How to clean a handle from a doll — 11 proven methods

Young children love to paint anything they can get their hands on. Especially often under the «strike» are dolls. You can throw away a damaged toy and buy a new one instead, but it’s better to try to remove the stains, while at the same time explaining to the child that you can’t do this.

Features of the doll material

Most often, plastic, vinyl and rubber are used for the production of modern dolls. Plastic toys are easier to clean from the handle. If an expensive rubber doll is painted, then the matter becomes more complicated.

Ballpoint pen paste is very soaked into the rubber of dolls, so it can be difficult to clean a painted toy. However, there are ways to help either completely remove pen stains, or at least discolor them. The duration of the removal depends on how heavily the toy is painted: in some cases, the marks completely disappear in 1-2 hours, while in others it will take weeks or even months to remove the stains.

Ways to wash the handle from the doll

There are several ways to get rid of the pen drawing on the doll.

Vegetable oil

It is enough to wet the cotton wool with oil and wipe the places of contamination. It may take significant effort. At the end, it is enough to wash the doll with dishwashing detergent or prepare a solution using laundry soap.

match sulfur

Match sulfur contains elements that react with the oil base of the ink, causing the latter to become softer and easier to remove. It is enough to moisten a match with water and wipe the marks from the handle on the doll with the sulfuric part.

Toothpaste

Put some toothpaste on the lettering with a pen and gently rub it into the material. After the ink stains disappear, rinse the toy under running water.

white, vinegar

Mix two products in equal proportions — 1 tsp each, soak a cotton swab in the solution and treat the dirt on the doll. Scrub the pen marks vigorously for 20-25 minutes. Be careful: when mixing these ingredients, the release of chlorine begins, which is unsafe for health and well-being.

At the same time, try to treat only contaminated areas, since whiteness discolors surfaces and materials.

There is another way to use vinegar and bleach. Mix the ingredients in a 1:1 ratio, then soak a cloth in the mixture and wrap the doll with it. Next, put the toy in a warm place for about 40 minutes. After this time, rinse the toy with a household cleaner to remove any remaining ink, whiteness, and vinegar.

Depending on the porosity of the rubber material and the durability of the ink, a longer processing time may be required — up to 1-2 days. Over time, the spots will lighten, after which they will completely disappear. In the case of long-term processing, when applying vinegar and whiteness, it is necessary to hold your breath so as not to accidentally inhale dangerous fumes.

A mixture of hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate and vinegar

Add liquid or crystallized potassium permanganate to the vinegar essence so that the solution has a rich purple color.

There are 2 ways to use the solution:

1. Place the doll in the prepared product and hold the toy in the solution for 1 hour.

2. Soak a cotton swab in the solution and apply it to the contaminated areas. Try not to inhale the vapors so as not to harm your health.

After that, a pinkish-brown color may appear on the surface of the doll. To eliminate it, you need hydrogen peroxide: soak a cotton pad in it and wipe the doll. The pinkish brown color will disappear immediately.

Nail polish remover

This is a quick and easy way to remove ink from your doll as it does not need to be diluted. However, it must be used with caution, since the doll’s rubber may contain dye. If the liquid gets on clean areas, they will lighten, and the doll’s skin will become uneven in color.

You will need to moisten a cotton swab in nail polish remover, and then carefully walk along the trail of a ballpoint pen.

Stain removers

When cleaning a rubber doll from traces of a gel pen, you can use a stain remover. The best option is a hypoallergenic bleach designed for children’s clothing. It is necessary to make a hot bath with a stain remover for the toy, and then wipe its surface with a sponge. Boiling water cannot be poured into the container — otherwise the rubber of the doll will be deformed.

Melamine sponge

Melamine sponge is one of the most effective stain removers. These are compressed crystals and fibers of melamine — as a result of chemical. reactions, they turn into a porous material that forms a sponge.

Melamine sponge is a universal product for cleaning any dirt on any surface. It also eliminates marks from pens and felt-tip pens.

At the same time, when using a melamine sponge, care must be taken, because if it enters the human body, the product can settle in the kidneys and lead to the formation of stones. If you decide to use such a sponge and clean the doll from the inscriptions of the pens, then after processing it is necessary to thoroughly wash your hands and the toy itself with soap and water. Wear rubber gloves during handling. The sponge itself should be wound in a closed bag in a safe place so that children and pets cannot get it.

Remove-zit

A paste product is produced specifically for removing ink marks from plastic, porcelain, vinyl and rubber dolls. However, at the same time as the ink, the paste also removes all the rest of the paint on the doll’s face — it will have to be drawn from scratch. You can also pre-smear the doll’s eyebrows, lips, eyelashes and eyes with Vaseline so that the paste does not get into these places.

Sun rays

If none of the above options helped, then the sun’s rays will help to remove the stains of the handle from the doll. It is enough to place the doll in sunny weather under the open sky, and under the rays of the sun the ballpoint pen will begin to soak into the rubber. However, the removal of the handle will take a long time — for some it takes months.

This method also has a drawback: if the eyes, eyebrows, etc. of the dolls are drawn, then the “make-up” can also fade in the sun.

Baziron AS

This is an acne cream, which, oddly enough, also helps to remove marks from a ballpoint pen from a doll. To do this, you need to generously smear the cream on the traces of the pen, and then put the toy on the battery. If there are few stains from the pen, they will disappear in a few hours. If the child painted the toy abundantly, then it may take 3-4 days to remove the stains, and every day it is necessary to re-apply the cream on the rubber.

You can also put a doll smeared with Baziron AS cream under a lamp, on a windowsill, etc.

Nailfile

If there are a lot of small marks from the pen, try to «sand» the surface of the rubber with a nail file, fine-grained sandpaper or pumice stone. Be careful not to erase the doll’s original makeup.

Conclusion

Thus, in each house there is one or several means at once in order to wash the doll from notes and drawings with a pen. Aggressive methods should be used only in extreme cases, when nothing helped. It is necessary to apply such a tool for a maximum of half an hour and be sure to monitor the reaction of rubber to it — otherwise there is a risk of losing the color and shape of the toy material.