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Repair Is it safe if water soaks into a BJD? (aka. Water Damage?)

Dec 29, 2023

    1. Hi everyone! I tried to search around, but couldn't find a clear answer. Sorry if this has been covered before!
      Kind of a weird title, I know - sorry about that. Essentially, while I was out of town for a week, my basement flooded. Pretty badly. :...(

      Luckily, most of my BJDs were fine because I had them on display high up or on my desk for projects. All except my first BJD, a Leekeworld Mabel, who was in storage in her box while I tried to decide what to do with her. Looking at her, she appears to be in shockingly okay shape: hooks are rusted (issue for her hands and feet), elastics are done, but besides those two and some stains from the rust, she seems okay.

      My concern is that she was underwater for at least a few days (we aren't sure the exact amount of time, the water had receded most of the way by the time we got home, but long enough that her box was mush that fell apart when I touched it). Is there a concern with mold risk or anything like that as a result? I'm mostly concerned about her body, especially since she was surrounded by a cloth cushion.
       
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    2. I'm sorry you got hit with a flood! My cellar has been flooded a few times over the past few years and getting it back to shape is nasty - I hope you haven't had a terrible amount of trouble clearing it up.

      Given that water doesn't do much to resin, the doll itself is most probably fine! I'd unstring, give it a gentle wash still (given the gunk and dirt the flood water brings up) and let it dry completely before restringing and replacing the s-hooks. Any wigs/clothes would also need some cleaning and drying but other than that you should be fine! Mould doesn't really stick to plastics, it's more the dirty water getting into string channels that might result in a funky smell later on.
       
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    3. @cobaltconduct Thanks for such a quick and helpful reply! Glad to hear that she should be okay, whew. I did go ahead and unstring her, figured water and mold would be most likely to stick there. I'll be sure to give her a good, solid wash as soon as I'm done with the rest of the cleanup (how many gallons of water can I vacuum out of a rug? We have a 12 gal shop vac and have filled it up almost twice now). Luckily it seems like the house structure is okay, it's mostly been sorting through damage, drying out/salvaging what we can, and general cleaning. Worst part was getting home at 3am on the 25th to find this after a day of travel woes. :frownyblush:
       
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    4. @Harmony909 Oh no, that's very unfortunate timing! As long as you replace the elastic with a fresh one, the mould won't have anything porous enough to grow on. Unless it's on food, it'll take a while for it to appear anyway so you have plenty of time to sort the more urgent damage through. Good luck with all of it, I hope the end is near (and dry)!
       
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