Staining and Cleaning (continuously updated)

Have no help here, sorry Friends. But a warning ! Don´t place Your TBL figures on a newspaper. I did it ....and hell i need hours to get the printers ink off. Adheres better than Oil pastel Take care

Sorry for your troubles, Ephiane -- that's a very good reminder, for sure!

A question for this thread... has anyone found a suitable way to treat faux leather so it does not stain? Or is that just something one has to grit one's teeth and deal with? Black pleather is definitely the bane of most tbleague bodies, and it would be good to know if there was any way of preventing stains, aside from wrapping in clingfilm, which is not always practical, depending on the design of the clothing.

ETA: Asking because it was unclear to me as to whether some of the methods already mentioned here actually worked on pleather or not.

Pleather is the worst, but I have no solution. Sometimes even an incomplete protective wrap that supposedly covers the parts that would come into contact with it is insufficient, as if the dye finds a way around it. Perhaps (perhaps!) if you glue a fabric lining on it, keeping it at a mm or two distance from the skin?

GubernatorFan wrote:Pleather is the worst, but I have no solution. Sometimes even an incomplete protective wrap that supposedly covers the parts that would come into contact with it is insufficient, as if the dye finds a way around it. Perhaps (perhaps!) if you glue a fabric lining on it, keeping it at a mm or two distance from the skin?

Yeah, I figured it was difficult to impossible to fully prevent staining. The design of the clothing item in question makes it a bit awkward to fully wrap the body in cling film. I actually don't care if the area under the clothing gets stained, as I have no other plans for the body, but the problem is that the clothing might shift during posing, and this could reveal some stained areas of skin along the edges, if that makes sense. Perhaps if I somehow just make sure the edges are lined, it might help. Will have to do some experimenting.

As far as cleaning method goes just use a cotton cloth and plenty of ArmorAll specifically for rubber "non grease formula" and rub away and when finished use powder to get rid of the stickiness. I had a really bad stain from a golden metal bikini that I got from ebay, because of its tight fit and after a few weeks when I decided to give her a full costume, to my surprise her breasts and backside had yellow marks as well as her shoulders and back. I was already prepared but didn't expect that much stain from a little bikini, it took an hour to get rid of the stain. I got this tip from a youtuber in spanish that uses ArmorAll not for cleaning stains but for maintaining his figures.

Thank you for the tip, Tabul. I hadn't heard of this one.

Hi

I usually wash clothes with liquid detergent before putting them on my figures, so I haven't experienced staining until yesterday.

I got too excited when I received my order, which took a long time to arrive. I immediately wrapped S34 with plastic, thinking this would prevent stains, and put the clothes on without washing. Surprise, surprise,    they immediately stained the thighs of S34 that has a small gap on the plastic wrap that I didn't notice  

I quickly grabbed some nearby liquid detergent, dipped a soft face towel in it, and lightly scrubbed the stained areas. The stains faded a bit as I did that. Then, I wiped off the figure with another damp face towel. Finally, I applied cornstarch. The stains faded a little bit more 18 hours later.

Is liquid detergent safe for cleaning stains on TBLeague figures? I didn't give it much thought yesterday because I was panicking, but I just want to make sure.

You are probably fine having washed the body with detergent, but regular soap would probably work just as well. May be safer, since detergent is meant to cut through grease and you want the body to be oily -- on the inside. At any rate, you were right to apply protective powder. The stains would normally disappear with the passing of some time, especially after treatment.

Thank you! By regular soap, do you mean bath soap like this one https://www.amazon.com/Irish-Spring-Original-Deodorant-Ounce/dp/B07FY17L3N ? Because the only other soap I use at home is dish soap.

Hope it's fine to ask this one here, because the topic is different. Since bodies are meant to be oily inside, is it good to apply something like baby oil on TBLeague bodies for maintaining them?

Never tried something like baby oil myself. When/ if I have to wash these things I just use regular dispenser hand soap, rinse thoroughly, and reapply powder. Nothing fancy.

Someone brought up oiling the bodies recently, but I'm really not sure if that works and if it is advisable. He was new to these bodies, so he had no experience doing that and was therefore speaking theoretically. I'm not ready to experiment with that. I would stick to regular hand soap (I suppose bath soap is much the same) -- antibacterial or not. Dish soap may have extreme anti-grease (i.e., oil) properties. One wash with it is not likely to have caused any damage. Do apply protective powder after any wash (whether just water or soap and water) and after much handling (if you feel the surface getting sticky).

Thanks for guiding me, Stryker2011 and GubernatorFan. Will take note of your advice and follow them when handling figures

I will stay away from baby oil then. Oh, I've never thought of regular hand soap. I use dish soap as my hand soap, because I don't like that moist feeling that hand soaps give

Are those moisturizing hand soaps alright for washing these figures? I'm asking because I don't think I've encountered a non-moisturizing one.

I don't want to lead anyone astray, but I use 'liquid detergent' (as in, liquid diswashing soap) on my tbleague bodies and haven't had any issues so far. So long as I put the protective powder back on, afterward, they seem to be ok.

Thank you for confirming that you have been using dish soap and had not problems, Sky. Good to know. As for the other soaps, I suppose most soaps that are meant to go on the human skin would be fine, as they cannot be too harsh.

Thanks skywalkersaga and GubernatorFan.

Btw, I forgot to specify that I used laundry liquid detergent, not dish soap. It's the same one I use for washing new 1/6 clothes, that's why I have one within reach at that time.

