Repair Super Messed Up... Any Advice? (Updates for Science)

I'm not an expert on acetone other than knowing that some plastics dissolve in it like salt in water - and will therefore also solidify as acetone becomes completely removed. I don't think PU resin is one of those plastics if it has swollen instead, though, but there's some hope that it will return to a solid state once the acetone has evaporated. Unfortunately, the swelling up and down can tamper with the construction of the molecules and the overall strength of the pieces, making them more susceptible to tension damage when strung.

For now, you should just make sure it is completely rinsed off the parts and leave them to dry in a way that they are not resting on themselves so they don't fall out of shape even further (try suspending them or putting them on sticks). I'd give it some days, even a week to see if they solidify again. It might take even longer, but if you can confirm them becoming a bit more rigid, just give it more time. I would advise stringing them a bit looser afterwards, though.

 

I don't know how helpful this will be, since I have never used acetone on resin, in the million years I've owned resin toys of any sort.

However, in other genres of toy collecting, acetone is used to shrink PVC sculpts, like heads, shoes, etc. The piece is left for a few hours inside a glass jar with acetone, then removed and allowed to air dry. As the acetone evaporates the plastic shrinks. I don't have any experience with resin and acetone as I've mentioned. I always read it wasn't a good alternative for resin, because different companie's resin react differently, mostly in a not positive way. Acetone can melt and dissolve different types of plastc, and while it is popular for shrinking fashion doll heads, it's also known to crack, make the plastic brittle, or cause other damage on different companie's plastics.

Your dolls arms might shrink, become brittle in the process or worse. It depends on the resin itself. I hope they just go back to normal for you. Good luck! (:



Edit to add; the pvc pieces usually expand, depending on the company or pvc, they can double or triple in size. Then once they are removed from the acetone itself, as the acetone begins to evaporate the plastic shrinks. It can take a few days or longer, for the acetone to fully evaporate. That's why I commented, because of your doll's arms swelling. I've never heard of anything like that with resin, but you never know. Shrinking resin parts might be something some brave souls would want to try...DX

 

I did this to a pair of DoD hands and it was terrifying. The fingers bent when I touched them. Still gives me the shivers I rinsed them really well with soapy water, then let them soak in water, replacing it every couple days and rinsing the hands with soapy water every time I removed them. I don't know exactly what step helped, but they hardened back up again and don't seem to be any worse for it. I hope your situation works out!

 

Coincidentally, I did almost the exact same thing a few years back. With an old Soom 1/6. I don't remember the sculpt off the top of my head but it was the one with the wolf paws. The feet paws had been both dyed and painted. As a newbie, I hadn't really learned much about acetone and the effect on resin. So I soaked those paws in acetone overnight thinking it would remove the paint and possibly the dye in one go. When I pulled them out, the painted was entirely removed. Some of the dye too! But the paws were also kind of....squishy? After a bit of crying and freaking out, I left the paws out in the sun all day to dry them. And as an attempt to evaporate the remaining acetone. At that point I did not care about yellowing since the resin was already dyed brown. The paws seemed to harden up under the sun. Once they were dry, washed them with soap and water. They remained hardened thankfully. But the texture had been forever kind of changed. The resin seemed a lot more coarse than before. So this situation might be salvageable, but be warned that it may create a permanent effect on the resin.

 

I think the best corse of action in a situation like thins is as follows:
1. Remove the piece from the acetone bath, obviously.
2. Use something soft an absorbant, such as cotton wool to gently remove all the excess acetone from the surface of the piece. Do not wipe or scrub, just let the cotton absorbe the acetone.
3. Leave in a well ventilated area to let the acetone soaked into the piece to fully evaporate.
4. Evaluate the piece for damage and go from there.

Do not rinse in water. Water will not penetrate as deeply into the piece as the acetone has and will only prevent the solvent in there from evaporating, prolonging the exposure.
Do not use dish soap at this stage. It's main function is to remove grease and oils, something that the acetone has already done with a much higher eficiency than any dish soap out there.

 

I'd echo the above statement of DO NOT WIPE OR SCRUB.

If the texture changes, it might be correctable with careful sanding.

I don't actually know about resin but I do know with vinyl I will give a thorough alcohol wash when I've finished with any acetone work, followed by a thorough water wash. Acetone can continue to change the chemical compound of vinyl even after it's been cleaned off, so I try to mitigate with alcohol- but that may not work with resin, because resin takes alcohol differently.

In any case, the piece is *probably* salvageable.

 

Luckily not, though I was really worried. I guess my thought was that by soaking them in water afterwards, it would kinda displace the acetone left inside the resin’s pores, you know? I have no scientific basis for that, but I got lucky and it worked. Resin didn’t become brittle, nor was it discolored. This was older Dream of Doll resin, doll from 2005, got the acetone bath in… probably 2012?