#retrobright

Before and After

I was curious to see how well Volume 40 developer would remove the yellowing from this Frankie Stein's hair, and if her hair fiber would be damaged afterward.

I covered the entire head and hair in developer, put that in a plastic baggie, and placed that outside in the sun for about four or six hours?

When I brought the head in, I was worried the hair hadn't deyellowed, but comparing photos it most definitely did.

Texture is fine and does not seem damaged.* There is still a touch of blonde to it, but I think that's what her original color was. I'm not too sure as all the Frankies I've owned have been second hand and yellowed.

How To: Remove Plastic Yellowing

The sad reality of collecting vintage toys is that even if you take the BEST care of them they can turn yellow. For some items it can be a chemical reaction in the plastic due to heat or simply age, for others it can be sun fading from being left outside or in a window space for too long. Even exposure to cigarette smoke can yellow plastics. Today I want to talk about a process called…

I used a nude Dot Dead Gorgeous Spectra I had in my stash and detailed the chains on her shoes, purse, and hands.

The shoes were quite yellowed so I attempted to retrobright them hair developer. I'm not 100% sure they did deyellow, but I think they look better? At least, the thinner parts of the shoes. I was a bit tempted to dye them.

The shoes in the left photo had been deyellowed briefly. On the right, is what they look like after a few more hours in the warm sun. Success!

I also deyellowed these arms:

Really need to get to work on her.

I really loved how the skullector Beetlejuice doll had these earrings painted as sandworms so I'll be doing that too.

Oof, poor Frankie. Her skin is a bit yellow but what I'm really aiming for is to restore her hair. I had her for less than an hour in the setting sun yesterday, and the hair around her crown does seem whiter. I then brought her inside and put her bagged head in a jar of warm water on my tea warming plate (tips I've seen from varying doll people's blogs) for about four hours. Can't say I see much of a difference. I know some people (not just doll and toy people) have more luck with heat than UV, but I don't think I'm one of them.

I should have started this many weeks ago when it was still summer. Thankfully, it's still rather warm during the day, but light doesn't last as long.

At least I'm finally moving forward on these. I'm trying to finish restoring all the straight haired dolls first because they're easier to deal with. I am so not in the mood to curl hair.

In other news, StarberryKat on IG (@starberrydoll here) was selling some dolls and things.

The only thing that truly caught my eye was the RH pink fur coat. But then I felt silly only buying one thing so I added a loose Ginger head and the smiling Apple nude. No immediate plans for that Apple, but I am glad to have the sculpt just in case. As for the Ginger, I kinda sorta have an idea, but more than anything I'm relieved that if I do go forward with it I won't have to sacrifice one of my other Gingers.* Also, bonus! It was a Sugar Coated Ginger and it came with the headband and earrings! Her hair was chopped off so I went ahead and removed it.

And now, nit sure what to do. should probably go back to working on Halloween doll.

UPDATE: Success! I can't believe how well it worked!

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