What I absolutely love about vintage dolls is that they can undergo such a beautiful transformation because of their age. It is quite satisfying to watch the years come off in the restoration process just by removing the layers of dirt and grime on the skin.

This little lady needed a few spa treatments. Firstly, there was a white substance clouding on her eyes and eyelids making them sticky and foggy. You'd have to zoom in to see exactly, but there are layers of grime on her face and within the small areas of her mold such as within the nostrils and ears and creases of her lips.

Here you can see a closeup of all the substance within her eyes. On the right hand side I've started clearing the skin so that you can see the brightness of it versus the left side where you can see the layers of grime. It can be the difference of a doll looking new or old in just the cleaning. There is a brightness and a glow to the doll's face once dirt and grime is removed to make her look newer and restored.

If you've read other restoration projects and tips, you'll know that I use interior car cleaner to clean dolls and that it is a favorite because it lifts the grime out of the vinyls and plastics and yet does not disturb any of the original face paint. As I began to work around the eye and face, I purposely left the left side as it was to show the difference on the right side. the white cloudy substance has been completely lifted and the eye is bright and clear and you can start to see the glow on the doll's skin where it has been cleaned of grime. I used a q-tip to do most of the cleaning in the eyes and around the face at first and then switched to a craft toothbrush to get in the smaller creases such as nostrils, ears, around the eyelids, and other small areas that the q-tip could not reach.

Once all the grime was off, I gave her hair a shampoo and conditioner to give some life back to her hair. I gently removed all the excess water by using a small towel to dry the hair. Then doing a section at a time, I brushed down and curled under with the hairbrush all around her hair and side swept her bangs. There was a part in her back hair that was sticking out strangely so I took a regular pen and used it as a roller while the hair was still damp. I rolled it up and then used a roller clamp to keep it in place. Then I put a hairnet over her hair and let it dry overnight. When I came in the morning, the style had dried completely. I removed the pen and gently brushed and curled under the last piece of hair to make her style complete. Now that her face and eyes have all been cleaned and have their original glow. The last step was to remove as much grime from the body as possible using my interior cleaner. The toothbrush is a great tool for this job again because she has small finger and cracks to remove grime from.