Lightening Yellowing French Resin

After some sanding, I'm rather disappointed with the results... I wanted to smoothen the surface a bit and realized that when sanding, the resin color was quite yellowed underneath still... it's almost as if the resin "oxidated" on the surface when it reacted with the alcohol mixture, but in just a very thin layer, while staying the same underneath...
It was rather patchy and I wasn't successful in getting it even though I kept sanding, cleansing and soaking the body for almost 5 days... >.<

Now I think I'm going to sand her completely, so at least I can get an even color ~_~
She'll still be yellow, and some details always get lost in the sanding process, but at least she won't look as patchy~ v.v

 

Noema : What if you take the parts that weren't get soaked the first time around an soak them in more without the already whiten parts? Then keep soaking and comparing the color until you get them to be the same.

 

@XavAcid: Thanks for the advice, but that's not quite the problem I have... the problem is that even just the parts that I whitened first aren't the same color... They all whitened differently. Plus, wherever there is some joint tear, the whitening kinda comes off... The whitening is only on the very surface, and patchy overall v.v

 

Just wanted to add to this thread that I tried out the baking soda + hydrogen peroxide trick. (I used old baking soda and peroxide tho, so I'm sure if they were newer it would have worked much better) I put in about 1 cup of baking soda into a sink filled with hot water, then added about 2/3rds of peroxide (?) this is just a guesstimate considering I originally added the 1/3rd but there wasn't much left in the bottle so I poured in the rest

But after 8 hours of waiting and letting the water sit ( I didn't add any more water or anything) I got this result.



I hope this shoddy webcam shot is helpful for anyone curious about this. I haven't noticed any negative affects other then my hands being a little dry after washing him with warm water after his soak

He's a Luts CP BW Vampire Elf Chiwoo. I'm not quite sure at all of how old he is, I recently bought him from another DoA member. He came to me smelling rather smokey as well, and the soak took that right away

 

Other than the blotchiness, has anyone had any horribly ill-effects with the baking soda and peroxide method? I recently purchased a CP body and it's horribly yellowed compared to the head I bought it for, I was thinking of attempting this method but I'd like to hear a little bit more about the after effects ^^;

EDIT: i am just going to try this today. I'll post my results *^^*

 

Hey Noema, did I get it right, you used alcohol with baking soda, not hydrogen peroxide with baking soda? I have a yellowed french resin girl on the way and I was very interested in trying this method, but your experience is scaring me off a bit I was planning to get all of her parts soaking at once, and I'm ok with it working quicker on some than other (I'd keep those soaking longer), but patchiness within one piece of resin worries me a bit.

 

honestly, baking soda is really hard to remove completely. it looks like it's gone when it's wet, and then it dries and there it is again. baking soda residue can probably be blamed for a large part of the problem. the best way to remove baking soda residue (that i know of) is, again, more alcohol. good luck everyone

 

I tried this yesterday on a badly yellowed Bambicrony french resin hand and so far no results at all. But I'm blaming it on expired peroxide and not enough backing soda and perhaps, also cold water? I'm gonna buy fresh "ingredients" today and try again

 

@Bunny Boo: yeah, I tried 99% alcohol and baking soda... and I definately wouldn't go for it again ^^;;;

@cariface: yeah, it's a pain to sand the surface back to how it was... I can post pictures if any of you guys are interested, too. Alcohol doesn't remove it, sanding works ok, but is a pain in detailed areas i.e. mouth, eyes, nose etc.

 

Noema, if you have pictures, I'd love to see!

I mixed up fresh hydrogen peroxide (10% solution) with bunch of baking soda and warm water. It's only been about 30 minutes so far and the chemical reaction seems quite a lot more active this time, but obviously no visible results yet.

 

Hmm, I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I get NO results. The hand has been sitting for 10 hours in warm water/hydrogen peroxide (10 vol)/baking soda solution. The stuff has been bubbling. No result whatsoever. I then did just peroxide/baking soda thick solution and left it overnight - no results! I'm now trying 96% alcohol/peroxide/baking soda, but I'm pretty much giving up on it already

 

Bambicrony french resin isn't going to magically become unyellowed. The pigments have degraded and they are permanently stuck that way. At least you'll have a very clean doll.