Ah ok, yeah I guess laundrey detergent might be a bit harsher, potentially. It's can be confusing w/ the differences in UK vs. US terminology... ;p

Just to be safe, use soap meant for human skin in the future, although it is nice to know that some use of more advanced detergents has not led to damage yet.

I had bought some jeans for a figure and they stained instantly, but a q-tip and some baby oil took care of the staining with no effort, so I can confirm in my experience it works great. Running the jeans through the wash a few times took care of the bleeding enough that I don’t care anymore about it. Not sure how well it works on longer term stains, but for things you notice instantly it’s fantastic.

Do clean it normally after because it is oil and can make protective powder act a bit odd if you put it on right away.

Side note: If you ever see me say “mineral oil” I am using it interchangeably with baby oil (since it’s so similar if not the same depending on what you buy).

Thanks for the advice, MeMyself&I. Cloth items can usually be rendered safe (if one has the patience to take this step) by submerging in some hot water with color-safe bleach a couple of times. Or, I've been told water and (white?) vinegar. It is more complicated with leather, pleather, and other materials.

I agree skywalkersaga, the differences in terminology can sometimes be confusing. Haha

I'll definitely grab a bottle of hand soap later. Thanks for the reminder GubernatorFan.

Thanks for the advice about baby oil MeMyself&I. I tried it on the stains that my s34 got four days ago, but it didn't work. I guess it's more effective on fresh stains.

Haven't tried using bleach or vinegar for washing. I'll definitely try that method if I ever encounter clothes that won't stop bleeding. Thanks GubernatorFan.

What I've been doing is:
1. Submerge the clothes in liquid laundry detergent in a container with a lid
2. Gently stir them using your fingers until the detergent becomes foamy
3. Add some water, then cover the container
4. Shake it a lot
5. Leave it for 24 hrs (I think 12 hours is enough, though)
6. If there's no bleeding, rinse the clothes. Then you're done;
If there's bleeding, take the clothes out of the container and repeatedly do the following for a minute or so, as if playing with clay, but gently:
     a. Roll them into a ball between the hands
     b. Roll them into a log
     c. Squeeze them
     d. Rinse them while doing a - c
7. Repeat 1-6 until the clothes stop bleeding

Sounds like you have a pretty good anti-staining protocol worked out already.

Thank you for sharing your experiences on staining and cleaning.   Many have probably already had painful experiences with discoloration of clothing - you can't always only wear white clothes (even if I luckily like white and my 1:6 scale girls and ladies too).


Over many years I have gained experience in the durable dyeing of 1:1 scale clothing (for people). And then fixing salt is used to fix the color and, if necessary, supplemented with normal table salt (if the amount of fixing salt is not enough).

So I transferred these experiences to the 1:6 scale clothing. I first wash the clothes I bought with liquid detergent for silk and wool (very mild detergent). Each item of clothing comes in an extra cereal bowl (for better observation). In several rinses I watch whether the paint is still bleeding. When little or no more color is bleeding out, I add table salt to the rinse bath to fixate and let it soak for a while. And then rinse one last time with clean water and let it dry.

Once I was too impatient with a new pair of jeans - a big mistake!   I really wanted to know immediately whether the fit was right and immediately tried the jeans on a Phicen Lady. And her legs and feet (seamless) were instantly blue! Of course, I immediately washed the body with water and a mild shower gel and the discoloration became a little lighter. Then I put the Phicen Lady in a tall cylinder with distilled water for about  2  weeks, which covered the discoloration. Fortunately, the color has been completely removed.
Caution - please do not use normal tap water (for soaking)!
In my first attempt with tap water (a long time ago) the silicone skin turned reddish brown because the water contained traces of minerals. If you leave the body in the water for a few days, it takes on the color of the minerals (even if the water looks clear). But I was also able to completely remove this discoloration with distilled water. Lots of trial and error experience!

Really helpful of you to share your experiences with these situations here, too!

Interesting tidbits, Kayla. Another round of informative knowledge.

Thank you for the information on your stain removing and color fixing experience. I think our water supplies vary, depending on location, but you're right, others too (Sky, I think) have also mentioned the worth of using distilled water. And apparently vinegar can also help when treating clothing (Stryker). My impatience usually gets the better of me, but I do approach black and dark clothing with caution. The good news is that usually a gentle wash and a little bit of time are enough to ensure the disappearance of the stain, although it certainly does not feel like it at the time you are faced with it.

Yes, I've already read about fixing with vinegar. But I don't like the smell at all, so this odor-intensive method is unfortunately out of the question for me.
And yes, removing stains from the silicone skin is often a incredible miracle!   You never know exactly how the silicone will behave and it is often a matter of luck whether a method works or not. A really exciting material.

That's why it's really great that we share our trial and error methods together and that some people can save themselves a failed attempt.

Distilled water: check! I didn't have that on my radar, so thank you for posting your method, Kayla! (I also adore your use of emoticons! )

My question isn't about stains, but it is about cleaning...
Some may remember my kinesiology tape experiment. I was a little careless and left it on for too long. Now I'm setting aside the avoidance and wanting to deal with it.

Any ideas how I might remove the glue residue? Soap and (cold and warm) water didn't do the trick.

Ouch! And to think I was totally going to follow your lead and experiment with kinesiology tape clothing. Hmm, I was going to say start with soap and warmish water, but apparently that is a no... drawing a blank at other concrete suggestions at the moment. Is the gluey goo something you can gently scrape off with your nail? Would powdering it before trying to do so help? I think some have mentioned mineral spirits not harming the body (as long as you back and re-powder), would those help? Anyone have more insight on this?