New blue girl arrives ... with ... issues...

[Alliecat]

You just need a little bit. Like fill up a bowl with water and add one or two spoons of vinegar....
http://www.ehow.com/how_5979118_remove-mold-suede.html
... the good thing is you don't live in a hot and humid place.

Well, it sure ain't hot but I'm 10 minutes' walk from salt water so it's humid enough. I'll try a bit of vinegar... I just need an uninterrupted block of time, which rarely happens, to work on her, and try to get the boots off. I wonder if a hot-water soak would work as well as the hair dryer? I'd try both.
Do you guys think it's safe to wipe HER with dilute vinegar or is that bad for plastic? Soap & water might work. I worry about getting the joints wet though, although I've seen photos of Pullips in water.

Be careful with any snaps or metal trim, I've rusted them in vinegar colorfasting soaks.

Good to know, thanks!

I also have to say, you're very brave to have completely unboxed her. I would have probably stopped as soon as I saw those white spots!

Well, I didn't know SHE smelled or that there was stuff on the plastic, and I guess I didn't realize there was that much in the box. And with postage rates as high as they are here, sending things back is not always the first thing that comes to mind. And then of course I feel a need to rescue some of these poor dolls... I thought I was a bit germophobic but it seems some of you are a lot more concerned about mildew than I am. I guess I figure if it doesn't have the right conditions to grow, it won't spread...?
And no, they haven't replied yet. I have 2 addresses, so I'll try the other next time.
Oh, AND, the vinyl/pleather/whatever of her jacket appears to have tiny cracks in it, I guess just from being old, but I imagine very little wear would cause bigger splits. Which sucks because it's the best part of the outfit
It's so sad... the 5 J's on top of the piano are holding their string of Christmas lights and looking across the room at her, and poor Andi is on the end table looking back across at them from quarantine...

[Little mouse]

.........It's so sad... the 5 J's on top of the piano are holding their string of Christmas lights and looking across the room at her, and poor Andi is on the end table looking back across at them from quarantine...

It is sad but you are so wise to do it........quarantine is where she needs to be!

[Marsian]

I' m so sorry you have not heard from PS yet.

I haven't had much luck finding mire info on vinegar and pullips, just that to never use it on natural materials such as stone tiles, granite or marble, egg shells or wood, but nothing on plastics or resin. Maybe you have something at home on which you could do a patch test just to be sure?

For the faux leather jacket it has been suggested to use baby oil to prevent (further) cracking. However, I am not sure if this is a safe option for a doll: does the pleather soak up the oil? Or will it stain or worse melt a doll?

[Offgenemi]

Poor girl it is only temporary! I'll ask my scientist friends if a little bit of vinegar would hurt this type plastic. I suspect her hair would be the best target for spores and her clothes.
The reason I am a bit paranoid is 1- I am allergic to mold 2- I am a biologist who was cursed with the microbiology class. It is probably nothing but my spider senses go all out when I hear mold.
Also a town house my hubby rented couple years back had mold problem. It was all over behind the bathroom wall. It was a major pain to get it out. The crew came and left giant ac units and fans all running. Every time I went to that house I would start coughing and last year I learned I have allergic asthma. So now I know why I was coughing ))

---

http://www.brickwarrior.com/?p=1 The advice is for Lego (also made of abs) but it is nice to keep in mind like use only clear vinegar and not apple cider type

[Alliecat]

Well, he replied... and they KNEW these dolls were musty.
They don't have a warehouse; the doll boxes are in their house; in September they got some more "cartons" of Andrassy from Groove. He claims they've been letting them "air out, one carton at a time" and thinks this has worked. No offer of a solution, just sounds more concerned about how to deal with the dolls they have left, and can I tell him where in the package was the moldy plastic strip, etc. (Who cares where it was...? It's not that big a box. There's mildew in it. Period.)
I'm writing back with a little stronger tone to suggest that if they knew these dolls were musty they should have mentioned this on the sale listing, and certainly should have charged less. I think some degree of refund is in order.

(Thanks for the Lego link, Offgenemi. I had friends who lived for a while in a house with mold in the crawl-space basement. You could smell it on them when they visited! Marsian, thanks for the baby oil info; I read it. Her jacket is lined so maybe it wouldn't soak through even if it did absorb.)

