Ball Jointed Doll, Doll Care ♥

How to take care of your BJD 101.

 

Introduction:

This topic was brought up because I went to a dollmeet to help hot glue suede and restring one of my friend’s doll… ended up sueding and restringing several more people’s dolls and giving tips on how to take care of your doll in general.  When I started sharing what I know from experience and from reading on DOA with others, I realized most people do know the basic, but not always the details. So a friend of mine suggested compling a list for beginning BJD owners. :3 If you already know how to take care of your doll, great! But I hope this is still a fun read for you guys. You all can learn from my mistakes instead of making the same mistakes I’ve made as a newbie doll owner back in 2005 XDDD’

 

 

Ordering your doll:

 

If you order from the company, it’s most likely automatically EMS shipping with tracking. If you are buying from the 2^nd hand market, please consider EMS or at least a decent airmail or priority mail etc. Do not ship by sea if possible. If you’re spending $200, 500, or even $1000 on a doll to begin with, you don’t want it ‘lost’ right? You’d be investing $700 and losing it because some rain ruined the shipping labels or something, that would be pretty horrifying. Dolls being lost in the shipping happens more often than you think, you don’t want to be that person with horror stories. So consider good shipping. The less it’s being travelled, the less time it has to be manhandled/damaged by postman and weather. So don’t cheap out on shipping if you caaaan~

 

And when ordering your doll, AVOID Monsoon period.  Monsoon is a seasonal thing especially in Asia where it’s the most humid and super rainy. (This is early May through August. Try to avoid ordering dolls or try to order after the Monsoon passes) Humidity is not good for the resin and it doesn’t mix right if there’s too much moisture in the air. It also takes them longer to make because of this anyway. (Remember most doll companies takes 2 months for them to make the doll after they receive the doll. so it's not good to order in april~)

 

I JUST RECEIVED MY DOLL!  ♥:

Great! I’m sure you want to get a box cutter and rip that doll out of that huge box! I’m sure you can hardly contain your excitement! 8D But first, wash your hands~.  Your hands have natural oil that builds up as you live. (sweating etc). So go wash your hands~ Oil is harmful to resin and can leave behind stains. You don’t want to stain your doll.

You might want to invest in white cotton gloves.

After you open your box, the box is likely dirty, traveling half way across the world. So wash your hands again. (you can skip this step but that’s what I do lol) Try NOT to touch your face, or your hair, or anything else if you can so you can keep your hands clean. ♥  No lotions on your hands either. Take your doll out of the wrapping carefully and enjoy ♥

 

What harms resin?

Harm isn’t exactly the best word since nothing will make the resin literally melt before your eyes… but here are some things that’ll change the color of your resin or stain them over time.

-          - Sunlight. Sunlight is VERY damaging. It can make your resin color into green, or more yellow or lose that pinkyness… and make it fade. Best to prevent this is to keep your doll in a room without windows (or curtains drawn). I also wrap them with a towel when I’m not home.  Here’s a youtube video that shows exactly how damaging it can be in just one day of sunlight on a uv protection coated resin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75KACevGSyY

-          - Humidity. You can’t do much if you live in a humid place. But you can try to prevent your place from being too humid. Do not keep your dolls in a shower room right after you took a long hot bath or shower. Do not keep your dolls in a room with a humidifier. (also do NOT order your doll during a humid period at the country they are casting your dolls D: )

-        -  Extreme heat and extreme cold. (should be obvious lol) Basically keep your dolls away from vents and air conditioner and heaters.

-         - Oil based ANYTHING. If your hands have lotion, wash your hands. If you want to touch your doll, wash your hands. If you have oily skin, I suggest wearing cotton gloves. Oil will stain your doll. There will be a longer list in the faceup and cleaning your doll section but in general, oil is bad.  ALWAYS use water base. Everything.

 - Time. Resin will change color over time. You can do your very best to prevent it from happening fast, but yes, even with all these precaution,  it will slowly change color. Which is why you still want to do everything you can to prevent it as much as you can… but eventually with time, the colors will fade unfortunately. It’s a losing battle…


If it's a cloudy day, can I play with my dolls outside?
It doesn't matter if it's cloudy day or sunny day, what's most important is how STRONG the UV ray is that day. Even on cloudy days, there's weak rays coming from the sun. There can be even days when it's cloudy but has strong uv rays. And there can be super sunny and hot days with lower uv rays. It's not about how hot it is or how sunny it is that determines the uv rays.  There are actually really cheap uv-ray check items you can buy if you're ever curious. (I have this $1 uv-ray check cellphone charm i got. so whenever i want to check the uv ray, i just whip it out and hold it out to see what color it changes into lol)  But just don't assume just because the sky is overcast, it means there's zero uv rays. 

