Cleaning and Preparing Vinyl for painting

I am getting ready to paint another vinyl doll and thought I'd post what I do to prepare the vinyl doll parts before painting them. There are many different types of vinyl's that come from various reborn doll kit factories around the world. I have found some doll kits to be very "clean" and easy to prepare and some are a bit dirty and need more attention to cleaning off residues. With my experience from helping inspect ( at work ) a ton of vinyl doll parts coming in from a wide variety of doll factories, I can tell you I have not come across  a  factory that has a total "clean vinyl " record. There are times when you may have a good run of really clean looking doll vinyl parts from a factory that impresses you and then the next run from that factory that impression can change. Taking this information into account, I now thoroughly clean my vinyl pieces on every kit before I paint them regardless of which factory produced them. After many hours of painting I do not want to chance finding out the paint won't stick to an area due to an oily residue that I did not see and take the time to clean off before hand. It really doesn't take that long to do a thorough cleaning and I feel it is small task well worth the effort in the end.
So here is my cleaning procedure and a recipe for my cleaning solution that has worked for me for many years.

The supplies you will need are;

1 soft bristled tooth brush

1 tsp of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate U.S.P.)

3 Tbls of Dawn dish detergent

1 small container

Warm water

Soft towel



 

 

I mix the baking soda and dish detergent into the small container to make a soft paste.

The Dawn dish detergent has a great grease cutting ingredient that works well on the vinyl. You may try other brands of dish detergent, but make sure it is not loaded with hand softening oils.  I added in the baking soda to get more of a soft abrasion to help loosen any stuck on dirt or oils. It also helps reduce any odor from the vinyl. The baking soda did not scratch or leave marks in the vinyl.

 

 I then apply this cleaning paste onto the vinyl doll parts and then lightly scrubbed it all over.
 Ensure you scrub in-between the toes, fingers and other creases or crevices.

 

Rinse off the paste thoroughly with warm water. Some times a second rinse is necessary to get all the soap residue off the vinyl. Very warm water helps remove the residue better than cold water. The warm water also helps to open up the vinyl "pores" aiding in releasing trapped oils. As to how warm the water is = it is as warm as your hands can comfortably take. Do not scald yourself with water that is to hot to handle!

 

Dry off the vinyl parts with a soft absorbent towel. I do not use paper towels as I found that they often leave lint or "fuzzies" behind after use.

I  now put my vinyl doll parts onto a rack to dry for a few hours. This ensures any missed wet areas have a chance to air dry. Some times if I am in a hurry to paint right away, I will use a hair dryer on low or cool heat setting to quicken this secondary air drying procedure.

 

I should also mention Do Not get the inside of the vinyl parts wet as it is very hard to get the insides completely dry. If the inside ends up being moist for a long period of time, it can cause mold growth. Something you really do not want to take a chance on happening so try your best not to get water inside the vinyl doll parts. One tip to use if you want to help keep the water from getting into the parts;  Cover the holes by placing a piece of plastic over the flange and secure with an elastic. This will help make it water resistant from drips. It will not work if the area is submerged under water.