Dollieh Sanctuary

I normally not that huge into my Barbies and they tend to stay in their cabinet. Well lately I had gotten a few out to try their clothes on my 1/6 girls. A couple of them had sweaty sticky legs. Very disgusting to touch. I wrapped them up in saran wrap to keep other things from getting it all over. I did try to clean them and had gotten them clean but they later got sticky again! Does any one else have this problem? Out of all my Barbies there were only these two. Any and all help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

That happens to a lot of vinyl toys unfortunately. When they get old, the plasticizer (which is what makes the vinyl soft) starts to leak out, making the toy sticky and hard. I don't know of any way to outright stop it, and the only real way to control it is to keep washing them with dish soap or similar.

Dang. What is weird is that I have Barbies that are 30+ years old and are not like this and these are roughly less then ten. One is an India barbie in a pink sari and the other that is afflicted is my french princess in a purple and gold dress from roughly the 14 or 15 century IIRC the fashion of the time. I will try to find out their age if that helps.

Out of all the barbies I have I have never seen this. *sigh* I hate to see this.

Okay. They both were released 12/1/2000 from the dolls of the world princess collection. Princess of India and of the French Courts.

The only real permanent solution is to find different bodies for these girls. Sadly, "greasy skin disease" is incurable.

Washing the legs well and then powdering them with talcum or baby powder can help a little, but is not a permanent fix.

*Sigh* Thanks for the help. I think I will try changing the legs first. The Princess of India is a nice Mocha and I am not sure I would be able to find a whole body the same color. Too bad they are not as interchangeable as the Obitsus

A solution for my vintage dolls is to put baby powder or talc powder on the legs since it helps the legs not sweat as much. It's the only reason why my Tutti who has a gumby type body manages not to pick up dirt and such.

I think I have the same Indian Barbie, post a pic or a link to one of yours if you can, I'll look for mine and see if Swappin' Styles or Liv can match her.

Mine just stood on the dollhouse so I never checked her for sticky legs. I had that problem with an AA Ken from around that time so there may be something with Millennium dolls of color.

*http://dolfielittles.typepad.com/blog/2011/07/princess-of-india-barbie-skin-tone-comparison.html
My India princess is holding up. I'd say the Swappin' Styles 100 Poses Fashionista is the closest but not an exact match. She will work in a pinch.

Here's a blog post about this issue. Apparently it's mainly a problem with dolls made in Indonesia?

http://www.dollstuff.net/diary/200903291