I want to clothe my doll!

Just be careful that the fingers don’t get caught on threads while going through armholes. Same with feet. But DO be careful about jeans. If you have any doll jeans or jean jacket, try hand washing it first, see if any blue chemicals comes out. If it doesn’t, great. If it does, wash it at least 5-9 times UNTIL THE BLUE CHEMICAL STOPS RUNNING. Because you don’t want your dolls to have blue legs forever.

If you’re scared of stains, it might be a good idea to handwash all your doll clothes first. Normally if it’s plain cotton, it’s safe. If it’s darker clothes, you might want to wash them. Normally, I only (and definitely) hand wash all the jean materials gently.

 

 

Wait, if clothes stain dolls, should I keep my dolls clothed or not?

If the clothes are the type that’ll not stain, it’s okay to leave the clothes on. If it is the type TO stain, then of course, don’t leave it on.

I usually keep my dolls (either clothed or not) wrapped in towels when I’m not home to keep them away from sunlight. (i'm more scared of sunlight than stains) Often they are not clothed except the few that’s next to my desk :3

If your doll is stained, check the cleaning doll section below for tutorial. Most of the time, dabbing magic eraser with water and wiping your doll should remove the stain if the stain is new. But if it's old stain... you might have to sand it. Which is why you should clean your doll regularly if you play with them often. 

 

I want to put wigs on my doll!

Awesome! But remember, doll fiber wigs are treated with chemical dyes which will stain your doll heads over time. You may wash them gently but it’ll still dye your doll heads. And if it’s curly or stylized wig, it’ll lose the style in the water. The best is not to keep the doll wearing the wig at all times. Fur wigs seems to be alright. But it’s safer in general to keep the dolls bald unless you’re playing with them or photographing them. There are also silicone caps that helps wigs stay on the doll AND prevents wig stains. (but sometimes the areas the wig touch the doll and if the wig is larger than the cap, it'll still stain the doll obviously). easier to just keep the doll bald. it's safest option, trust me.  Out of 5+ years of owning dolls, none of my dolls have wig stains like everyone else's.

 

How do I wash my wigs?

There’s many online tutorials on wigs because of cosplay. Cosplay wigs and doll wigs are pretty much made from the same fiber.

-          Wash your wigs in cool or lukewarm water. NEVER HOT. This is not human hair. Fiber is basically thin plastic. You don’t want your plastic to melt due to the heat.

-          Human shampoo does work but there are wig shampoo and conditioners at beauty stores. One great thing I learned from one of my African American friend is that, beauty stores for African Americans have all sorts of wig care stuff. (wig shampoo, wig conditioner, wig styling things, wig oil etc etc) so you can ask them for help.

-          Someone was once scared that human hair spray and wax will melt the wigs. Don’t worry, it won’t. You can use human mousse, wax, hairspray on the wigs. But you don’t want them on your doll because it’ll stain your resin.  So you can place your styled wig gently on the doll for a short time as long as it’s not touching any part of the resin, it’s okay.  If you have wax, mousse or hairspray on the doll wig, please wash them within 12-24 hours. (I prefer to wash them within 2-4 hours max) 

-          Once you wash your wig, let it hang somewhere so it drips dries. DO NOT BRUSH WHEN WET. Brushing wet wigs will stretch the fiber. Basically you’re stretching plastic. It won’t go back to the same position.

-          Once it’s dry you may brush your wigs.

(again check on cosplay sites for more wig information. I might not mention everything)

 

How do I put in my eyes?

If you got a volks doll, you’ll notice that your doll eyes are hot glued in. BEFORE you get out a knife to hack the glue, check out how to remove your doll eyes at volks website.  http://site.volksusa.com/sumikatimes/2009/12/23/eye-spy/

It is VERY important to know that ‘thinner’ can RUIN your doll makeup. So let it NOT drip out of the eye socket and fall down the doll face. (it will not harm the resin. Just your faceup. Check out the faceup section for more details on sealants and thinners)

You can use exacto knife and carefully take out the eyes but… it’ll take from 30 minutes to 2 hours depending. And your hand might slip and cut the resin inside the doll. Best is that you have the right materials at home. One second of your hand slip, you’d have already damaged your precious doll ;_;

Now then, for most part, using putty is best to keep the eyes in the head  :3

 

How do I clean my doll?

First of all, remember that your doll is a ‘ball jointed doll’ that is held together in elastic strings. So do NOT dunk your doll in the sink or bathe with your doll. Not only will it damage your resin doll, it’ll make your strings possibly rot, then you’ll have to clean out the growing fungus inside the doll… that’s no fun.

