HOME DOLL SPA MANUAL: Recondition Doll Hair & more

This is copyrighted and is a one-term personal use permit.

I would love to add before and after photos from people happy with the results of the process, and I sincerely hope to be receiving photos of successes which I would be delighted to show here and in future editions of these instructions.

The photo of the blonde in the listing is of a second-hand well-used Barbie who has had her hair reconditioned according to the steps in the instructions, which are a thorough compiliation of numerous methods and experiments and results from easy to the hardest cases of homeless dolls found in the bottom of a toy chest, in the trash, up trees, lying abandoned outdoors, or any manner of places in which one would never expect to find a forgotten doll.

Directions apply to vinyl dolls with rooted hair; may be adapted and applied to wigged dolls giving consideration to the glue or lack thereof.

1. A copyright does little to discourage individuals from passing on written instructions; a copyright only protects writers and creators from seeing their work published, sold to a publisher under someone else's name.
People who work with dolls are a nice group, and the people I have dealt with on eBay are almost to a man wonderful people to deal with, people I think of as friends, so, even though the instructions are copyrighted, I need to say I put my trust in the buyer that the written instructions will not be forwarded to or photocopied and given to someone else; I hope that if a buyer finds them helpful, you will refer others to my eBay shop, Alison Wonderland, to purchase their own set of instructions at a reasonable price.
This is a one time personal use permit.

FAQs:

Q1: "Can these instructions be used on wigged dolls?"

With some common_sense adaptations, of course.  These specifics have been added to the latest edition of the booklets. Basically, the common_sense adaptation involves only the temperature of the water and the length of time spent in the water.  If the wig has been removed, then nothing changes __  you might want to have a wig shaper available for drying the wig on.  An inexpensive wig shaper would be a styrofoam ball the same circumference as your doll's head.

Addendum:*i.e., common sense means things such as, for example, not using hot hot water that might loosen the wig glue. However, even if that happens, it is an easy fix. On the other hand, if the wig is already off, using hot hot water to loosen old wig glue would be helpful; common sense again, you want to turn the wig so that the glue side is down, to keep it from getting into the hair if it is a water-soluble glue.

Addendum 2 (19 September 2008): I just brought a Battat doll in from outside: she is an older one and is wigged.  She had a bath and the basic hair treatment, which included a long soak.  Her hair looks gorgeous and nothing happened to the wig glue.  The glue is neither water-soluble nor a heat glue (although I have read that hair can be applied to dolls' heads directly with a glue gun, and shampooing in hot water will not affect it).  She looks so much happier, and I am thrilled to see the improvement made so far (she's getting a new face-up -- new face paint -- soon; first she's getting a manicure and pedicure, along with several other 1:3 scale girls.  Perhaps after all that she'll tell me her name). 

Update (22 October 2008): Washing the wig on the doll presented no problem in terms of loosening, and the hair came out beautifully.
Below is a picture of a wig alone that I put through the Spa Treatment recently, wilth great results in terms of manageability and shine

Q2 ". . .I would like to know if this treatment is alright for the american girl dolls. i have to treat the hair and recondition it for the Josephina Doll. Since this doll is very expensive and it is not a Barbie Doll. Your reply will be very helpful. thanks"

Yes, of course this is alright for the AG Dolls: they are vinyl dolls with synthetic, rooted hair.  Since they are larger, working with their hair will be much easier and more familiar, and many people-sized hair accessories (like chicken-bone rollers) can be used.  Other than that, there is little difference. 

I first wrote this because so many Barbie dolls have bad hair -- just from being in a toy chest or after being dragged through who knows what all by any number of children too young to really play with them  – and saw a need for an informational booklet of this sort. Later, when I saw the amounts being charged for "exclusive" "[brand name] Doll Spa treatments," I started listing it on eBay in that section as well, to offer owners an an alternative to economic exploitation.  As noted above, these instructions are not for someone totally invested in fear (and no one reading this would be).  Bottom line: "Trust me, I'm a teacher -- and an artist [also see my feedback]."  Also, as noted in the listing, the directions do come with lifetime tech support -- i.e. clarification when needed: it helps me improve the booklet for the future.

Specifics to Q2:

First, these treatments are used successfully by doll artists on dolls far more expensive than the American Girl Dolls, so don't worry that you are going to ruin an expensive doll.  These treatments are safe and easy, and do not involve dangerous harsh chemicals: most of them are household products, and I read every label on every product I consider buying, and weigh it against other similar products.

Second, part of the AG marketing strategy involves the "exclusivity" of these dolls (see Fake, Out!); an artificial exclusivity also involves a certain amount of secrecy and intimidation to create the "What will happen if f I don’t use the right [name] brand?? Surely damage of epic proportions. . . ." mindset.

. . . and the soapbox, if you have the time and inclination, it's a bit of the philosophy behind DIY (not necessary; fun, though) . . .

If you have bought things from me before or enjoyed browsing my listings, you know that some of Dr. Bronner rubbed off on me from all those years of reading his Peppermint Soap labels in the tub: I often have a soapbox tangent on which I am taken by one point or another in my listings, so here is another soapbox stand that branched off from a tangential explanation arising from ". . . to save you money . . . ." above:

I considered repackaging the supplies and materials detailed in this booklet and selling them as a "doll cleaning kit." However, I decided I could do more good for more people by simply writing detailed instructions on the ways to approach and the materials to use restoring a well-played-with doll, putting the knowledge into the users' hands for application in the future.

As a second_generation formally trained artist, I am very much a hands_on DIY person. To get us to stop drinking Cokes, my dad once etched and printed an aluminum plate by soaking it overnight in a Coke (no brand_name) bath. Before he got a Master's Degree in Fine Art, he studied chemistry and engineering and, after teaching University Art for some years, he moved on in to Aviation and then Aerospace. Out dinner table discussions were always illuminating.

I mention this because ownership of knowledge has always been a big part of my life; the last twenty years or so have seen less and less ownership of knowledge and more and more dependence on brands. We are just now seeing a return to basics, much of it economically fueled: I have been delighted to see many women returning to sewing: grandmothers are once again sewing clothes for their granddaughters' dolls, the result of the marketing of certain brand name "exclusive" dolls and their "necessary" accessories (and Barbie doesn't fall into this category: as someone who had a lifelong antipathy to the doll, I find that she is truly the child of a democracy; say what we might about Mattel, it makes a darned good doll at an accessible price). The branding concept of those "exclusive" AG dolls is a fun one in which to participate and was timed just right for an economic bubble __ when people have disposable income, marketers are only too happy to help them to dispose of it. Bubbles, however, burst. When a long term of prosperous inflation comes to its inevitable downturn, many are left wringing their hands and wondering what to do without the ready cash for the ready_mades they grew accustomed to purchasing and never had to think about making __ and the making of which over time has come to be perceived as an exclusively arcane science too formidable for "a common person" to attempt to duplicate.

Hence, the instructions are listed under certain varying brand names of dolls.