 

Oh! So you're saying the yellow there is not so much french resin that went yellow, but the coloring pigment added to it that went yellow? That would explain it!
I have a MistyBlue, so I assumed, blue has just faded in the yellowed areas due to sun exposure and I was expecting them to get overall lighter (obviously, not hoping for the blue pigment to magically reappear, but was thinking that yellowed parts will get lighter).
I was only trying it on one Bambicrony hand, because I wanted to see if it generally works or not. I have a yellowed Supia Yisol coming in mail and she's my actual subject for whitening. Not that it wouldn't be nice to lighten that Bambicrony as well

 

You also need UV light to activate the peroxide, heat or warm water is not enough. I've not tried Isopropyl alcohol with bi-carb soda, only peroxide with oxy powder and a bit of bi-carb.

 

But, the UV can be a double edged sword - causing the pigments to degrade more. Sounds like risky business.

I have one each of the original three colors of Bambicrony colored elves. They're all yellowed multiple shades. No amount of sanding, or soaking is going to bring back the colors because the pigments are broken down through the resin. I can see inside the arms that they've yellowed almost all the way through. It is just a part of what makes them unique. Patches and all.

 

Yeah, I think UV light would kill whatever is left of that blue pigment... Although if there was a chance to make the doll overall white instead of patching MistyBlue/Yellow, I might consider it But I like her too much the way she is to try something like that, without guaranteed results. I guess I'll keep that hand soaking till tomorrow, but I'm not hoping for anything already.

 

I took some pictures the other day... my camera is horrible and didn't really pick up all of the patchy spots, so I tried to play with contrast a bit so you can tell where the spots are and where I've already sanded some of it off...

Here you go~

 

Ouch, Noema, I'm so sorry it didn't work out for your girl!

I know now exactly what happened, because the same thing happened to the Bambicrony hand I was soaking. It didn't seem like there was any effect at all at first, but then it dried, it went patchy white everywhere along the seam lines where it was previously sanded. Fortunately it was just an old extra hand, so no harm done for me, but it turned me off from trying it on the yellowed Supia girl that I was planning to lighten. I'm quite certain it's the effect of alcohol in the mix.

I can only recommend you trying wet sanding to even out patchiness on your girl. There were a few similar looking patches on my Supia's wrists (I didn't try lightening her, it was just there when I received her) and wet-sanding solved the issue completely.

I'm afraid french resin is just tricky like that. It yellows faster, it gets marbled, it's more sensitive to chemicals, but we're still putting up with it, because french resin dolls look so much more alive! I hope you'll be able to restore your Narae! It doesn't seem impossible, just needs a lot of time and patience

 

Thanks for your kind words, Bunny Boo ^^
I'll sand her well and I think she should get back to being beautiful again... I'll probably send her face off to an arist, though, because I'm too afraid that I could sand off too much of the molding's details... I'll make sure to post a picture once she's all restored again ^^

 

Noema, try polishing her with 0000 steel wool and babyoil, instead of sandpaper and water. You can get the steel wool into nooks and crannies easier, and it just very gently polishes and smooths the surface. You will need to soak and wash the pieces in detergent afterwards.

 

babyoil, really? What about all that oil-is-harmful-for-your-resin-talk?

 

There's a difference between un-pigmented clear oil and oil-based pigments like paint and pastels.

If you use water with the steel wool it will rust and mark your doll with red-orange streaks. If you just dry-polish with no lubricant there will be lots of harmful dust and metal filings. I suggest also wearing a rubber glove on the hands that holds the steel wool, and keep a rag handy and an old towel on you lap or work surface, so you can wipe off excess and see what you're doing. The oil will make the surfaces look very nice (hides scratches), but leaving the oil on would make the doll feel greasy and paint, pastels and MSC will not take properly. Oil doesn't evaporate like water does.

With this method, the mineral based (vegetable oil also works) is only on the doll for a short time before you strip it off with degreaser (ie. dish-washing detergent). I have done this many times with dolls and there is no damage to the resin.

A quick search yields:
Polyurethane and Oil

Resin + Oil: Exactly what happens?

How quickly does oil stain resin?

the effect of oil

 

resurrecting a super old thread... ><;;
but would the baking soda / peroxide method work on a "normal" skin doll? my new boy is pretty yellow, but he had been pink skin before (according to his unused spare hands). so would it work the same?

 

Yes. If it works it would work on an NS doll too.

