Care & Display

 Caring For Baby

 

1. What are some good things to have on hand for proper doll care? There will be slight variations for this list, depending on whether you are looking into getting a vinyl doll or a silicone doll. I'll list what is different first. For silicones, you are going to want to purchase a soft bristled makeup brush and silicone matting powder. For vinyls, you may want to purchase zip ties, stuffing, cloth bodies, E6000 glue, a clear matte varnish, a bottle drying rack and a paint brush. Now, the accessories you're gonna want for both silicones and vinyls. Either a very fine, soft baby hair brush or a toothbrush, a fine toothed comb, possibly mohair conditioner or Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo, a small spray bottle, distilled water (use this with CAUTION), a plastic 'bath' for babies, gallon sized clear plastic sandwich bags, possibly ask the artist if there is a shampoo that they can send or that they personally recommend for their dolls and always ask the artist for their own personal directions for proper doll care. Also, you are likely going to want a place to display them, so now is a good time to look into a stroller, a crib, a changing table, a bassinet, a simple basket, a car seat, a bouncer, a walker, a play mat or a high chair. You will also probably want to find them clothing and I would say that the number one items on the clothing list should be several white onesies with different sleeve lengths and some with built in shorts or pants legs, a pair of white shorts, a pair of white pants, a pair or two of white socks and some white or light colored scratch mitts. White onesies, when put on first, help protect dolls from getting stains from the outfits they wear and the gallon bags when placed over their heads during clothing changes help protect the paint and rooting on their heads from too much wear and tear. White shorts and pants of course help protect their little legs from staining, as do white socks and white scratch mitts.
2. Where can I purchase Reborn doll care accessories? There are quite a few stores and websites that offer anything you might want or need for a Reborn doll. Most of the time though, you will receive most of the basics you might need along with your doll, as most artists or doll sellers like to do what we call "box openings", which are essentially like a mini baby shower to help you welcome your new little dolly addition home. Anything that might not be included in your box opening though can likely be purchased at this list of stores.
3. How can I store or display my Reborn doll safely? There are several common recommendations for safely displaying and storing Reborn dolls. (Tip: Keep in mind that Reborn dolls are not made for young children to play with!) For display, it's recommended to purchase a crib or bassinet, a changing table, a bouncer, a high chair, a walker, a car seat or even a play mat. Some collectors display their dolls on shelves, in glass cases with newborn photography chairs or in newborn baby "pods" that hang on the wall. It's sort of up to you how you want to display them. It is also highly recommended to make sure any fabric is a light color that is less of a risk of staining your doll and if fabric color cannot really be helped, purchasing a light colored blanket to keep between the doll and, say, the fabric of a dark car seat, can be a huge help. Also, make sure to try to wash excess dye out of any fabric items before use with your doll if possible. As for storage, wrapping your doll in a light colored blanket and placing them in a plastic bin can be ideal. NEVER leave your Reborn dolls near open windows, heaters or open vents/fans. Sunlight will fade their hair and paint, heat will warp their vinyl and increase the risk of color transfer from fabric items and an open vent or a blowing fan will dry out their paint and hair.
4. What kinds of clothes and accessories fit best? Since there is no "one size fits all" for dolls with so much realism, you may need to familiarize yourself with clothing sizes for real babies. Generally, a doll that is around 18 to 20 inches in length will likely wear 0-1 month and big preemie sizes, for example. It might help to take a look at a baby clothing size chart. As far as accessories, now those usually are one-size-fits-all. A flower crown made for 3-6 months sized babies may also be small enough to fit well on a 0-1 month baby, for example. This is not always the case, of course. But it's fairly common. Shoes also generally follow the same size chart as the clothing. If your doll fits in 0-1 month clothing, then their shoe size will also likely be NB or Newborn, for instance. This is tricker on some sites though, where the measurements are presented numerically, so I'll just let you know that on those sites, 3.5" is typically a Newborn foot size. So you can guess that anything lower than 3.5" is Preemie and anything higher than 3.5" of course becomes 0-3 or 3-6 months sizes.
5. Are there risks of paint damage or hair matting? Yes, there are and there is also risk of hair loss. The only things that can be done to help prevent this are first, always place a clear plastic bag over your doll's head while you are changing their clothing. This will help protect them from hair pulling and paint rubs during the process. Second, minimize clothing changes from several times a day to maybe once a month or less. Most importantly, wash any and all fabric based items before use (wash & fully dry 2x in hot water and 2x in cold water is my recommendation) and always put white or super light colored clothing on under clothing with brighter or starker colors. If pain damage does occur, you will either have to learn to live with it or you may have to use some benzoyl peroxide cream, some towels and sunlight to fade out a stain and if the issue is a paint rub, you may have to send your doll off to an artist for repair. For hair matting, this can be prevented to a degree by not handling/moving your doll too much but if it does occur, a soft toothbrush or a fine toothed comb should be able to resolve the issue but just be sure to brush very carefully and gently so that you don't end up breaking or pulling the hair. Hair loss is another reason that a lot of Reborns get sent to artists for repairs.
6. How can I clean a Reborn doll? For vinyl Reborn dolls, usually a few small drops of distilled water on a cotton pad or Q-tip, immediately dabbed dry with a soft cloth, Q-tip or cotton pad is just fine. Use caution when doing so though, because you may not be able to tell if the varnish set correctly like me. In which case, it is probably better just to dab with a dry Q-tip or cotton pad to remove anything on your vinyl doll. Alternatively, if your vinyl doll has mohair and you absolutely must clean it, spray a mohair-safe shampoo or a phthalate free shampoo and distilled water mix lightly onto a fine toothed comb and gently run it through doll's hair, being careful not to get too close to the vinyl. Rinse the comb in distilled water till all shampoo is gone, wet it in distilled water again and continue running it through doll's hair gently until all traces of shampoo are gone. Do NOT blow-dry or leave near a heat source or a fan or vent to dry. Instead, lay doll out somewhere protected (and open) and let the mohair dry over time. For silicones, it IS possible to bathe them in water but this is not recommended as it can damage their paint work. Instead, dry dabbing with a soft cloth, Q-tip or cotton pad or the distilled water method may be recommended. With silicones, be very careful about washing or combing their hair, as it is not glued in place as with a vinyl doll. To remove shine from a silicone, use a silicone matte powder and a light dusting with a soft makeup brush. To remove shine from a vinyl doll, a Magic Eraser may help or dusting with a soft makeup brush and corn starch.
7. More Q's coming soon!