Maintenance Restringing elastic: where and what to buy

Bringing this thread back for another go 'cause I'm finding the string I bought from Dollmore just doesn't hold up. It looks like Volks is winning (throughout this thread) so I'll try from them for my next string order, but would love to know what people are using of late (and where they got it)!

 

You can check other doll company sites, as many do also sell elastic cording on their sites. I was looking on ebay for a seller I bought a lot of bjd supplies from the in past - I thought they were coolkat, but I don't see them selling any bjd stuff. I do see a seller called "The Morezmore Estate" who is selling a lot of different size and color elastics, and states on the listing page what size doll they're for (aka 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/12).

It's a shame if Dollmore strings aren't holding up. They used to have great quality (and they sell a lot on ebay).

 

I just purchased spools off of amazon. The the entire spool costs less than what most doll companies want for enough for a single doll. Quality has been fine for everything but super tiny 1mm cord. I've seen plenty of other posts of other people doing the same. If you don't see something you like under elastic cord try "shock cord". That will typically bring up plenty of listings.

 

I bought mine from local handicraft store that sells yarn, buttons etc stuff for sewing. It's not a huge store with big selection of items so I'd imagine bigger craft stores likely have it in stock or can order it so it's worth asking in your local stores.

 

Something I heard a long time ago, when I was looking around mainstream-doll and craft supply sites was that if you go purely by size, remember that crafts use a different measurement for size than the bjd hobby. To be honest i no longer remember which is which and uses diameter while the other uses circumference. So if you drop into a store, try to have a sample of cord you've used with you. That's why i prefer sources that are familiar with this hobby and mention the size bjd a cord is intended for (although, to be frank, I haven't noticed any that differentiate between 60-65cm (aka 1/3) and heftier dolls in the 70-80cm range that could need even heavier stringing).

 

I've personally had bad luck in hobby stores finding the correct ones. Unless you have some massive emporium nearby for supplies or a hyper specific store, this might be the norm.

I'm also a Amazon spool enthusiast. Buy a spool once and I'm still good a year and a half year later, even as I've gotten more patient with stringing and testing different levels of tightness on msd-sd size dolls, meaning a lot of elastic that had to be repurposed as cat toys. (They are dirty rotten thieves who COVET the elastic. I have straight taken apart a doll, then the elastic is missing only to find it in hidey holes days later)

 

I tried the bungee/shock cord from Amazon, but it was very floppy. The string I got with my Narae at the time is much sturdier. Will probably try Aliexpress next time. Coolcat's shipping cost is too high and Ali already factors in the custom fee (Europe).