When does the oil stop?

[BWheeler1]

I dont know what is going on with these dolls that need oiling all the time. I have had my little 140 for almost three years and have never once oiled her, and I never will because WM themselves have said it is not necessary. She has been well worn over the years, not stood up and photographed, her joints are all loose to the point where when I pick her up her limbs drape as if she were an unconscious real person. She's had holes from joints poking through her skin and her finger wires are long gone. I cannot remember how many times I've fixed her TPE. But never once has she had ANY of the problems in the wear areas like under her arms or between her legs (or anywhere else) that oiling is supposed to keep from happening. It should also be noted that on both white and dark sheets, she hasn't ever left any oil stains. So I honestly don't understand the need for oiling. I have heard suggestions that as soon as you get your doll you should wash her four or five times, then oil her. So you wash the hell out of her and dry her out, then give her an oil rub down to put back the oil you've washed out of her TPE. What you are doing in actuality is making completely sure that you have removed all of the makeup that the factory has taken the time to apply. If this were necessary, why the hell would they even bother to offer semi permanent makeup? I truly believe the owners who do this just want a reason to oil their girls up.

[dolls to the wall]

Maybe relative humidity plays a factor? Like if you hang your doll up, then her skin is only exposed to air. If there is a lot of moisture in the air she may not need as much oiling since water and oil don't mix thus causing her oils to lack an appropriate medium in which to transfer into. However if you hang her up and it's a dry climate, you may have to oil her a little. Likewise, I would imagine that storing a TPE doll by having her lay or sit on an oil absorbant surface will likely eventually cause you to need to oil her at some point. Also as has been stated, her skin tone and thickness likely play a big role too.

I would imagine (although I am not sure) that a darker, thin doll that is stored laying down in a dry climate will need the most oiling. While a pale, thick doll that is stored hanging up in a humid climate may need the least oiling.

I would also imagine that powering her will suck some of her oils out. In fact my doll is thick, has pink skin tone, I live in a very humid climate (like 90%+) and I store her hanging up, so powering her a lot was the only way I could really get some of the more smelly factory oils out of her (head) In a relatively quick and uniform way. But I'm certainly no expert, just my random thoughts.

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[hollows+fentiman]

I understand what you’re saying BWheeler1 but every doll is different! Even dolls of the same model can be made with a slightly different blend of TPE which can affect the feel and consistency of the ‘flesh’.

When a doll leaves the factory after being aired it has a factory residue on it which really should be washed off before use in my opinion. You’re right in the oiling though! Any new doll shouldn’t need oiling for months - if at all!

As for my Ashaki, she does need the occasional oiling. It may be because of the colour filler in the TPE but I can definitely feel how dry she is at times! Because of her skin colour I don’t powder her as often as the others either as it takes some time to brush the powder in to avoid it being streaky and looking weird!!

As I said before and dolls to the wall has also just said, each Doll is different and needs different treatment!

Cheers, Hollows.

[BWheeler1]

Humidity and storage we're mentioned, so for the sake of comparison, I'll give the conditions mine are under. All three of mine lay fully clothed (usually pajamas) in my bed with me, I've never hung or stood them up. I didn't mention my 156c or 157b because I've only had them a couple of months. As for humidity, my house goes from one extreme to the other depending on the season. This summer, we had very high humidity. I had to run a drain off of my air conditioner (floor type vented thru window) because with all the moisture it was taking out of the air, the tray kept filling and triggering the cutoff. But during the colder months when the heat kicks on (radiators and boiler), the house gets really dry. I haven't noticed anything weird or different about the dolls due to it. The newer ones haven't been around for the dryness of my radiators, but they were around for the humidity. I will watch out for any signs of change now that we're getting into the colder weather and the boiler is kicking on, but if the two new ones follow suit with the 140, there shouldn't be any problems. One thing I will say about the wearing under the arms and between the legs, I have read that it isn't good to leave dolls with their arms outstretched or legs spread for too long, could that be causing it? I always return their arms to their sides and legs together after use, and they rarely are in any position other than lying down or sitting.

[dolls to the wall]

Thanks for some reference info BWheeler1!
Are all of your girls of a similar skin tone or body type?

Also, my other TPE doll (a WM) started to develop creases on her ankles. I hadn't oiled her in over a year but I recently oiled her once, then I hung her up and her creases were gone in about a week or so. She also has creases where her upper thigh meets her vag. area, but then again, she has a darker skin tone. I also keep her in VERY loose white clothing.