[Alliecat]

I can't believe it... it gets worse...
So the hair dryer worked to get her boots off but it appears to have heated the socks sufficiently on the ankles, to have melted them to her feet. Now they're stuck. I didn't have it on that long. It took several tries of maybe half a minute each.
I can't believe it.


Edit...
So I'm thinking this can't ALL be from the hair dryer...? I know staining is a thing but this is a bit ridiculous. Some of the texture of the sock is embedded in her ankle. Please tell me ALL this is not the result of a few minutes with a hair dryer.
I used it the same length of time on each foot and they did not both do this.
On top of the general s**t in my life, right now I am just about ready to quit and go to bed for a few months.

[Little mouse]

I am so sorry about this. A refund is MOST definitely in order. Did you pay using PayPal? If you did, get them involved as this doll was definitely not sold as listed.

Good luck
xxx

[Marsian]

Well, he replied... and they KNEW these dolls were musty.

Wait, what?.... :/

if they knew these dolls were musty they should have mentioned this on the sale listing, and certainly should have charged less. I think some degree of refund is in order.

My first thought after reading the previous, i understand their worries but that does not mean they don't need to mention the flaws or make it your problem.

From the google photos it looks as if the socks are made from some jersey like fabric. I don't think that they should be able to melt. Also the boots were a barrier between the legs and the heat. I am no eert on this area but it seems unlikely that the blowdryer caused the leg to melt on to the

Just saw the edit, i definetly do not think it is your blow drying that caused that foot to go black, looks like staining from the fabric dye.

I've said it before, but i feel so so sorry for you!

Also, as little mouse said, if all else fails and you payed with PayPal, they are a great help in situations like these.

Fingers crossed for getting a good solution soon!!

[Offgenemi]

I am so sorry I don't know what to say. Seller should have told you about the mold! For example it is a total deal breaker for me. If you knew you would have decided accordingly.
I wonder if the foot would clean if you sanded hair dryers can be very unreliable. You know first time you use the machine is still warming up. But second time it is already warm so temperature might be a bit different. I melted my Blythe's hair like that. It takes seconds even though we stopped between trials

[Alliecat]

Yes, I did Paypal. I will wait to see what Mike has to say before freaking out too much further and opening a case etc. I sent a photo of her foot, but I see in the fine print that PS doesn't refund or exchange for stains.
I know many collectors really like them and that Mike occasionally comments on this forum. I don't want to be the rotten customer who starts a war and a lot of bad feeling. It's not the end of the world... first-world problems and all, and I've certainly got much worse to deal with these days... it's just really disappointing, for the price.

So, I am vinegar-soaking her outfit, just did a quick dunk of the pleathery things. After half an hour they still smell a bit musty. Andi has had a wipe-down with vinegar/water too, & a bath in dish soap. I tried scrubbing her foot with vinegar/baking soda but no joy.
I was thinking, she's never going to be able to wear anything that doesn't hide her legs, she'll never be able to be photographed with bare legs/feet, and this is why I buy them -- for photography. After a few deep breaths and some thought, I recalled learning when I bought Sunny from fishy, that the lower legs just pop out, because she had replaced Sunny's broken ankle. So I am hoping someone has some spare dolly parts and can sell me a left leg. I'm sure it can be sent for cheap letter mail...
Pending reply from PS, I'm hoping I can find a spare lower leg and just replace it.

[Miss Edith]

I'm sure many people have spare limbs lying about from when they rebody their dolls.

I am so sorry Allie ((hugs)) IT must be more upsetting when it was a doll you wanted for so long and then paid full price for. Mike & PS are wonderful. I am quite sure he will fix this for you but if not, paypal will give you a full refund just from those photos. And, IMO that foot has nothing to do with the hairdryer and I know PS doesn't take responsibility for staining but that foot is more like mangling :/

[fishy]

It's not the hair dryer. I've had similar stains on my Hanaayame from the black Barbie stockings and boots she usually wears, even with her wearing white stockings beneath them . I thought I'd faint when I saw it! ;__;

(It was this outfit , if anyone was wondering. Beautiful, but stains like CRAZY!! ;__; )

[PullipPrincess]

I also have to say, you're very brave to have completely unboxed her. I would have probably stopped as soon as I saw those white spots!

