TPE and Mineral Oils

[DonKeydick]

Thanks for all the great info. This is just the kind of stuff I need to know to properly care for my Julia.

[DanMarsh]

I just wanted to mention something for those tpe owners living in arid environments like myself where temperatures are very hot throughout the day. A monthly application of Vaseline covering the entire doll, not just high traffic areas is required to prevent evaporation in my context. I lay the doll on microfibre towels and cover from head to toe, flip and repeat then leave to absorb for the better part of a day before cleaning off any excess. Also limiting the amount of powdering to prevent them drying out further is a good idea in this case. I agree with others that over oiling can be a thing to be aware of, but your maintenance protocol should reflect on your own personal storage environment for optimal longevity.

[Adventurer]

Excellent point DanMarsh! I find that over time I've developed a sense of where my girls are at, and adjust my maintenance practices accordingly. These days I do a lot less oiling and less powdering even as the TPE used in my girls has improved substantially and I also can feel when they need it as opposed to doing things on a regular schedule.

[ZenDude]

does the baby oil rubs make the tpe blend softer as a result in the long term?

[ArikD]

Excellent breakdown of what the typical and essential oiling should look like. I read about it but the description here makes it a little more simple and makes sense. Thank you!

[hollows+fentiman]

Hi Zendude! I’m guessing from your joining date that you haven’t had your lady for very long. IMO newly acquired dolls don’t need treating with baby oil on the whole body for some time - maybe six months down the line! However, different blends require different treatment regimes. I think the main thing is to keep an eye on what is happening to the ‘skin’. Powdering causes less friction and friction burns (skin bobbling) but it can also dry the skin out. Stretch areas are slightly different and probably do need a little bit of Vaseline every now and again to keep them supple but don’t go overboard with it or, yes, it can get too soft and crumble away at the surface!

The best indication of the condition of the doll is after a bath or shower when all the old powder is washed off and she’s dried fully. Give her a good looking over! You can see areas where the skin gets a little rougher and that’s where babyoil may be appropriate. Yes, you can do a whole body treatment but, as I’ve said before, all my ladies are different and it’s really only my Ashaki, WM168 Nava, that really needs oiling more regularly.

I hope that helps, Hollows.

[ZenDude]

Hi Zendude! I’m guessing from your joining date that you haven’t had your lady for very long. IMO newly acquired dolls don’t need treating with baby oil on the whole body for some time - maybe six months down the line! However, different blends require different treatment regimes. I think the main thing is to keep an eye on what is happening to the ‘skin’. Powdering causes less friction and friction burns (skin bobbling) but it can also dry the skin out. Stretch areas are slightly different and probably do need a little bit of Vaseline every now and again to keep them supple but don’t go overboard with it or, yes, it can get too soft and crumble away at the surface!

The best indication of the condition of the doll is after a bath or shower when all the old powder is washed off and she’s dried fully. Give her a good looking over! You can see areas where the skin gets a little rougher and that’s where babyoil may be appropriate. Yes, you can do a whole body treatment but, as I’ve said before, all my ladies are different and it’s really only my Ashaki, WM168 Nava, that really needs oiling more regularly.

I hope that helps, Hollows.

Thank you for the reply Hollows!

I've noticed that my doll still leak some oil specially when kneeling on my bed, but the factory smell is starting dissipate so I assumed most of the original blending oil is out, though I could be wrong.
Another reason is that I would like to tune her skin to a more softer state in the future with baby oil treatment as her blend TPE blend feels more firm.

[hollows+fentiman]

I think it would be a little dangerous to try to make the TPE softer by deliberately using baby oil I’m afraid! The TPE blend is what it is and trying to alter it significantly could cause the TPE to have unstable bonding and break apart like crumbly cheese! It is a thermoplastic though so temperature does affect the softness. The cooler the doll the harder the TPE becomes. You may find using electric blankets can achieve the result you need. However, another word of warning here, be careful how you use the blankets. I have an underblanket you can sleep on (obviously on low heat!) and in winter months I leave it on low all day for my ladies, turning them occasionally.

Using heat that way may be effective but do it slowly. They are bulky items and take a long while to heat through and, of course, they have a metal skeleton which will take a long while to get any heat through the insulating TPE. We’ve just had a very warm July and the girls certainly did feel a lot softer when just a few degrees warmer!

Cheers, Hollows.

[Arthur1960]

