Creaking joints in dolls - is this bad??

It does sound like he's a little tight, but it's a preference i find for some keepers. Once the string gets broken in it should stop, but by then you may need to tighten him, if you're worried, examine his forearms and shins, run your finger along them to see if you can feel any cracking.
I know my boy had that problem, it was only to surface in the end, some light sanding fixed it up nicely.
Suading is good too, then at least it's not resin on resin creaking.

 

Boe's head/neck creaks, but he also holds his head poses way better than Roo, so I don't mind XD The rest of him doesn't creak much, but he is a second-hand Hound body. Roo, on the other hand, doesn't creak at all, even straight out of the box, which could simply be because he's much smaller than Boe.

I don't think it'll cause permanant damage ^^ It will probably leave rub marks - but even Roo has rub marks on his thigh joints, and he's just a few weeks okd XD If it's a big deal, I agree with chibi_Rumiko_chan - some sanding should fix it up.

 

I wonder if there might be resin dust in his joints? A bath and a good blow-out couldn't hurt.

 

Hiya everyone....i just got my gorgeous new Elfdoll Red.....i am IN LOVE with him....however, my onely complaint is that he seems to have come down ILL!!!!

He has a HORRID case of Squeaky doll syndrome....neck, shoulders, hips, waist and legs all creak and squeak loudly when i move him...

What should i do?

would sueding help?

jordan-mykal

 

sueding helped ancatsidhe's Keibhan (60cm Narin) in no longer squeaking (and he squeaked and creaked a LOT), so it's worth a try!

 

I have the same problem! I am a bit bervous to try sueding though...let us know if it works please! ^_^

BTW: Glad you got your boy! He is really great!

 

A lot of my dolls, when new, came to me squeaky and such. I think that's pretty much went away... oo; I cannot say for sure but some dolls just like to squeak. ^^;

 

Izkaela squeaks. XD I'm not really bothered by it, I just figure it's something BJDs are going to do because of their joints. He squeaks especially loud if I leave him sitting somewhere for longer than an hour and suddenly move him. I don't think the squeaking is anything to be worried about, as I've had my boy for (nearly!) nine months now.

 

i think it's a new doll thing....willow squeaked alot when i got her but not so much now....just play with them alot and it should go away!!!

 

here is the funny thing, my boys only started squeaking AFTER I sueded them.....

 

My RD Soah, Shiori, creaks like a sailing ship in a good wind. Totally odd, my Volks girls don't make much noise at all!

She creaks less now than when I got her in April, though. It will probably fade even more with time.

 

I have never heard of this. And consider we have over 400 members at the Yahoo Group for these dolls and have discussed everything else but not this one. One has to think from some of the previous comments that there may be an excessive amount of friction to cause this. Rough edges might be a thought but Elfdoll finishes their dolls so well that while I could believe that might happen, I doubt the entire doll would squeak as that would have to be present in every joint. That leads me to believe it's the overall stringing. So playing may loosen things up over time.

Certainly you could lubricate it. But that runs risks and of course will probably have an impact on posing. What is resin safe and also wouldn't hurt the elastic cords either? Baby powder? Talc? What about some of these silicon sprays that are fabric safe? Has anybody ever experimented with any of this stuff?

 

I've found sueding to help immensely with both squeaking and posing. ^_^ I'm a fan of the moleskin method because of it's ease. I can't STAND that sound of resin on resin, and I've found the larger dolls to be more prone to this than the smaller, Volks pureskin aside.

Playing with your doll should decrease the squeeks as well, as might losening the strings a touch.

 

when i sueded ancatsidhe's boy to reduce the squeaks and creaks, i found resin dust in his joints, his knees had been grinding themselves down! o.O

that's apparently unusual, though.

 

I tried the hot glue method of sueding on my Soony, and it worked pretty well to kick out the squeeks(despite building up a nice burn callus on my thumb from spreading the glue XD). She still squeeks a little bit, but not as bad.

 

All of my dolls used to squeak when I first got them. Especially Violet's previous body. It ended after a while.

MY FD squeaked like crazy up until I got rid of him a while back and I'd had him for years. He probably still does it.