Well, I didn't know SHE smelled or that there was stuff on the plastic, and I guess I didn't realize there was that much in the box. And with postage rates as high as they are here, sending things back is not always the first thing that comes to mind. And then of course I feel a need to rescue some of these poor dolls... I thought I was a bit germophobic but it seems some of you are a lot more concerned about mildew than I am. I guess I figure if it doesn't have the right conditions to grow, it won't spread...?
And no, they haven't replied yet. I have 2 addresses, so I'll try the other next time.
Oh, AND, the vinyl/pleather/whatever of her jacket appears to have tiny cracks in it, I guess just from being old, but I imagine very little wear would cause bigger splits. Which sucks because it's the best part of the outfit
It's so sad... the 5 J's on top of the piano are holding their string of Christmas lights and looking across the room at her, and poor Andi is on the end table looking back across at them from quarantine...

I'm sorry, I really didn't mean anything bad by saying that, it's just that seeing that would definitely freak me out a bit. I guess being a baker and also constantly working around food kind of makes me more paranoid about that sort of stuff and has turned me into a cleaning freak more or less. ^^; I do feel terrible for you and poor Andi, and it seems like your luck with her is just getting worse. I'm glad to see that it is at least possible to replace her leg, though, so that's one good thing. I wish you the best of luck on finding the part you need for her and with cleaning her. It would be nice if she could join your other girls soon!

[Cornflower Blue]

Yeah, I know Mike doesn't have a warehouse. It's where they were stored for years in Japan before they get shipped over here.

There is also the infamous stains on Fiori, her legs wrapped in plastic but the stockings stained right through it in a fishnet pattern. And I got her on preorder when she was first released, so its not like she was sitting around for years sucking up the dye.

Edit: I just checked my Andrassy and she is stained on the same foot, not quite as bad. It's probably that blue and black stripe sock that's the culprit. I guess I'm jaded, because I have so many Groove dolls with stains from their outfits, I shrug it off and usually dress them around it.

You could try the benzoyl peroxide zit cream treatment. I haven't used it on a T4, but it worked like a charm on a T1 and a few Namu and Taeyang bodies. I know it's not exactly the best time of year for it, but if you can apply it and put her in the sun to dry and repeat for several days in a row it should fade some if not altogether.

[Alliecat]

I'm relieved to hear you guys think I didn't do this with the hair dryer. Her socks being stuck to her feet made me think I had. Pretty ridiculous, really! I don't remember my or anyone else's Barbies getting stained from their clothes when I was little... not that I knew a lot of people with Barbies... but really, this whole staining/melt thing just makes me shake my head; like c'mon, do companies not have access to more durable materials than this to make dolls out of...??

I'm sorry, I really didn't mean anything bad by saying that, it's just that seeing that would definitely freak me out a bit. I guess being a baker and also constantly working around food kind of makes me more paranoid about that sort of stuff and has turned me into a cleaning freak more or less.

Of course not... no worries I never thought of myself as a clean-freak particularly, although I will not tolerate some things, like dirty bathrooms/kitchens etc... but some things I've seen in the last year or so between hospitals, home care people, etc., make me wonder if I really am a bit more obsessive about germs than some. But it's nice to know others are also bothered by mildewy things, maybe more than me. I mean, it'll wash, right...

Edit: I just checked my Andrassy and she is stained on the same foot, not quite as bad. It's probably that blue and black stripe sock that's the culprit. I guess I'm jaded, because I have so many Groove dolls with stains from their outfits, I shrug it off and usually dress them around it. You could try the benzoyl peroxide zit cream treatment. ...

Agree, that sock. I'd like to have the option for barefoot beach photos etc. I've read about the zit cream treatment. Will any concentration of benzoyl peroxide do? They vary, don't they. I'll have to look into that if I can't find a replacement leg. That would be the easiest fix.

Trying to keep some sense of humour here... I think the following probably does me out of the "do not modify the doll" return policy, if there was going to be one... but if something is fixable I'd rather just get on and do it. She was lying there looking so sad, like, "Please fix me..." so I had to take a picture.





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