OIL is harmful to resin AND stains your dolls. So DO NOT use scented, moisturizing human soaps. (which is bubble baths… so don’t do this guys D: ) You want to use non-scented mild soap OR the best is using non-scented basic dish detergent.

BUY Mr. CLEAN MAGIC ERASER. This is one of THE MOST ESSENTIAL TOOL for your doll care. You can buy this at walmart, target, almost any store. It’s magical and does wonders. Trust me.

1 – first take your doll apart. Unstring them. (Please check the restringing guide later). Remember which is left and which is right side. (see if your doll happen to have L or R written on them).

2 – take off all the hot glues on the doll if it has any.

3 – don’t wash your elastic strings, s hooks, and metal bits and KIPS. ^^; (you can wipe s hooks and kips if you want to of course but I don’t see why you’d want to wash them with soap)

4 – wash your doll in cool to lukewarm water. Never hot. Use either mild, non-scented, no oily, non moisturizing soap. Or use non-scented, basic dish washing detergent. Scrub the parts that has dirty spots with magic eraser until it’s gone. (if your doll is body blushed, you might have to reblush your doll. Unless you’re careful with magic eraser so you don’t remove the blushing.

5 – dry them with a clean towel. Make sure the inside holes are dry too. (you don’t want mold in there)

6 – If you are body blushing your doll, do it at this step. You want to spray MSC on it, then blush it, then coat it over again with sealant. (Again more information on the faceup section)

7 – once your doll is completely dry (and MSC is also dry), you may want to hot glue suede your doll at this step. (More information on the sueding section)

8 – Once your doll is sueded, you can restring your doll. Clothed him again and he/she’s all clean :3

 

 

How often do you have this cleaning session?

Once or twice a year. But if you play with your doll, doing it more often doesn’t hurt. It’s just as often as needed, no need to set a specific time. But I like doing it every 6 months to clean them.

 

Do you clean your doll heads?

I clean them if I need to do a new faceup. But if they have a faceup already I like, then no I don’t wash them with soap and water lol. If there’s dust I blow on it or lightly pick it off.  If there’s a stain I reeeeally don’t like, I dab magic eraser on the spot little by little to make it go away. But magic eraser is abrasive enough to remove MSC sealant. So I don’t suggest using it often.

 

What is sueding?

You know between your bone joints, there’s that rubbery muscle that helps you cushion your bones? It’s pretty much that. Between the resin, there’s almost no friction, which makes it harder for your doll to pose properly.  So by adding this rubbery substance between the joints to give it that extra friction so your doll’s pose can stay in place.

There’s several ways to suede.

- You can just add the VOLKS KIPS (Goggle it. It’s easier to see it in pictures) and insert between the joints with the string. (highly recommended)

- you can hot glue suede it (MOST recommended) You buy a low temperature glue gun (PLS check and don’t buy high temperature. It’ll damage the resin and burn your fingers)  ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_pMYY9znIU )

- Pliver sueding. (basically you buy thin skin color suede fabric and use elmer’s glue (water base only. Remember oil leaves stains) to glue the suede between places)

- wiring. (You add a thin coated wire between the joints. (http://bjd-wtf.livejournal.com/1048.html)

I’ve tried all 4. My favorites were Hot glue sueding and using kips. They worked the best. Adding wiring as well as hot glue sueding is very good but it just wasn’t for me. (I think I was still too afraid of wires damaging the inside of the resin, coated or not)

When you hot glue suede, suede the concave part of the socket only, and leave the convexed rounded part alone. (so suede only one side) If you do both, it’s a bit too much friction. And sometimes even too thick.

 

How do I restring my doll?

Before you restring your doll or take apart your doll, YOU MUST have the proper tools. These are some of the useful tools to have.

-          Long string/lace/ribbon.

-          String puller. (make sure it’s the right size for your doll)

-          String tool for the head

-          Doll clip holder scissors

-          Wooden Chopsticks (that doesn’t have paint on it so it doesn’t scratch your doll or stain it with paint)

-          (if desperate, you can use pencil or pen but not always recommended. Just make sure it isn't coated with paints that might stain the resin)

 

Each company has various ways to restring their doll. Luts uses two strings for the legs and one string for the arms. A lot of companies use one string for both legs and one string for the arms. Some uses s-hooks, some uses rings. Dollfairyland uses a clip at the top that holds the strings but it’s still essentially the same. Some companies like rsdolls’ rg line, the strings gather in the middle hip area rather than the head area.  It’s very important that you check how the lines look on the inside of your doll (take pictures with your cell phone if you’re afraid you’ll not remember) before taking it apart. Also check the doll company’s main website for any possible tutorial. If they got an unusual restringing mechanism, they’ll tell you.

