TPE doll care and cleaning thoughts.

[dx30]

I wanted to make a quick post about some cleaning and drying techniques I figured out shortly after owning a TPE doll. I hadn't read many posts discussing similar methods I use to clean and dry my doll so I wanted to get these ideas out there in hopes of helping others.

First, with cleaning the cavities I use a foaming soap that I inject into the space with a large plastic tipped syringe. I use a slender long spoon to help massage the soap in where my fingers cannot reach. After this, I use a low speed water pump with an appropriately sized tube to thoroughly rinse out the cavity, these are very inexpensive on ebay.

For drying I bought a hemostat that is 7.5" long, then I pair that with some gauze and insert both into the cavity until mostly dry. Next, I use an aquarium air pump with tube which I insert at different depths for a few hours per depth in each cavity. This definitely does the job of drying out the space.

Lastly, I use vaseline in all cavities, and again I use the slender long spoon to get the vaseline thoroughly spread around each cavity where my fingers cannot reach.

I hope this is helpful, and if any veterans have anything to add or dispute please do let me know.

[dollguy13]

It appears that actually letting mineral oil soak into your doll and Vaseline in addition to non fragrant lotions is a good idea. TPE(thermoplastic elastomers) as it turns out is very porous and while the new formula's have less oil seepage it requires replenishment. My dolls are less than two years old and are indeed WMdolls but they the TPE skin has cracked due to my simple wash and cornstarch method.

I'm not a chemist but I researched thermoplastic elastomers a lot as of late with the advent I've faced. TPE comes in six classes and and newer blends are being researched. TPE is a physical mix of polymers (usually a plastic and a rubber) and TPE has cross linked bonds when at warmer temperatures and as it's colder molecules align causing shrinkage. The bonds allow for the elastic properties while the material itself has a low specific gravity. TPE is used in many practical house hold items and also in cars. The biggest thing to note is that temperature flucatations tend to accelarate the deterioration of TPE. I use to turn my heat and AC off in the house when I left but now I keep it at a stable 70 degrees for my TPE dolls. I'm not a huge expert but just trying to learn on how to make my TPE dolls last.

Classes of TPE are
Styrenics (S-TPE's)
Copolyesters (COPE's)
Polyurethanes (TPU's)
Polyamides (PEBA's)
Polyolefin Blends (TPO's)
Polyolefin Alloys (TPV's)

The ultimatum is that silicone is by far a more durable and longer lasting, lower maintenance but higher cost substance which is why a lot of medical equipment uses it.

TPE care in my opinion should include a baby oil bath at least once a month with supplemental Vaseline and also some sort of mineral oil lotion.

A lot of this information I found out through various vendors on TDF who are now divulging it as additional neccesary care and also from websites like http://www.bpf.co.uk/Plastipedia/Polyme ... omers.aspx.

[dx30]

Great information dollguy13! Thanks for sharing what you have learned. I did not consider temperature changes having a great impact on the structure of the TPE but it makes sense. I will definitely consider this for storage purposes.