 

Warning for the peroxide cure - I was soaking my girl in peroxide & baking soda, and then just peroxide. The results were faint, so I left her to soak for a long time (weeks). Results a bit better, so I left her a bit longer. Unfortunatly, I didnt check her for a couple of days, and where the peroxide had evaporated, I now have a brght orange tide mark on one of her feet and hands. Luckily not legs or arms. They are still noticably different to the rest of her body, so I am going to try the alchohol peroxide suggestion. She is french pinky white

 

Bridget, that sucks!! If you're going to test more parts, maybe try putting the solution and parts in a sealed container or zip lock bag so the solution can't evaporate as much.

 

yes twigling it was during that really hot period last week, evaporated really quickly

 

This has worked for my dolls before, so I'm doing lots of before/after shots of my 2005 DoC Mir (the only one getting a peroxide/baking soda bath) in comparison to my 2006 and 2007 DoCs.

She'll be done soaking tomorrow morning.

 

I'm trying the peroxide-baking soda method for my beige skin french resin limhwa but it seems not to work and I don't know what I'm doing wrong T__T

Has anyone any suggestions why? The ingredients are both fresh and I let the pieces in the solution for several days. But nothing!!

 

UPDATE FOR THOSE IN THE UK:

I went to sainsbury's ans bought a cheap stain removal powder akin to Vanish and other powders like that. I just received an AOD , which is an oldie and yellowed. This is what i did

1: nude and unstrung doll into a warm water bath

2: prepare 1 scoop of powder into a full bowl of water (warm) and make sure everything is melted properly

2: add 1 teaspoonof bakin soda or bicarbonate and mix

3: soak doll of about 1 hour

4 VOILA!

TEST A PATCH FIRST
WASH YOUR DOLLY IN COLD WATER AFTERWARDS AND LOADS OF SOAP
DRY
AND USE MSC OR ANOTHER UV PRITECTIVE SPRAY ^^

 

I'm looking for ways to de-yellow a ws luts boy... I haven't gotten him yet, but from the looks of the pictures, he's pretty yellow. I saw some people having some things not go so well, but that was when they used alcohol, right?
...So the baking soda / peroxide method is pretty safe? *nervous lol*

 

What I'd think from my experiences in art is that since the red tones in the resin have degraded,you can't bring back the pink tone but you should be able to lessen the yellowyness a bit. Start with removing all the old MSC or sealant. My NS Iple Donovan is waaaaaaay less pink than he used to be but getting rid of his old sealant and giving him a fresher blushing got rid of almost all the yellow.

 

I tried the baking soda and peroxide method on part of a doll body I just bought that is super yellow and old. The result was barely noticable. I then soaked it in Zepp grout whitener for about an hour, and while that didn't "whiten" the resin, it did take a lot ofthe excess yellow out and sort of evened out the yellow. I sanded it which lightened it more, and now I'm soaking the parts over night in baking soda and peroxide to see how that works.

I think the skin might have been pink at one time, but is now a butter-color. Anyone ever try balancing out the yellow with a bit or pink dye of some sort?

 

can anyone please tell me which kind of % Peroxide I should use? There are so many different, starting from 3% up to higher...

 

This is really interesting! Looks like we've seen both good and suck-ish results. Some of my boys (urethane not frenchies) have uneven yellowing due to their clothing...so im tempted to give e'm a scrubbing with whiting tooth past as someone else mentioned. Do you think it would be bad (as in cause a unnaturally lighter spot) to scrub them with it in just the really yellow places?

 

For everyone who's tried this, does it seem to lessen the yellowing overall, or does it leave the resin looking patchy, with yellow sections here and there? This is such a great solution, I'm so not looking forward to my boys yellowing...

 

Hey everyone, I have a question. I'm Dutch, so we have different products here. Baking soda is like... salt right? Or not? D:
And the peroxide, is that the blue powder also used to bleach hair? Which percentage would be best and non harmful?

 

Snow Hey there~ To my understanding they are using this http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/fam_hydrogen_peroxide_pint-4080.jpg and this http://moneysavingmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/art_baking_soda.jpg if these pictures help at all.

Has anyone tried using the developer used in hair color to lighten resin? I saw a while back someone using 10 vol, anyone tried 30 volume or higher?

I'm in school for cosmetology, I have yellowed nails from chemical services and while performing highlights for a client without gloves I noticed my nails were no longer yellow following the service. This was using 40 volume for about half an hour or so.

