'm so sorry that happened to you Having lived through a hurricane which destroyed many treasured items (so many books!) I can really relate to the feeling of relief that all the people are safe, but still sorrow at the losses of material possessions.

I hope that you will able to restore your bjd and replace at least some of the other items that were lost.

 

So from a fire there's tons of carcinogens and smoke is full of it. It's really half burned fuel and carries so much nasty stuff so your items don't even need to be burned to be destroyed. The elastic could easily hold that in having fabric components. I would unstring her and leave it in a well ventilated room to air out and then clean her thoroughly. Someone mentioned the channels and I think they're absolutely right . Fire fighter gear lockers are open specifically so that stuff can off gas after a fire. So many things in houses are incredibly dangerous when they burn since everything is plastic. Stuff burns fast and hot nowadays and you don't know what she absorbed. Definately take her apart and bath her. I'm so sorry a fire happened and I'm really glad you got at least one of your dolls out.

 

Crystal kitty litter. I have used it for old books. However, I would replace the elastic and gently wash her. There is going to be smoke residue all over her that can do more damage over time.

 

I received ~Suisei_Seki~'s doll yesterday and think it would be informative to talk about the cleaning process and steps here. I know my experience with de-yellowing a beauty greened doll was useful to plenty of folks. So... here's this.

The reveal/first impressions;
Enchanted01 by hellsing365, on Flickr

The smoke damage to the lower left leg was intense, as is a large portion of her backside. One pinky has bent to a strange angle and can be assumed her hand rested on something while it was warmed. However the hands/delicate fingers still have great structural integrity.
I had to cut the elastic, as it's tied around all of her joints. The doll was hot glue sueded, and where the hot glue was melted and caused her joints (primarily torso and elbows) to glue together. Her headcap was minimally scorched so I experimented with that. Regular water and a simple cotton round were used at first to remove top layer. Then moved on to scrubbing with a magic eraser. There were small burn marks where I assume ash or something else settled on the head cap, and a very light sanding with 600 grit sandpaper removed that mild melt mark. However there was no removing it without sanding.

As a comment - the magnets all came loose. The elastic was smoke damaged, and the eye putty/eyes had smoke signs.

I moved on to her face with the cotton round and warm water. The soot was deep in her detailing. I moved to the magic eraser and was EXTREMELY careful around her faceup. But I believe the heat/smoke compromised the sealent, or the artist who painted the faceup did not seal appropriately. As even being careful and avoiding pressure or excessive scrubbing, parts of the faceup started to lift. I stopped working in those areas immediately.
The same can be said for her chest body blushing. Even going around the breasts and not touching the nip with the magic eraser (only cotton round) it lifted

The body was soaked in mild soap and luke warm water and washed with cotton rounds on delicate areas (hands, feet, etc) while a magic eraser was used on the rest of the body.

Legs cleaned up well, however I believe due to the intense tension of the elastic, and the heat of the fire, the resin became soft. The left leg's calf is bent more severely than the right at the ankle area, as well as some 'swelling' from where I believe the ankle rested in the calf joint.

Enchanted02 by hellsing365, on Flickr

I observed significant yellowing on the upper arms, face, upper chest, and legs. The chest had what looked to be designs on it from clothing or other fiber burning on the resin. The feet were speckled as if synthetic fiber melted near it or natural fiber combusted and burned quickly. Lots of speckling was observed on the lower legs from water/moisture. Most of that wiped up clearly.

On the list next is more soapy soaks and to use pipe cleaners on the insides of the body, as there is obvious signs of smoke in the channels. Hot glue suede will continue to be removed carefully.

I'm waiting for the owner to get back to me on how much she needs/wants to preserve both the faceup and the body blushing. I believe the doll could be fully restored with light sanding, or have some character and 'golden tan' in areas otherwise.
I'm bummed the faceup is lifting with such minimal effort. I'll be cleaning the remaining soot with q-tips and continuing the gentle use of cotton rounds, same with the hands and feet.

 

Fascinating!

 

@Hellsing365 Wow, thet's quite a project. If the owner is ok with it, would you consider making a project journal for this? It's such a heavy restoration and restorations are always very interesting and informative. It would be nice to have it in the right place so that it can be easily found in future searches.

 

I wouldn't mind at all. I enjoy projects like this and learning the dolls story while repairing them.
But it would have to be okay with the owner obviously

 

Oh, that´s such a nice thing of you to do and how careful you are melts my heart!
I would love to see more of the restauration.

 

You are a very good person. I hope the owner realizes how unbelievably kind you are.

 

wow that's so cool to learn what she was wearing! The combo around her waist really protected her, being a skirt and more open on the lower let's makes sense for the smoke. Do you remember what position she was in? Like standing/sitting etc?

Do you know if she was exposed to heat? Or is it just the incredible tension her stringing was under in her let's that caused the warping? I took some extra pictures of that part for the project journal. It's really noticable in person.

I'm grateful that she wasn't exposed to flames!! I do wonder what the small burn in her headcap was from. Maybe an old blemish that the soot worked into.

Thank you for trusting me with your precious doll. ❤️ I'll be putting together the project thread this weekend and doing some more work on her as well.

 

Started up the project journal over here~
/threads/cleaning-restoring-fire-damage.873127/

That would make sense if the sticky tack didn't like heat. I've noticed it get really weird and gummy when it's just warm in my room. I'm pretty positive there was heat in the room, why else would her hot glue re-melt?

I did play with her a bit before undoing her, but she was incredibly stiff from the joints fusing together...meaning I can't really comment on how posable she was. Still, pulling her apart was quite the challenge so that gave me an idea LOL. I promise I'll get her posing like a dream again, it's one of my well practiced skills!

 

Sorry you went through this! I can’t contribute helpful tools as far as cleaning but packing always after wiping down with charcoal may help. I heard this helps with
Any kind of smoke or tar

 

It sounds like you had a very sad and difficult time. Try cold water with ice - it should help with the smell a bit.