This is all to say that, It may have something to do with other factors that weren't in your last post. Like size and skin tone. In fact, skin tone may even be the largest factor. Check out the last pic in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=227&t=98847&p=1293626&h ... 5#p1293626
I think this says a lot about the role that skin tone may play as a risk factor for cracking.

[BWheeler1]

All three of my girls are the tan skin tone. Their body types are 140D, 156C, and 157B. So yeah, I guess they'd all be similar enough of a body type, they're all slim. There was a member here who had tears in his doll's ankles, I wonder if those creases are a related thing. My girls have wrinkles, I wouldn't call them creases, on the backs of their ankles exactly where his had the tears. Since mine are mostly in bed or sitting, I keep their feet outstretched, like pointing their toes. I do this so the weight of the sheets and bedspread don't bend and deform their toes. When I sit them down, I leave their feet in this position because there's no reason to move them. I wonder if the dolls are prone to tearing back there and mine haven't simply because the TPE back there isn't stretched. I have noticed that when I bend their feet to stand and the skin back there stretches, the heel wants to pull away at the standing bolt there. Almost as if it had shrunk. Makes me wonder if I had kept them standing with their feet flat, would mine have torn back there also?

[HSP_960]

In all seriousness, it's important to note silicone does have oil staining as well. Perhaps we can all agree TPE is far worse on average, but silicone does have a little bit of oil staining as well.

I've owned three silicone dolls and NONE of them stained my sheets with oil. (The last doll -- a Sanhui 145cm -- came with a nice sheen of oil that was not objectionable. I viewed it like the fine coating a new motorcycle tire has.)

[Boobman]

Buy 2 less expensive king sized sheets for each doll you have & fold them in half length wise then repeat so its 4 folds folded. That's what i did with both of my dolls, a Rifrano going on 2 yrs. old & my PD JY over a yr. old. When i do my all bedding, i wash doll sheets seperate & rotate between the pair for each. I live in Las Vegas, very dry & very hot in long ass summers May to Sept at least. I give both Vaseline treatments usually once a month. Both sweated oil from day one so i replace with the treatments that take 24 hrs.to absorb & get dry sticky, then i powder. Cheap sheets are better to get stained than good bed linens & for your dolls well being to keep them supple. I trust the Indigo20 chemistry results & his suggested maintenance. Both my dolls skin are still in excellent condition the way i do my doll maintenance.

[HSP_960]

Why buy TPE when you enjoy a silicone doll?
1. TPE smells, silicone not so much.
2. TPE requires MUCH more maintenance than silicone.
3. TPE leaks oil, silicone doesn't. (Note: Yes, we are aware of the minority of doll owners that allege silicone leaks oil.)

Why go through the headaches listed above, especially when the prices of good-quality silicone dolls has come down?

[Slew]

Why go through the headaches listed above, especially when the prices of good-quality silicone dolls has come down?

I think with a lot of doll purchases, the rubber medium is a secondary criteria and sometimes not a factor, and the doll sells because she looks attractive to the buyer.

Personally, setting price aside, my criteria would be looks first and tactile softness a close second, and concerns about odor/oils/maintenance aren't a priority for me at all. Everyone's got a different approach to it. Silicone's price coming down does indicate that TPE isn't necessarily the future of the industry.

[siliconelover]

TPE leaks oil, silicone doesn't. (Note: Yes, we are aware of the minority of doll owners that allege silicone leaks oil.)

ALL silicone dolls will have oil migration of some sort throughout time.

My 10 year old Mechadoll/MPD Leeloo still needs a sponge bath to remove these oils after hanging for a time (months). That dolls skin some of the finest silicone in the world as is my 7 year old Boy Toy and 5 year old Ruby13. My Z-Onedoll after a year is Expelling oil at what I consider and seems to be an incredible rate. A sponge bath removes this residue easily.

I don't consider myself in the minority and am stating Fact. I've been at this a long time.

[dolls to the wall]

All three of my girls are the tan skin tone. Their body types are 140D, 156C, and 157B. So yeah, I guess they'd all be similar enough of a body type, they're all slim. There was a member here who had tears in his doll's ankles, I wonder if those creases are a related thing. My girls have wrinkles, I wouldn't call them creases, on the backs of their ankles exactly where his had the tears. Since mine are mostly in bed or sitting, I keep their feet outstretched, like pointing their toes. I do this so the weight of the sheets and bedspread don't bend and deform their toes. When I sit them down, I leave their feet in this position because there's no reason to move them. I wonder if the dolls are prone to tearing back there and mine haven't simply because the TPE back there isn't stretched. I have noticed that when I bend their feet to stand and the skin back there stretches, the heel wants to pull away at the standing bolt there. Almost as if it had shrunk. Makes me wonder if I had kept them standing with their feet flat, would mine have torn back there also?

