My Little Pony care and maintenance

[DollyKim]

I found my ponies in relatively good shape for being first batch, more to follow, and need to know-
1 How to clean the 'love' and dirty kid hands playing with them off of them without scrubbing off cutie marks.
2 How to clean the insides. The big ones I can pop the heads off of but not the babies.
3 How to get the rust off the tails.

So I figured a general Pony care thread might be useful.

[Sorean]

A pony care thread is a nifty idea!

I used baking soda and water, and a Magic Eraser on my ponies (separately, not at the same time) to get the dirt and stray marks off of my childhood ponies. It didn't take off their marks or any other paint on mine, but apparently the eraser can take off the glittery ones. I didn't submerge any of them in water, since surface cleaning worked just fine. I'm paranoid of them molding.

I really like this site's list of cleaning tips. It seems quite comprehensive, and it addresses tail rust, which I haven't dealt with myself ^^;

[SillyLilPuppet]

Didn't see this thread before, so a little late but this site has a lot of helpful cleaning tutorials http://www.mlparena.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=159894.html The general rule with cleaning ponies (or anything you don't want to mess up, really) is always try the gentlest method first. Soapy water first, then cleaning products, Magic Eraser, nail polish remover, etc. Also most older ponies have their heads glued on, you can try softening the glue with heat or polish remover. If its really stubborn try to find a spot you can wedge a tool or knife into and split the glue that way. Just be very very careful as you can rip the plastic 'plug' holding the pony's head to her neck.

[hlbmlp]

didnt see this till now either, but i know a little too much about pony care. ^__^

I agree with what has been stated before with the magic eraser, but i find that normal hand soap and sometimes just plain water takes care of playwear. for bad stains or marks use the eraser. I also find that i use an old electric toothbrush i had as a kid alot. It gets in the pores and scratches (especially on the bottom of hooves). For pen marks, a little bit of fingernail polish remover, but i use it sparingly and only in emergencies because it can damage the plastic and paint on the pony.

for white ponies, if their white is not so bright anymore, toothpaste works nicely. just scrub with a toothbrush in a circular motion and it helps, sometimes more than others. I have not tried whitening toothpaste but have heard that can help, but i dont know if it works better than normal toothpaste. (this also works on old converses too!)
if there is mold, it is hard to reverse the effects, but you can stop them or slow them down.

But i would not recommend this for the feint of heart. You have to take a knife to the glue on the neck and pop the poor pony's head off. Scrub out the inside as well as possible, using many q tips. then I use a mold remover used for bathroom grouts or the shower. follow the instructions on the bottle, usually you have to let it sit for a time. rinse well and let dry for a day or two before putting the head back on. you would be surprised how much getting the grime out of the inside will help it look better. I know the mold is probably not all gone, but from the outside, it is unnoticeable, unless it has gotten into the pores, then it is really difficult to purge.

For Rust, you want to pop the head off again. As with the mold it will probably still be there unless you replace the washer, but some damage cannot be undone. take the head off and clean thoroughly (like with the mold) even under the washer(hold onto the tail so it doesnt slide in). i have not tried rust removers because this usually helps, and if it is really bad i just replace the washer (i have other uses for rustie objects!).

To replace washer slide tail back into the body, using pliers or tweezers to keep a hold of the end with the washer. Pull the tail out and slide the washer off. take a new washer and thread the tail through (it helps if the tail is wet). take a ribbon or a thin wire (i use a threader for dental floss used when you have braces) and thread the tail back into the body and through the hole.

cleaning the hair, i use shampoo. The cheap stuff, well the stuff i use. Cheap cocoanut shampoo. The cocoanut makes the hair shiny and soft. do this in small sections unless you have a very small pony. scrub gently, trying not to tangle the hair, using a comb to get the shampoo all throughout. rinse it all out. Then take conditioner and take a small amount and starting at the base of the hair, run your fingers up taking the conditioner with you. gently rinse using a comb again. Smooth it out with your fingers, and do not rinse all of the conditioner out. leave just enough in so that the hair does not squeak when you run your fingers through it. This will help with styling the hair later.

frizziness is horrendous but fixable in most cases. With newer ponies, especially with light colored hair this process will just make it worse (learned from experience...much sadness will ensue!). before the hair is dry after washing it, or wet it, separate the hair into small sections. Starting at one end of your separations take a curling iron and starting at the base slowly move the curling iron to the end of the hair. It will sizzle, and that is ok! repeat this process making sure that the hair never is dry(it will burn!) until the hair is strait! Repeat this until you finish all the hair. The point of the process is to actually partially melt the hair so that the kinks can be removed. It is scary the first time you do it, but it comes much easier once you see the results!

styling the hair! the fun part! easiest way is just to take the wet hair and wrap around the body in different ways and let the pony dry on it's side. When the hair is dry, pop the hair off of the pony (because of the left conditioner it will stick slightly, but not in a sticky way) and then run your fingers gently from the base to end, separating each individual hair.
curling the hair is fun! I do not boil perm it, but i get the same results, or ringlets or a fro, SO MUCH FUN!!! take small clips of straws and take your sections of wet hair and wrap around the straws. take a bobby pin and slid it onto the straw hair. let it dry over night, gently take off the bobbypins and slide the straws out. for a fro-ish look, gently comb through the hair arranging it in the fashion you want. For ringlets, gently tug on each of the ends of the spirals then arrange how you desire.

There is probably much more i can talk about on this topic but this is what i can think of at the moment! Hope this is helpful and i will probably add more later! <3