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Need advice/help on cleaning/restoring old doll's clothes

Hi there. While cleaning in our garage with my mom recently, we unearthed several porcelain dolls my grandmother bought for me when I was born. While all the others were in relatively good condition, one unfortunately was not and that was the biggest one.

She is an American Artists Collection doll named Jonette Nicolina and is 25" tall. Here's a picture of her after we pulled her out of the garage. relieved

 

Jonette.pngMy family moved to a new house in 2009 and due to lack of concern and bad storage conditions, she ended up wrapped in a garbage bag and shoved under an old desk on a concrete floor.

Over time, water seeped into the bag and the box and ultimately mildewed the right side of her outfit (visible slightly in the picture).

This doll means a great deal to me as my grandmother is the one who got it for me so that leads me to the title question. Does anyone know any special tips and tricks to cleaning mildew stains out of old doll clothes?

I tried to do a bit of research beforehand, but there isn't really anything specifically talking about mildew stains and the ones she has are pretty bad.

Any help is greatly appreciated. grinning

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Re: Need advice/help on cleaning/restoring old doll's clothes

What a sweet find!  Take your time getting out the mildew. Start with mild products and then try others.  Perhaps non chlorine bleach? Best of luck!

 

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Re: Need advice/help on cleaning/restoring old doll's clothes

Meant to add..........try googling removing mildew from fabric! Lots of info!
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Re: Need advice/help on cleaning/restoring old doll's clothes

The doll is a modern porcelain doll.  I have found that you can get the staining out, but it's very, very hard to get the odor out. 

Remove the clothes from the doll first so she can air out also, lol. Try some Dawn dish soap first.  If it's not moving the staining out, maybe try a WEAK oxiclean soak. Just squeeze the solution through the fabric, let it sit there a little,  no rubbing or scrubbing. You may have to stand there and watch it, as I have had fabrics fade out.  Rinse well and if all is good, rewash with your Dawn to get that awful oxiclean smell out, lol.  Roll up in a towel to get the excess water out, and either hang to dry or lay it outside on a white towel, to air dry.  But NOT IN BRIGHT SUNLIGHT. 

Do not attempt if you are not comfortable with maybe, just maybe ruining the dress.   I have found that blue is a harder color to work with, as it tends to fade out more over time.  If it's vintage.  Just my opinon. 

Where is the staining on the dress OP?  I'm a a mini laptop, and I can't see it.

 

 

 

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Re: Need advice/help on cleaning/restoring old doll's clothes

And please keep her out of the box.  If you need to store her again, put her in the top of a closet wrapped in a cotton pillow case.  NO plastic bags either.  No garages or attics or basements.

The box is more likely ruined.  And it will transfer back to the doll if you put her back in there.   

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Re: Need advice/help on cleaning/restoring old doll's clothes

Thank you for the answers!

Atm she's in our garage in a plastic tub on her own while we figured out what to do with her. The cardboard box she came in was completely ruined by water damage so it had to be thrown away. When we get the chance to go back out, I'll bring her inside. I'll also have the chance then to get better pictures of her.

The mildew stains show up very dark on the light fabic so I'm pretty sure getting the entirety of the stains out will be pretty much impossible; I'm just hoping to significantly fade and cleanse it so it isn't as noticable. The mildew starts just above her right hip (on the sash) and extends down the length of the dress to the bottom.

Her dress is actually light mint green and white and seems to be mostly organza if it helpsIn the mean time while I'm not able to get pictures, this is what the doll looks like in good condition (not my photo, source is here). It's a very poofy dress with layers of sheer fabric/organza with lace trim.

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Re: Need advice/help on cleaning/restoring old doll's clothes

LOVE dolls with hats.

I was reading that she has pearls on her dress?  The oxyclean may/probably take the finish off the pearls.  Let me see if I can come up with other ideas.  I think her clothes are nylon/polyester blends.  Usually from that time period they are.

I'm happy you want to keep her.  She really is a nice doll from your past.

Maybe you can find a cheap replacement here and change out her clothes and accesseries?  If a seller has a doll for sale like yours, maybe you can buy her and let the seller just ship everything without the doll?  I don't know the values of these dolls, but you could save on the shipping because she is a very large doll.  Wouldn't hurt to ask a seller if there are some for sale.

I ALWAYS debox my dollies to the horrors of others.  I call the boxes cardboard caskets, lol.  Especially Barbies, which my Sister insists I  need, lol.  I've seen more damage/fading to the dolls happen in the boxes.  Vinyl dolls getting "sticky".  Metal snaps rusting out on the clothes.  I've had Furga dolls turn a blue color that they say is some kind of mold in the vinyl.  Got that out with oxy-10, the zit cream.  If anone is interested. 

 

There used to be a thread here with tricks and hints for all of our dollies.  I've done a search for it, but they probably deleted it with the new and improved groups thing. 

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Re: Need advice/help on cleaning/restoring old doll's clothes

@tiny_tailor, just saw this (I haven't been around much) And maybe some on these links will be part of what you looking for. I had floated them to the top for me so I wouldn't lose them.

 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Dolls/how-to-fix-doll-cloudy-eyes/m-p/22984373#M28899   

 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Dolls/How-do-flirty-eyes-work/m-p/19322751#M23207

 

 https://community.ebay.com/t5/Dolls/Before-and-Afters-Share-Yours/m-p/19279633#M23119

 

You can copy and paste if they do not show up as clickable links. Hope this helps somewhat.

 

All my best, Barbara 

 

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