One thing that has become clear to me this year is that tpe can vary considerably and now that I have 8 tpe ladies I can see just what that can mean in practical terms. I heartily agree with what Hollows just posted, as an example I got a WM158D body for my Athena last December and that along with Keiko's WM145D (now a year old) appeared to be about as good as I had seen in terms of softness, no obvious odour and non tackiness. After her initial clean (no baby oil in December) I then left her until the end of January when I did give her a baby oil massage. Having multiple dolls I try and have a bit of a rota but forgot to forward Athena's next bath and it wasn't until last month that I realised that she had gone over 5 months without any oiling. Now she has been busy, she has been an active photo model and was my first gal on an outside location shoot, she's been out in the sun and the temp in Suffolk through the recent heat wave was regularly getting over 30c and yet she seems to be absolutely fine! I did her wash and baby oil about 2 weeks ago and checked her thoroughly and didn't find any issues at all. Now in contrast, Shuri, my WM157b in a dark skin tone (not quite as dark as the Nava black but not far off) began to develop some 'skin' issues within about 6 weeks of her arrival in April. At the time I had no reason to think I should treat her any different from say Athena, when she arrived she looked great, a good example, nicely finished and again with only a faint odour so again I didn't give her an initial baby oil, just a wash and all seemed well. The first problem I found was a patch of tpe on her left elbow where the tpe had begun to separate slightly. Upon checking further I found a few similar areas, they were all quite small, superficial issues but like nothing I had seen on my other gals. With her elbow the problem seems to have occurred when I must have left her elbow flexed slightly and during the hotter weather the tpe has dried? and begin to separate. I've been in touch with my vendor and he advised oiling and Vaseline treatment which seemed to stop any further problems developing and is also in contact with the factory to ascertain if there is a particular issue with the darker tpe. Some of you will have seen an ongoing discussion about this particular issue on other threads, my own take on it from my experience with Shuri is that it seems that in some batches of the dark Jinsan tpe the possible inherent issues with tpe (ie drying out, tearing under tension etc.) are amplified. What the actual mechanism for this is has yet to be explained and may not affect all batches of dark Jinsan tpe and I must emphasis that what I'm saying is based purely on my own experience with Shuri. I have since noticed that the tpe separation seems to occur more rapidly in warmer weather and where the tpe is under tension (so stretched) or where there is anything like a garment that could be tight, so hold up stockings or bra straps. In the past few months I have kept a very close eye on Shuri and aside from her elbow issue all the other (admittedly small) areas of tpe separation have occurred at the top of her thighs where she had been wearing hold ups, on the top of her shoulders, where her bra strap was and on 2 fingers of her left hand, where she had been wearing a pair of fishnet gloves. Most of these areas were only visible on very close inspection, which is why I hadn't noticed for a few weeks but the good news is that they have so far responded well to treatment with a hot air rework station. Since I have moved Shuri to a cooler part of the house and taken off anything that was anywhere near tight she seems to be ok. Obviously I wish I'd known that this particular blend of tpe was more fragile, then I could have treated her accordingly, saying that, she is gorgeous and one of my most popular dolls so I will endeavour to deal with any further issues that come up. Threads like this are really useful for us owners to share our experiences, I did post a thread with my repair on Shuri's elbow and if anyone has issues like I've described then I would certainly recommend getting one of the SMD hot air rework stations and also checking out Mishka's recent video showing how to do these type of repairs.

[hollows+fentiman]

Thanks Arthur! If you can find the link to Mishka’s video that would be useful here!

Cheers, Hollows.

[RGC_0767]

I left my doll to sort of "be on her own". No oil, no powder. for over 2 months. Just sponge baths with antibacterial soap occasionally.
It has been a very humid, hot summer here in Ontario,Canada.

Yes, the skin is sticky, and like velcro for lint dust,etc. But there is hardly any smell to her at all. Not even faint.

Method to this madness?

Had given her a coconut oil bath in the Spring, and was letting that get washed out. Did not see any ill effect from that, but will stick to mineral oil.
I've given her a mineral oil wipe down, with just a microfiber cloth now. And will give her the corn starch powder.
Finding it is more conservative to use a cloth with mineral oil than just pouring it on and spreading it around.
Too much of a good thing, may not be such a good thing.

If you are going to use the hot air for smoothing out, refreshing an area, use mineral oil when doing that. And do not add any more oils to the area for a while.
Using hot air and mineral oil can make an area soft and sticky, so just let it be for a while, before adding more oil or powder.

This may just make the repair area last much longer.

[Arthur1960]

Here's Mishka's recent video tutorial on how to fix tears and abrasions on tpe with hot air...

https://youtu.be/aZxzfN4NXH4

[Rock13]

My doll has the standing foot option, so I just remove the head and use a rubber cap that I found at the hardware store to plug the head socket and hose her down in the shower. Then I give it a couple hours to drip dry and then I use a spray bottle to apply the mineral oil, rubbing it in a bit as I go. After that soaks in, I give her a decent coat of RLSD's "Renewal Powder" with a large makeup blending pad.

I recommend getting a the chrome head stand from RLSD or something similar. I cleanse the head by hand using a warm washcloth. You can run the tap over it, but keep it upright at all times so that no water gets inside via neck/attachment structure. I use the mineral oil more sparingly on the head and face by rubbing it in by hand and taking care not to remove factory eyeliner, etc. Again, apply the renewal powder directly with a makeup sponge after that. This method seems to work pretty well for my Hadleigh, it's quite fun, and it gives you an excellent monthly opportunity to fully inspect your doll.

[ZenDude]

Thank you, Hollows and Arthur1960 for filling me in!

Yeah I think I won't actively control the softness of the TPE by using heat just to make her feel softer...because the firm TPE blend made her breast a bit harder to sleep on.

Also, in Mishka's video, he is using heat for repairing, but what if I am fixing finger wires and I am cutting open the palm? Should I be using soldering iron or heat gun to seal up the opening then?

[hollows+fentiman]

As we’ve said before, different TPE blends produce the softness or firmness of the finished product and there’s not a lot can be done to alter that! My WM156, Rosheen, is softer than Ashaki (WM168) and she also has hollow breasts. One manufacturer here posted a video a couple of years back of experiments in softness of breasts to the extreme of what could be done. They found that the softer they get the less durable they become and tearing occurred! Mind you, they were trying to get close to the jiggly softness of real large human breasts!

As for repair, let’s hope you don’t need to do that just yet as that’s a completely different ball game! If you need it, go to the Ask The Docs thread!

Cheers, Hollows.