Beauty Tips for Kit

[jenndon]

I want to pretty up our Kit. Has anyone washed/conditioned her hair? I don't think she needs a Dunk, but I think that a good conditioning would make her hair flatter/more manageable. True, or false?? It's not dry/frizzy, just flyaway.

And I was going to clean her with baking soda. Do you just sort of rub it on, or make more of a paste? I was thinking that her skin tone might be more grime than a true tone, especially if she's really 5 - 7 years old!

AsheyMommy's restoration album that I just saw yesterday confirmed that, and when I get to the store, I'm going to get a magic eraser (also to hopefully get crayon off dd's baby doll furniture so we can sell it). Should I just wait and try it or try some soda first?

Thanks you helpful ladies!

[ponydreamer]

I would try a soda bath first. I just make a paste, and scrub the doll's limbs with it. I then take a clean wet rag and wipe the soda off. Then I buff her dry with a clean towel. I think it works wonders.

As far as her hair....is it actually dirty? If not...if it's just fly away, I would use a little bit of water on the brush. Lots of people have a small spray bottle of water that they use when brushing the doll's hair. I just wet the brush down a little bit, and that works fine, too. Eventually, the static will go away.

I do know that a few years ago, some of the Kit dolls had a greyish tone to them. I know AG replaced a lot of them for people. Hopefully, yours just needs a good bath!

[jenndon]

What about the paste/damp cloth on her face??

I don't guess her hair is dirty, just a bit tangled and unruly--not as smooth and pretty as some newer/non dragged around dolls I see here. It's not really static-y, just random stray hairs.

I may try the spray down first.

[ponydreamer]

I also use the soda on the face....sorry I didn't mention that. I cannot stand for dolls to have dirty faces!

I wonder if just a wash and conditioner might help? I have also used spray on, leave in conditioners on AG's, and they work well. Just be careful not to use too much.

The downy dunk is not difficult, and I never steam afterwards. I just let the dolls air dry. I've never had anything that actually needed steaming. I did the down on all of my DD's PM dolls a couple of years ago, and they look brand new.

[jrtmom3274]

It can't really hurt to give Kit a quick wash and condition. Her hair does get static, more so than the longer haired dolls. Kit was my first, and just a few days after I got her, I purchased a bottle of Biolage Daily Energizing Leave In Treatment at the salon in Walmart. It works really well to keep the static and fly-aways away and to keep all the dolls' hair from drying out. You can also use detangling sprays, such as those made for kids. Like Jenny said, you don't want to use too much, so make sure the bottle sprays in a fine mist, rather than a heavy spritz. A light layer of conditioning spray works wonders; I use it instead of water 99.9% of the time. For your daughter, since she's probably brushing Kit's hair every day, she might use water five days a week and conditioning spray twice a week. I ALWAYS spray when I brush.
For washing, I spray a papertowel lightly with diluted windex to wipe down the vinyl. It works really well.

[ColonialGirl]

I got Kit shortly after she came out and noticed she was a bit on the grey side. I thought it was just a new plastic that they were using. I had no idea they were being replaced! However, now we're quite bonded and she won't be going anywhere.