Advanced Cleaning
Unfortunately, most of the ponies you buy will not be in mint condition. In fact, most will be in serious need of professional help. These are the cleaning methods I use on ponies I acquire. Having taken so many years of chemistry, I have a few methods you may not have heard before.
If you
haven’t read Responsible
Cleaning yet, please do so, especially if you intend to sell any
of your ponies. This saves a lot of
heartache.
Important: I have used every one of these methods, but
I will not be responsible if you have a mishap and ruin a pony. If you are in doubt about a method, test it
on a KOP (Knock-Off Pony) to be sure. If you need a good laugh, check out Helga, my knock-off pony.
Basic Cleaning
The most
basic way to clean your ponies is to lather them with soap and an old
toothbrush. I make a paste of baking
soda and liquid antibacterial soap, because you never know where these
ponies have been. I give them a good scrub,
concentrating on any marks they have and avoiding glittery symbols. Some marks can be scratched off with a
thumbnail. I usually lather up the hair
with the same paste, and then rinse the pony off. Never submerse a pony in water. This results in rusted tails and beddy-bye eyes, mildew, and
frizzy hair.
Ink and Other Marks
After a good scrub, you may still find a few stray marks. Take a good look at them. Does the ink look like it spread into the surrounding area? Is it permanent marker? If either is the case, the mark will not come off. Your pony is made of rubber, which is very susceptible to dyes. Colors are permanent once the rubber soaks them in.
If the mark
is not permanent, the outlook’s a lot better.
Most people remove such marks with fingernail polish remover. Some people worry that fingernail polish
remover will dry out rubber, though.
For these people, I suggest Testors Enamel Thinner. It’s inexpensive and works better than
fingernail polish remover. Plus, it
leaves behind a light moisturizer (since it was created for paintbrushes). It also recognizes the difference between
old “paint” and new “paint”—which means you can take marks off of a pony’s
symbols without damaging them. Just use
a light touch.
Rust
The best cure for rust is CLR. Dab it on eyes or tails with a Q-tip and remove as much rust as you can. Follow up with a baking soda paste and rinse. Be sure to dry the pony thoroughly, or you’ll have the problem all over again. Be sure to check out the Bleach Method at the bottom of this page.
So Soft Ponies
That flocking is not as delicate as
you think. You can use a paste of
baking soda and liquid antibacterial soap, Woolite, or (my favorite) baby
shampoo. Rub your suds of choice into the
fuzz with an old toothbrush, using circular motions. Once the pony is completely covered, let her sit for a few
minutes and then rinse her off.
New Curls
I can’t state enough times that if a pony has her original curls, you should not wash her hair. Fortunately, new curls are easy to get. You can get basic curls by dampening the hair and putting it in rollers (sponge rollers are great). Tight curls can be made using perm rods. For those spiral curls on Candy Cane and Rainbow Curl ponies, wrap damp hair around a soda straw, and secure it with bobby pins. In either case, let the hair sit for a week before taking out the rollers or straws. Carefully comb the curls or give the pony a gentle shake to loosen them.
Frizzy Hair
There is really no cure for frizzy hair. You may have heard conditioner will fix it, but it won’t. Conditioner is formulated to bond with the proteins in human hair. Pony hair is plastic, and has no proteins. The most conditioner will do is help detangle the hair.
Frizz can be alleviated somewhat by blow-drying the hair. Pull the hair out straight with a comb and gently heat it with a blow dryer. Make sure the blow dryer’s not too hot, or your frizzy hair will be melted too. If you’re really desperate, read about the Bleach Method at the bottom of this page.
A Bad Leg
At some point, you’ve probably bought
a pony that wouldn’t stand up. The
culprit? A leg that doesn’t point the
way it used to (I notice this most on ponies in the Buttons pose). These are pretty easy to fix, they just take
time. Find something rod-shaped, like a
tube of lip balm or a glue stick. Okay,
this will sound bad: put it between the two back legs to separate them. She should stand nice and sturdy now. Leave the rod there for a month or two,
until the leg is trained back into its old position.
Peppering
“What is peppering?” you ask. Peppering is a patch of tiny black dots on a pony’s body. Some call it black heads, while others call it smooze. Others describe it as permanent dirt. It usually appears around the feet, ears, and horns of older ponies. It resembles mildew, but mildew remover doesn’t affect it, and it doesn’t seem to grow like mildew does. Until recently, I lived with it, but I have discovered that the Bleach Method cures peppering. Find out about the method at the bottom of the page.
Miscellaneous
Problems
Cigarette stench can be cured with smoker’s toothpaste or the Bleach Method. Loose heads are easily reattached using Tacky Glue. Really tangled hair can be helped by using baby shampoo with detangler. I like Baby Magic because it smells like apricots.
The Bleach
Method
Okay, I
know you’re skeptical. If you have
doubts, perform a KOP test
(Knock-Off
Pony test). I have done this several times
without any mishaps.
The Bleach Method is a simple cure for stubborn grime, peppering, frizzy hair, eye or tail rust, and cigarette stench. Believe it or not, it does not bleach out the pony. In a stainless steel bowl, mix one part bleach and two parts water. Wearing gloves, submerse the pony in the mixture, checking her every five minutes. When you’re done, you’ll notice all sorts of junk at the bottom of the bowl. Yuck! Rinse the pony off thoroughly and dry well. Never use this method on a Magic Message pony or a pony with mechanical parts. I have not tested this method on So Soft ponies or ponies with glittery symbols.
The pony in the picture is Applejack, who had frizzy hair and severe peppering all over her body. I soaked her in bleach for about an hour and a half. The peppering is gone, and so is most of the frizz. As you can see, she is not bleached out, and her hair is much shinier. The bleach had no effect on the ink on her hip, though. Who would have thought?