Silicone Fraying and Tears!! Need help setting silicone glue

Invo · Post by **Invo** » Mon Jul 03, 2023 9:28 am

Emily here is starting to show her age. She's super well made but to be fair the girl is like 5-10 years old now

She was starting to get some fraying/chaffing at her more detailed features like her toes, finger tips, and even her nose. Not sure how to fix / prevent those from becoming worse

More strikingly though is recently the area around her vag/ass has begun to tear. First one small burst at the surface, which then grew, and now theres a second tear at the edge.

I got some fitting silicone glue to seal the tears if only to prevent them from growing, but ngl I'm lost on how to set this glue properly

Taping the area does not properly hold the 'wound' shut, and silicone glue would need hours to set properly, so I cant exactly just sit there holding it shut

Its a super tricky area to repair; whats everyone's go to for this kind of stuff, and if anyone knows how to stop silicone fraying, let me me know! (originally I though she needed some oil but nope lol, was told adamantly never to use oil on Silicone.)

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RevJack · Post by **RevJack** » Mon Jul 03, 2023 2:02 pm

The only silicone repair "glues" I have used are SilPoxy from SmoothOn, which is a silicone glue designed by the folks that make silicone; and Permatex flowable windshield cement, which is not designed for our use at all, but seems to bind silicone n low-stress areas.
Search the forums for "SilPoxy" and "Permatex" and you will get pages of information and tips.
For that serious a tear I would go with Silpoxy, but be careful and clean wit it because it dries harder than doll silicone.

As for holding the would together first is keep her legs together and minimize the stress, after that I use staples. Yep, the same staples that the hospital uses to hold YOU together after surgery. You can purchase a skin stapler and remover (disposable) cheaply on amazon.
Most of my work has been on TPE dolls, so my Silicone experience is limited to only three dolls.

Reverend Jack

Invo · Post by **Invo** » Mon Jul 03, 2023 2:56 pm

RevJack wrote: ↑Mon Jul 03, 2023 2:02 pm Search the forums for "SilPoxy" and "Permatex" and you will get pages of information and tips.
For that serious a tear I would go with Silpoxy, but be careful and clean wit it because it dries harder than doll silicone.

I currently have Permatex on hand! Plan on using that

The real question is how the hell to hold it in place while it cures

the staple thing sounds like it would work but might be a bit extreme. Wouldn't that leave a mark in the silicone too?

Though now that I think of it, some of those hyper adhesive butterfly 'stitches' might work, like those medial stick on bandages as a stitch alternative

JBrandt774 · Post by **JBrandt774** » Fri Jul 14, 2023 8:19 pm

Invo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 03, 2023 2:56 pm
RevJack wrote: ↑Mon Jul 03, 2023 2:02 pm Search the forums for "SilPoxy" and "Permatex" and you will get pages of information and tips.
For that serious a tear I would go with Silpoxy, but be careful and clean wit it because it dries harder than doll silicone.
I currently have Permatex on hand! Plan on using that

The real question is how the hell to hold it in place while it cures

the staple thing sounds like it would work but might be a bit extreme. Wouldn't that leave a mark in the silicone too?

Though now that I think of it, some of those hyper adhesive butterfly 'stitches' might work, like those medial stick on bandages as a stitch alternative

I employed the skin stapler method to hold the Permatex glue in place to seal up my doll's leg wound, and it successfully held the glue in place. After removing the staples from the skin with a skin stapler remover, they left rather imperceptible pin holes in the skin, which are unnoticeable after covering up the leg with stockings. I have to really thank RevJack for that recommendation, as I was also wondering for awhile how to hold the glue in place until I found this thread.

Invo · Post by **Invo** » Sun Jul 16, 2023 11:20 am

Interesting, I'll have to look into it then!

Happyday333 · Post by **Happyday333** » Fri Jul 21, 2023 5:07 am

Thanks everyone for the help, working together is the only way problems can be solved. I’m going to try these methods on my silicone ZELEX doll and take pictures, to help everyone that has these problems with rips and tears on silicone dolls

Invo · Post by **Invo** » Sun Aug 06, 2023 1:35 pm

Update:

Ended up cutting the frills and just doing a practical repair with the sole purpose of preventing further damage and tearing

Not the prettiest repair, but I ended up using a cotton swab with the end cut off and flattened with some plyers to form a thin pointed edge.

From there I took the silicone glue and slowly applied it into the gaps and on both sides of the tear on her lower lip, as well as in the opening under her arm

Application was clean and easy. I decided just to fill the wounds and let it set as is. Again, not the best aesthetic repair, but at least my girl wont' be splitting in two now.

Here are the shots from the operating table

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PS, some users said for silicone dolls, no oil should be applied. I promptly ignored that and, using another cotton swab, applied a very light amount of baby oil to the areas she was fraying at. Ngl, it helped a lot. Some of the more jagged frays softened a lot and it helped in areas that were distinctly dry. Note I used minuscule amounts, but in very small volumes this proved to be helpful.