 

First off this guy was so loose it was sad. His head would fall off. After I hot glue sued him and made to elastic shorter, everytime I move one of his joints there's a squeaky sound, like you're rubbing tight latex pants with sweaty palms.

Did I restring him too tight or is that resin and the hot glue friction making the sound and it's normal?

It's not that big of the problem but the noise kind of sounds like if the doll cracked in two, so I always freak out and look every time I move him.

 

yeah i have this problem i'd like to know too...i hot glued my mnf and delf and they're brilliant, no noise great posing, but my kid delf squeaks now ive hot glued her : / i was thinking maybe her resin is so smooth its making it squeak, but im not positive.

 

@_@ Well, maybe it is the resin itself? It would make sense, right?

 

Yeah it's the resin. Just asking if its normal or I strung him too tight.

 

I'd say it's just the friction. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I had a new doll that did that- and yes, it did freak me out. But after having him for a while, posing and playing with him, it has almost completely stopped.
I am assuming this guy is quite new. Maybe the noise will lessen after you have had him for a while.

 

He's actually 3 years old.

Only when I hot glue sued him and restrung him.

Thanks for the info everyone.

 

I have a boy that is actually 3yo too who also squeaks like crazy. He doesnt have any sueding and he's never needed to be restrung. Is there any way to stop that noise? Sounds like squeaky floorboards every time he moves.

 

Since taking my doll out of her box I have noticed that whenever I pose her, she “creaks.” I am a new BJD owner and I don’t know if all this creaking is normal or if restringing will solve this problem, but I know that restringing is only required if a doll is strung tightly, but she poses quite well so I don’t think she is strung too tight. Is all this creaking normal?

 

It depends, when you move your doll around does it feel like you need to force it? Generally speaking the only time I've had a doll really creak is when it's been so tightly strung that movement is limited. If that's the case I'd really advise restringing.

 

My new Minifee creaks a bit. Some of mine do, some don't. The hot-glue sueded ones don't. If she's posing well and doesn't seem too tight to you, it may just be a "new doll thing".

 

River, Not really. I can move her without struggling too much

Thank you, AmyAngel. I thought about that to as she has only been with me a few weeks now.

 

In that case it probably isn't anything to worry about. ^^

 

she definately needs a hot-glue suede I've seen dolls that creak, and saw them taken apart...often, after a while, there is extensive wearing-damage to the joints. both socket and ball. Hot glue sueding keeps it from wearing down the joints as well as helping with posing.

 

my friend restrung a doll that was so tightly strung that it creaked(more like, squeaked!) whenever you move it. i don't know if it's the same problem, but since you said that it's not too difficult to move, maybe it's ok? i would suggest restringing though. in case it's really too tight and it ends up damaging the joints.

 

I have a DZ mini boy and a RS/BBB mini and my RS/BBB boy doesn't creak at all, but my DZ mini boy does. Honestly, its just a doll thing. Some dolls creak. Might be the texture of specific resins, or maybe its just random. I don't have any problems with it, so its probably fine with yours too.

 

It is normal. Unsueded dolls creak because their joints are rubbing and wearing. Newly glue-suded dolls squeak a bit because the glue is "wearing itself in". After sueding and a little movement, almost all dolls will cease to squeak. Leather sueding renders the joints almost silent.

 

Thank you for your advice, everyone. I have learned that I should try to hot-glue suede my doll to avoid wear and tear, but as my doll has grey resin I don't know if the glue might change the color or damage the resin in some way. Not to mention that I have never restrung a doll before.

Rosslyn, leather sueding sounds a lot less daunting than hot-glue sueding. I'll have to do some research into that.

 

The hot glue sueding will be easier, and is totally safe on dolls, some people don't even unstring their resin folk to do it. Look it up too, just for referance. ^-^;

Neither of my dolls is sueded at all.

 

My UniLimited by Unidoll used to creak very loudly, but she was strung pretty tight. Over time the elastic became less tight and the creaking also became less. She used to creak so loudly I was afraid she would break, but after almost three years of creaking, she's still going strong. Every time I tighten her stringing she starts to creak louder again. There is some wear and tear in the sockets, but my girl poses very well so I don't suede her joints.
She's French resin and I've heard that French resin dolls creak louder and more than urethane resin dolls. My French resin dolls creak more than my urethane dolls, but I don't know if that's true for all dolls.

