RENI'S BASIC TIPS ON CLEANING YOUR CPK's
I thought I should
include a page regarding how to clean your kids. I am very anal
about my kids that I want to make sure that their faces are clean
and their hair does not smell smoke, dust or something else. My
tips are probably not the most extensive ones, just because when
I purchase kids from auctions/orphanages, I make sure that they
are not super dirty since I do not have time to run-down/wash
lots of kids. I work with "real" kids 5 days a week so
I now how kids can be 
. Also, these tips are what usually works
for my kids, so I don't know if it'll help clean your kids'
stains.
GETTING YOUR KIDS READY:
1. Take your kid's clothes off. (It's okay to leave diapers and socks, unless you are planning to wash the whole doll).
2. Put a rubber band on the doll's hands so they are tied together (see how to do it). I do this so the hands of the doll is not flapping all over the place which gets in the way of washing the head. It also prevent the hands/arms of the doll from getting wet.
3. Take a thick paper towel or a cloth and fold it, about 2 inches wide, so you can wrap it around the doll's neck (see how to do it). This helps prevent water from the doll's hair to seep through the lower part of the doll's body.
FACIAL TIME:
My basic tools:
Tooth Brush with soft bristles
Cosmetic Pads Q-tips
Nail Polish Remover
Bath and Body Works anti-bacterial liquid soap/Clean & Clear with microscrubber facial wash
tooth paste
1. Wet the tooth brush and try to scrub the doll's face mildly, just to get the doll's face wet. Look for the spot the needs most cleaning. Put liquid soap (or tooth paste or Clean & Clear microscrubber wash) on the bristles of the tooth brush and scrub the dirty spot. Rinse with water. By doing this it will lighten the dirty spot which makes it easier for the next run down.
3. Put a dab of
nail polish remover on a cosmetic pad and rub it on the spot that
has been recently scrubbed with soap/tooth paste. Based on my
experience, THIS WORKS VERY WELL . Just be careful not to get the nail
polish remover on other face paints, such as eyes and brows
because it can smear the paint. If there are pen marks or marker
marks or just dust stucked on the dimples or pacifier hole of
your doll, Q-tips are preferred to use than the costmetic pads.
4. Once the dirt
spot is removed, scrub all parts of the face using the tooth
brush with tooth paste and a dab of water. Now was the doll's
face again with the liquid soap while scrubbing mildly. The
reason why I use Bath and Body works is not only does it smell
very fruity, it has microscrubbers and anti-bacterial ingredients
that really help get out that facial dirts the doll has . Tooth paste as I recently discovered,
works well in cleaning your kids' face.
SHAMPOO TIME:
My Basic Tools:
Shampoo and Conditioner
Wide tooth comb (for detangling long-haired kids)
1. Make sure the
doll's hair is ALL soaked with water for easy shampooing. Shampoo
on dry yarn hair is all but yuck! Also, if your dolls is in pony tails, pig tails or
braids, I suggest that you take them out in order for you to be
able to wash the hair properly. If you do not "un-braid"
your dolls, it might leave some unbalanced color on the doll's
hair because it was not washed and rinsed properly because of the
braids or rubber bands.
2. I use both
shampoo and conditioner on my kids , specifically Neutrogena Clean Shampoo
and Conditioner. If you want a fruity smell for your kids, you
can also use Salon Selectives or the fruit scented White Rain
Shampoo and Conditioner. Shampoo your doll's hair and rinse.
Apply conditioner after shampooing the hair. Make sure you get
the conditioner all over the dolls hair, especially if your doll
has a long hair. Conditioners, just like in humans, make the doll's
hair softer. Rinse the dolls's hair very well and squeeze the
hair for the extra water to come out.
3. Comb your doll's hair if you see some hair tangled together. Now your doll is ready for drying.
BATH TIME: (Oh goodie! I have given some of my kids full-baths so now I can give you some *basic* tips on this, too!)
My basic tools:
Big washing container or you can use your sink or bath tub
Liquid Soap/Detergent
Bath Soap
Tooth brush (with hard bristles)
1. Of course, no
kid likes to be bathed with their clothes on. To put it bluntly,
strip 'em out .
2. Make sure your sink/tub/bathing container has luke-warm water (50% cold, 50% hot). Put a little (1/2 to 1 teaspoon) of liquid soap/detergent to the water. Soak your kid into luke-warm water with soap. My kids are not grubby, usually just minor soiling so I leave them out for about 5 minutes, 10 at the most. If your kids are really dirty, you may need more time. This will help "soften" stains for easier cleaning.
3. Take your kid out and empty your sink/tub/bathing container. Put new water into your sink/tub/bathing container, and put your kid back in.
4. Apply soap/detergent on the dirty spots and scrub it with a toothbrush. Hard bristled tooth brush are better for cleaning the cloth body of the doll.
5. When you have covered all the dirty spots, you are now ready to rinse your kid. In rinsing your kid make sure you get all the soap out or else if it dries, your kid wil have faint to dark stains depending on how much soap is still left. Fear not, these stains are still removable. Just rinse it again and your kid will be stain-less.
6. In drying kids
who had a full bath, the best way in my opinion is to dry them
off under the sun, instead of the dryer. This is what I do (I took a picture because I am running
out of words to describe it .)
(For more tips on cleaning/bathing your kids, please go to Comments/Suggestions/Links page for more sites on this topic.)
DRYING TIME: (only for kids who had facial and hair wash)
My basic tools:
hair dryer (or fresh air with the help of the bright sunshine)
1. If you have a lot of time in your hands, do this: Get a clothes hanger. Tie your doll's feet with a rubber band. Hang the doll upside down by inserting the rubber band to the top of the hanger (see how to do it). Now you can just put the hanger on a clothes line or rack to dry your doll with fresh air.
2. If you do not have time and really want your doll to be ready ASAP, do this: Do the same step above, but once you see the the hair is a little bit dry, although there are still some wet spots, you can use a hair dryer to dry the doll's hair. Now, it depends on how fast you want it done. Obviously, if you put your dryer in "High," it will dry a lot faster than if you put it into "Low." This is also where the conditioner works. With the conditioner it will not make your doll's hair "crinkly" and "flat."
DE-FUZZING YOUR DOLL'S HAIR AND STYLING:
My basic tools:
sharp scissors
hair accessories of your kids
wide tooth comb
1. Once your doll's hair is dry, it's time to de-fuzz it. Since the doll's hair is made of yarn, you'll notice that there are some sort of little pullings from the yarn, that's what's called "fuzzies."
2. For me, using the hair dryer makes it easier to see and cut the yarn fuzzies on your doll's hair just because the dryer makes the fuzzies stand out. Now you can cut these little yarn pulls from your doll's hair by using sharp scissors. Once you are done, and have carefully trimmed the fuzzies, your kid is now ready for a new hair style.
3. You can comb your doll's hair into the style you want by using a comb with big bristles so that the yarn hair can easily slide through the "teeth" of the comb which makes it easier for you to fix your doll's hair.
*If you are
satisified with the way your doll is, you do not need to de-fuzz
it. As long as it is clean. But like I said, I am anal with my
kids that's why I go through all these steps. *
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