Caring or Your Natural Doll
Because your doll is made from all natural materials it requires a little different approach to cleaning. I recommend first trying to spot clean your doll. Using a little drop of dish soap in a bowl of cool water, dip a clean, soft, cotton cloth (an old t- shirt would work well) in the soap mixture and gently blot the stain. Do not rub as this will cause the fabric on the doll to pill a little. After blotting and rinsing a few times, the stain should be gone. Let the doll air dry.
If your doll is badly soiled you can hand wash it in a basin* of cold water and a bit of Woolite. Cover the hair with a nylon stocking to keep it from matting, submerge the doll into the water, and very gently squeeze and squish the water through the doll. Remove the doll from the basin and again very gently squeeze the soapy water out.
Refill the basin with clean cool water and rinse the doll getting as much soap out as you can; do not wring or twist the doll, just give a gentle squeeze to remove the water. Redo this step with clean water until you feel the soap has been removed.
Use a clean dry towel to wrap the doll and remove as much water as possible. Find a dry out- of- the- way area to place your doll on a clean dry towel face up. Reshape the head and limbs if needed. Unwrap the hair and spread out the strands so they will dry faster.
It will take a few days for your doll to dry completely depending on your climate. When dry, finger comb or gently brush the hair with a soft bristled brush. Any flyaway or longer strands can be trimmed with scissors. You will need to reapply the rosy cheeks with a little blush or a wax crayon rubbed on a cloth. Take the color loaded cloth and gently dab onto cheeks until they are nice and rosy again; go slowly with applying the color. You can always add more but taking color away is difficult. Your doll is now ready for a hug and another adventure!
*I have heard of people putting their doll in a zippered pillowcase and then into their washing machine on a hand wash/extra gentle cold water setting with a bit of Woolite, but I haven’t personally tried it. Someday I will get up the nerve and just do it!
If your doll is badly soiled you can hand wash it in a basin* of cold water and a bit of Woolite. Cover the hair with a nylon stocking to keep it from matting, submerge the doll into the water, and very gently squeeze and squish the water through the doll. Remove the doll from the basin and again very gently squeeze the soapy water out.
Refill the basin with clean cool water and rinse the doll getting as much soap out as you can; do not wring or twist the doll, just give a gentle squeeze to remove the water. Redo this step with clean water until you feel the soap has been removed.
Use a clean dry towel to wrap the doll and remove as much water as possible. Find a dry out- of- the- way area to place your doll on a clean dry towel face up. Reshape the head and limbs if needed. Unwrap the hair and spread out the strands so they will dry faster.
It will take a few days for your doll to dry completely depending on your climate. When dry, finger comb or gently brush the hair with a soft bristled brush. Any flyaway or longer strands can be trimmed with scissors. You will need to reapply the rosy cheeks with a little blush or a wax crayon rubbed on a cloth. Take the color loaded cloth and gently dab onto cheeks until they are nice and rosy again; go slowly with applying the color. You can always add more but taking color away is difficult. Your doll is now ready for a hug and another adventure!
*I have heard of people putting their doll in a zippered pillowcase and then into their washing machine on a hand wash/extra gentle cold water setting with a bit of Woolite, but I haven’t personally tried it. Someday I will get up the nerve and just do it!