 

Thank you, KarieChaos. I will probably try to suede my doll without having to unstring her as I'm worried I won't be able to put her back together again.

Muisje, I'm hoping that my dolls elastic will stretch overtime if I don't get round to sueding. Also my doll is made urethane resin and the creaking isn't so loud, it's mainly just her hands and feet that make a bit of a racket.

 

I'd suggest just doing the restringing, but that's personal preference. It's a good way to get over the fear of it, because trust me it's really not so bad. And that way, if something ever happens that forces you to restring your girl you won't be a basket case.

Not to mention the first time you use hot glue sueding you won't get the glue to sit perfectly in the joints. It'll take a few tries until you get used to what you're doing and I've come to find the string really gets in the way in smaller joints. Not to mention, if you let go or the joint slips they're going to be glued together and likely a big mess. D=

 

So, my Angel of Dream doll has squeaky joints. (My SO's Volks MSD does not.) I love her and all, and the way she's strung seems fine, except for the squeak; every time she moves, whether slightly or dramatically, there's a lot of squeaking, which feels unnatural to me; I like to hold her in my lap and move her arms and such, and the squeaking rather gets to me. Does anyone know of anything I can do to ameliorate the squeak? Would restringing help, or coating her with something to change her texture, or what?

 

Try sanding the joints slightly (might be too tight a fit) or hot glue sueding them. I don't have an AoD to compare yours to sadly... but one of my suggestions might work... try sueding a joint first with a thin layer of hot glue, as sueding can be removed... you can't un-sand a doll.

 

maybe sanding the resin ever so slightly would help ^^

 

How long have you had your AOD? Because my DZ guy squeaked when I got him, but I was reassured that this was normal. Its resin, the surfaces are hard, and two hard surfaces rubbing together will squeak. My DZ is a year old now, and he still squeaks a bit, but after a year of moving the joints and playing with him, the squeaking has lessened. Maybe they just rubbed smooth or something by now. I suppose a bit of hot glue won't hurt your doll, but I wouldn't sand it unless you HAVE too.

 

Oooooh, that makes sense-- our Volks MSD is sanded, so that could account for the difference... I'll try sueding too.

ETA: I've had her for about two years, but she's spent a lot of time in the box due to being busy with life stuff. And because I was intimidated by the squeaking when I tried to play with her... It made me feel like I shouldn't move her so much. ^^; Seimei the Volks kid is only a month or so old, though; but I sanded him before ever putting him together.

 

Yeah. I was curious because my guy squeaked like crazy and when I inquired I was told that it was fine, they did that. XD

 

Forgive me if this has already been answered. I've tried searching but couldn't find anything on this topic. Maybe I just didn't look enough?
Anyways, I received my Migidoll Cho+new migi body today and it's... incredibly creaky. I guess I could overlook it if I can't find an answer. So I was wondering, are there any ways to make a doll less 'creaky-sounding'? I was thinking I'd give restringing him a try, but I just wanted to hear others opinions.
Thanks~

~taintedrose

 

Hahaha I clicked on this straight away, because I LOVE creaky dolls. In fact my friend Mau laughs at me because of this. It's one of my favourite things about them. I LOVE it if my dolls creak! But I guess re-stringing might be the answer.

 

I find that only new dolls creak. You could just wait until the strings loosen naturally.

 

One creaky arm!

I just got my boy a few days ago, and he is second-hand. I don't know how much he was played with so I don't know if he's creaking from "newness" or if he's tight. It's really only in one arm- compared to his other arm, it's tight, but then again I don't know if maybe the other one is loose. I'm afraid of damaging him, cause I found some dust in his elbow. Is this to be concerned about?

 

Pullips creak on an everyday basis (at least the ones that I've owned) so I didn't know it was a bad thing. But it does sound like perhaps the stringing is a bit tight or residue in the joints as someone else mentioned. I'm curious to read more as I only have one BJD and she's strung too loose.