Well, after a run of stuffed animals to repair I am back to dolls. And so, we have again, eye issues of 1950's and '60's dolls.
Here is a vinyl/hard plastic doll that has arrived for her cloudy eyes.
Here is a look at her eyes.
They are definitely not the healthiest looking eyes.
So, off with her head and out with her eyes.
Here is one of her eyes.
Yikes!
There is rust everywhere. The canister of these eyes are metal. perhaps she had a bath or two in her life to account for the rust?
Here is one eyeball opened up.
I will remove rust and do some deep cleaning and see if I can salvage these eyes.
This is the inside of the eye. It is supposed to be clear to let light through. That white stuff may be leached plasticizer. Whatever it is, it needs to be cleaned off if these eyes can be salvaged.
Isopropyl alcohol is one of the best cleaners for plastic,
So with lots of that and some scrubbing, the eye is translucent again.
Here, the white part (conjunctiva) of the one eye has been repainted. The rust has been removed from the shell and the whole eyeball has been reassembled.
A bit of a contrast to the other eye that is still in it's original state.
Looking better?
Her big sister also needs an eye refreshment.
Her eyes are constructed a bit differently but are equally rusted. At least there is no plasticizer to clean off.
With the same sort of cleaning and painting....she looks better too.
She also got her mouth repainted.
I believe that white stuff you cleaned off the eye was mold. The white mold is often only on the outside, but can be inside. Alcohol can remove/kill it, as can heat carefully aimed at the eye.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I do not agree with your diagnosis. Since I did this post, I have done lots of research on plastic and how it degrades. The white stuff is leaching plasticizer. Mold is a living organism and does not typically grow on inert compounds like plastic. It needs nutrients and there are no nutrients in the inside of a doll's eyeball. Alcohol (in the form of isopropyl alcohol) is the best way to clean off plasticizer so, whether you think the stuff is mold or plasticizer, you will get it off :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat brand of paint and color do you use to repaint the white part of eye so that it is shiny?
ReplyDeleteI use acrylic paint with either a satin or gloss clear topcoat.
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