 

I'm curious... for folks who have tried both this method and the alcohol soak method, how do they compare?

 

Bringing back this thread, has anyone tried these methods recently? I have a MD Ryu head (only a year old!) and today when I looked at his headcap on his head, his face was SO yellow! I was shocked! I've done his faceup about 3 times using Testor's Dullcoat and cleaned him with Rubbing Alcohol. Should I be using different materials? What is the best way to clean a doll before even thinking about the soaking method to de-yellow?
Thanks!

 

I've had to scrub a couple of my dolls from top to bottom for various reasons (getting out stains, ect), and I find Magic Eraser works well to clean a non-MSC sprayed area, and 90% rubbing alcohol works wonders to get the MSC off completely. You need to get the MSC off before using the methods for de-yellowing. What I've done for uber-cleaning is used the rubbing alcohol and then rinse the area I cleaned with pure water and gently dry.

Elias has been unstrung, cleaned with alcohol, rinsed well, and put in a hydrogen peroxide and baking soda bath. He's been sitting in it for a few hours now; I don't know if I'm actually seeing results or just tricking myself into seeing them. Also hoping the elastic I bought is strong enough. It's not as thick as his original, but the tension seems good and quality. I'm excited for the results!

 

Sorry for resurrecting this thread but I was wondering about for a solution. My boy, who is a first gen AOD about 4-5 years, has taken quite a bit of yellowing to him since he started off being stark white. I tried doing the peroxide and baking soda method for almost 2 days but with little to no reduction of yellowing compared to the last several times I've done this years ago to him and different dolls. Is there another way to go around this? I've seen someone mention a alcohol method once and couple times w/ some sort of tooth paste. What would be a good alternative and how do I execute it?
I rather not want to sand him if that's possible.

(Also I do change out the mixture about every several hours or 12 hours when I'm able to.)

 

I tried this and it did not work for me. Soaked in peroxide+baking soda solution (no water) for almost 48 hours, with occasional scrubbing. I also did a couple of scrubs with whitening toothpaste
I can see no difference with the untreated headcap :/

 

It's sort of hard to tell as the headcap doesn't have any crevices or anything,but it almost looks like the head cap doesn't glow green? It might be the picture :P

 

is it safe to use this treatment on yellowed ws minifee head? i would love to try it.. thank you

 

Hi, This is my first post on DOA.
This sounds really promising. I need to restring my Domuya MSD, and at the same time I'd love to be able to address her yellowing! I'll be sure to post pics if this works!
Thanks so much! And Thank you to the moderators for the Birthday wishes...I am new to DOA, and have not yet had time to upload any pics of my 2 precious resin girls ...my Domuya Lara (now known as Rowan) and my YID Silvia (first version body) renamed Sylvia, with a "Y" :-)
hugs,
~ Donna

 

What's confusing here is that the original poster, way back in 2007, was looking for ideas for French resin. Many of the dolls being discussed at this end of the thread are urethane resin.

Now, I have no idea whether there is enough of a difference in the chemistry of the resin to make a difference, but I have found it more difficult to de-yellow urethane. All of the aforementioned methods work really well to remove surface grime (like the yellowing of Testors or MSC) but beyond that I've not seen a huge amount of difference.

 

Fabulous information! Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences. Definitely going to keep this info should I need it. Carol H

 

Since Baakay mentioned that the original experiment was on French Resin, I'd like to update the thread with my little experiment: I don't have any before and after pictures, but I tried this on a 2006 yellowed Dollzone single jointed white skin body. She was TERRIBLY yellow... I left her in the bath (and admittedly, didn't measure exactly but followed closely to the original poster's recipe) for 24 hours and it did take away some of the yellowing! She's much closer to her other parts (yellowed Minifee hands and yellowed Doll Love Evol head) although it's still not perfect, and the difference is still noticeable. I'd say that it won't get the resin close to the original tone it was, but it will take the "edge" off, so to speak.

 

This sounds like an interesting Idea, Will the BJD look as good as new? or just less yellow? How often would someone do something like this? Also how Dark does a room have to be to prevent Yellowing? (Still very newb.)

 

I'm trying white toothpaste and denture cleaners. Wish me luck.

 

Could i ask which % of peroxid is safe for resin? Is there a limit? I got 35% one ,i can still add water tho xD just would like to know if its okay to use it, bought 2l of it , this should be my first time trying it x.x