 

It’s faster if you check youtube videos.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x3S3ol04mw )

Just one thing on measuring how long your string should be. Line up your doll parts and spread it as if it’s being crucified or in a T form. Stretch your string as far as it can go with your hands. Measure it on top of your doll. If it’s too long, tie the top and stretch again until you got the right measurements. You want it as close as you can but don’t make it too short. If it’s short, you’ll never get the hooks to hook on to the strings x.x; (some people like their dolls loose so you can just keep it loose if you want) Do this over the arms. If it’s one string for both legs, gather it at the top and stretch over the legs to measure it right.

 

 

I want to tackle faceups!

So~ you see a lot of people making a lot of money on these faceups and you want to tackle at it too! (or you want to save money or you have very specific faceup in mind). Just remember, getting started will be expensive. Here’s some of the things you want to get.

-          Sealant (Mr Super Clear Matte/UV Cut, Model Masters Lusterless (flat) Lacquer Overcoat, Mr Top Coat Matte, Testors Dullcote. ).

-          Mr. Clean Magic eraser

-          Acrylic paint Thinner or Windsor Newton brush cleaners, or  acrylic paint thinner/brush cleaners of most kind.   

-          Water color pencil (make sure it’s non oil base)  rec: PrismaColor Pencils

-          Acrylic paint that’s NOT oil based. Rec: Liquitex Acrylic Paints, tamiya paint

-          Soft Chalk Pastels that is NOT oil based.

-          Some erasers

-          Elmer’s glue (water base only), craft glue (water base only)

-          Air brush materials (only if you plan to be serious o.o this thing is expensive)

Sand paper (only if you plan to be serious at modding. There's more tools you'll need if you mod though. Like eye gravel and epoxy)

 

Do not use:

-          Acetone nail polish remover. Or nail polish remover in general.

-          Regular Pencil

-          Anything oil based chalk

-          Anything oil based paint

-          Sharpie, markers, they’re all oil based.

-          Bleach

-          Human make up (usually has oil)

-          Industrial spray paint (sold at walmart and home depo)

 

First remove your doll head from the body. Be careful the s-hook doesn’t damage the resin. Put something between the strings (if it doesn’t have a place holder) so the string doesn’t fall through the hole.

 

Clean your doll. If it has faceup, remove the faceup. DO NOT use nail polish remover (especially if it has acetone). I know some people recommend this but I’ve also read horror stories on what happens to some doll resins. You don’t want to be the one with horror stories. Sure, a quick swipe might look harmless but do you really want to take the chance of ruining your $$$ doll because you weren’t patient and waited to buy the right cleaning material? X.x;;

 

It’s really easy to remember what to buy and what not to buy. Oil based anything is a NO. Water base anything is alright.

 

When removing faceup, some people suggest stuff like nail polish removers or alcohol that you can find anywhere. Since some horror stories exist, again, just don’t try it. The correct faceup materials would be all water based paint. Sealants are also paints, so are acrylics. So the best way to remove faceup is actually acrylic paint thinner. As their name suggests, they thin out paint. Brush cleaners are only recommended because they remove paint from brushes (get it?). But thinners for paint in general are your best bet. It’ll be super easy to remove face up with the right materials. Simply dab your magic eraser with a bit of thinner and wipe your doll. It’ll take 5 minutes. If you tried using nail polish remover it’ll take 30 minutes or longer… and might damage your doll.  After wiping your doll clean, please wash your doll again with mild soap and water and let it dry.

 

Now you must spray paint your doll head with sealant.

 

Remember that normal spray paint will MELT PLASTIC. So don’t buy the cheap spray paints you see at walmart. There is a reason why tamiya and mr. color etc are so expensive ($20 per tiny cans yes), they are spray paints designed for gundam model kits and plastic/resin kits. So buy the right materials, you’ll save money in the long run.

 

When buying sealant please make sure it’s matte or flat. DO NOT GET SHINY OR GLOSS. Else your doll head will glow and shine like someone poured wax on it XD (obviously I totally made this mistake the first time when I grabbed a random mr. super clear. It was the only one available since I found out, matte is almost always sold out…)

 

When buying chalk, double check again to make sure you get ‘soft pastel’ and it’s ‘non oil based’. If it doesn’t say anything, just don’t risk it, don’t buy it.

 

Once you have the right materials, you can check all the youtube videos on how-to do your faceup, as they are much better than me with their tutorials.

 

 

 

Conclusion: I hope this gave you the basic ideas on how to take care of your dolls. There’s plenty of videos and helpful tips everywhere that shows you proper faceup and restringing. I thought in general I’m more helping people with ‘doll care’ tips and what to-buy and what not-to-buy. Hopefully it was a fun read and you can learn from my mistakes of the past so you don’t make these mistakes yourself. ♥