With G3 Monster High hitting shelves, people are looking at G1 again and looking for ways to rectify the disgusting, seeping, doll destroying head glue Mattel was using at that time.
Not only is it gross but the glue discolors the vinyl heads of the dolls.
Barbie, Monster High, Ever After High, and Disney dolls all had the glue.
This method was shared to Reddit with incomplete information which has caused some confusion and concern there.
My biggest concern is OP claiming this is safe.
We don’t know if it’s safe. Not enough time has passed TO know. All we know is that L.A.’s Totally Awesome removes and at least partially sets Mattel’s head glue.
Jul 19 2024 I rechecked some of the heads from that first batch again at 7 years after treatment:
https://www.tumblr.com/imreadydollparts/756382833722982400/its-come-up-again-and-i-decided-to-dig-out-the
And posted a few trials of other glue removing methods for the science:
https://www.tumblr.com/imreadydollparts/756426553175457792/important-notes
I’ve pulled out some of the original heads that I’d treated in this post from 2017, so some of the first to be treated:
https://imreadydollparts.tumblr.com/post/166572190170/the-super-long-totally-awesome-follow-up-post
These were soaked using this method:
https://imreadydollparts.tumblr.com/post/189592816645/i-may-have-figured-this-out-a-whole-2-years
Abbey has a blend of Doll Grade Kanekalon and Saran hair with tinsel. All three are fine. Her face paint is ok, the glitter looks the same, and her vinyl is the same shade of blue it was before. (She was treated before the glue had a chance to cause discoloration)
Her head is no harder than before other than where glue is. Because the glue itself has hardened, her scalp area is firmer than her face.
She is a little sticky again which comes as no surprise considering I was still experimenting and hadn’t really nailed down how long to let them soak, yet.
Snow White also has no problems, yet. She’s not sticky at all and still looks about new.
The Barbie who’s name I have forgotten (Sorry, Barbie Friend) and who’s glitter eye shadow turned a little white in the soak is a little bit sticky, but not bad.
None of them have had anything odd happen to their face paint, vinyl, or hair fibers.
This method does leave some glue inside the head and I had hoped it would be stabilized and stop seeping out. It seems it’s mostly stabilized but there may still be some in the roots of the hair that never set.
I also experimented with using hot cleanser (which I still do not recommend but I go over that in the related post).
https://imreadydollparts.tumblr.com/post/670203500481970176/i-did-an-experiment
Other uses for Totally Awesome
Other things I’ve done with L.A.’s Totally Awesome are
Deflocking My Little Pony: https://imreadydollparts.tumblr.com/post/708165700900028416/imreadydollparts-we-all-know-i-love-my-las
Removing tape residue from a doll: https://imreadydollparts.tumblr.com/post/189391048515/experimenting-with-las-totally-awesome-again
Soaking sticky, disintegrating rubber bands from doll hair (not much info at the link, but it works great): https://imreadydollparts.tumblr.com/post/187195051015/bonus-i-got-a-doll-in-the-mail-with-the-hair
!A real-true-total removal!
So far, the only report I’ve seen that shows a 100% removal of the glue is by @dollsorwhatever who tried a combination of L.A.’s Totally Awesome and pure tea tree oil.
https://www.tumblr.com/dollsorwhatever/706834548804157440/since-the-topic-of-glue-seepage-is-coming-up-again?source=share
Tea tree oil will strip the paint from the face and scalp.
If I’m understanding correctly, they had the same problems with just tea tree oil that I have with Goo Gone in that it’s effective but difficult to wash away when done, which is what prompted combining the oil with Totally Awesome.
Their result is total removal of the glue with some risk, versus Totally Awesome’s partial removal with low risk.
WD-40 and Totally Awesome vs glue-affected “Memory” hair.
https://www.tumblr.com/imreadydollparts/757059496060321792/more-mattel-head-glue-mess?source=share
Triton X-114 is effective at removing head glue from doll hair with results similar to Totally Awesome. There is more info and experiments here:
https://www.tumblr.com/imreadydollparts/711432510491574272/so-we-all-know-that-ive-been-experimenting-with?source=share
Triton X-114 vs a repainted Monster High Nefera
https://www.tumblr.com/imreadydollparts/711499336325971968/the-triton-trials?source=share
Triton X-114 vs a repainted Monster High Skelita
https://www.tumblr.com/imreadydollparts/711683240118910976/the-triton-trials?source=share
Totally Awesome used in the same manner as Triton X-114 results
https://www.tumblr.com/imreadydollparts/711701851881553920/the-triton-trials?source=share
Triton X-114 used in the same manner as Totally Awesome results
https://www.tumblr.com/imreadydollparts/711856920117559296/the-triton-trials?source=share
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