How to get Gene's head off?

[DollyKim]

I have a first batch Gene doll, how do I get her head off so I can reroot her?

[maywong]

I have a first batch Gene doll, how do I get her head off so I can reroot her?

Have you tried the hot water method?

[magkelly]

You dunk her head in boiling water, take it off the burner first and wait a few secs once it boils or you will risk ruining her hair, or hold it under the tap under very hot water till her head softens up. I usually do that so I can aim the hot water right on her chin and neck and not spoil her hair. You still have to be VERY careful though regardless. Old Gene dolls can have brittle vinyl and you yank too hard even while she is softened her neck knob can break. Some people also use a heating pad on low with a towel on it. Or a blow dryer, also on low. Never try to yank off a 16" doll head cold though. Most of the time it will break right off, the neck knob unless the chin and neck area is softened fairly well.

[DollyKim]

Thanks, I don't care about the hair as I want to redo it, but I do like her eyelashes and face.

So I suppose heat would be helpful putting it back on too.

[DollyKim]

Hot water worked to get the head off. I poured it over her chin several times and gently took the head off, hold it with a pot holder.

You really need bent tweezers to get the plugs out of the back of her head and it looks like she has less than some others I've done. It's harder than fashion dolls and you'll want a thimble. For the back of the head, if you needle and thread root, consider a flexible needle as those plugs are lower than her neck hole.

[magkelly]

Gene type heads are beyond me to reroot. They are hard, even with the heating pad they're a bitch to re-root. I always end up either buying or making wigs for mine. Easier to cut it all off and wig a bald Gene than to root one by far. You have to have fingers of steel to manage that well I think. Don't get me wrong I love my 16" dolls but they get wigged, and that's just it. Making a wig isn't easy either, but it still beats rooting a Gene, IMHO.

[DollyKim]

Yeah, I gave up and I'm going to wig her or something. It was working by either poking he hole with the sharp end of the needle first to make it bigger or using jewelry wire in place of the needle. Had I been able to get all the old plugs out I could have used the wire on the back of the head. With the holes lover than the neck it wasn't looking like it was going to be easy.

Now my thoughts are turning to the dolls I've seen with sparkles and sequins glued to their heads like show girls. Her body has yellowed unevenly so that might get painted too.