There definitely seem to be a few variables at play. I can't really say for your ladies, but it does seem possible that instead of stretching the TPE in the back ankle, in your case, it may have been being compressed? Then when it came time to return the foot to regular position, the TPE had already adjusted to the compressed state in the back ankle area so it was slightly distorted.



The last thing that I can think of would be the specific mixture of TPE that is used in each doll brand (the darker dolls colorization may be affecting all of the mixtures, causing the cracks in that particular skin tone). Maybe the unique combo of various additives are the reason why some brands have more oil, and others don't. Heck, it may even be why some dolls need oiling after a while and others don't.
In fact (this was news to me, so sorry if most people already know this lol) but TPE is an umbrella term that has SO many variations which feel nothing like the TPE in a doll.
It's possible that the oil that is produced is a result of the different additives of that specific formula.

I do know this, it's the elastomer part of the TPE in our dolls that gives them their softness and malleability. This aspect is closely related to rubber, and rubber certainly dries out over time (and leeches oil too). Just take a common rubber band, and leave it setting on a paper towel for a few months in a relatively dry place. When you go to stretch the band, it'll likely have become more brittle than when it was new. You are also likely to find an oil spot on the paper towel. It would then follow that over time TPE may greatly benefit from the occasional oiling, as needed.

My WM doll leeched oil for over a year, then suddenly stopped (last summer), it was at this point that I noticed her ankles were creased (although they could've been creased before she stopped seeping oil and I just didn't notice), but that's when I oiled her, and they went away. She is also an older doll though. My WM and my YL have VERY different scents to them, suggesting (to me anyways in my non expert opinion) that they have very different blends of TPE. My YL stopped seeping most of her oil after day 3 of owning her, and I store her hanging up. She does still leave a little oil residue on my hands when I touch her though.
I don't oil my YL of course because she's still new and still a bit oily on her own, but I do wonder if her new blend of TPE will need to be oiled eventually? I guess I'll find out!

Here's a vid I found about general TPE subtypes, and uses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25Ik8H0r01M

...I live in Las Vegas, very dry & very hot in long ass summers May to Sept at least. I give both Vaseline treatments usually once a month. Both sweated oil from day one so i replace with the treatments that take 24 hrs.to absorb & get dry sticky, then i powder...I trust the Indigo20 chemistry results & his suggested maintenance. Both my dolls skin are still in excellent condition the way i do my doll maintenance.

Yea, I'm totally with you. Especially in that climate!

I think with a lot of doll purchases, the rubber medium is a secondary criteria and sometimes not a factor, and the doll sells because she looks attractive to the buyer.

Personally, setting price aside, my criteria would be looks first and tactile softness a close second, and concerns about odor/oils/maintenance aren't a priority for me at all. Everyone's got a different approach to it. Silicone's price coming down does indicate that TPE isn't necessarily the future of the industry.

Couldn't agree with you more! Plus as a bonus, the more that all doll manufacturing companies compete for lower prices, and better materials, the more doll owners win in the grand scheme of things!

[Robert Lloyd]

I dont know what is going on with these dolls that need oiling all the time. I have had my little 140 for almost three years and have never once oiled her, and I never will because WM themselves have said it is not necessary.

Jeff at Booty Call Dolls is a proponent of the oiling and put the oiling instructions in his newlywed guide. It is interesting that Jeff and WM disagree.

I am not an expert on this subject and thus I will not state an opinion.

[HSP_960]

I dont know what is going on with these dolls that need oiling all the time. I have had my little 140 for almost three years and have never once oiled her, and I never will because WM themselves have said it is not necessary.

Jeff at Booty Call Dolls is a proponent of the oiling and put the oiling instructions in his newlywed guide. It is interesting that Jeff and WM disagree.

I am not an expert on this subject and thus I will not state an opinion.

Why would TPE need to be oiled (e.g. lubricated all over with Vaseline) if it's shedding oil?

I am definitely much less interested in buying a TPE doll if I have to coat its body with Vaseline on a regular basis.
I'll stick with just washing and powdering my silicone doll that never leaks oil (and never gets moldy).

[Chuck Norris]

Mine is 4 months old now. Washed her many many many times and only baby oil her stressed areas due to my paranoia of the tpe. And she is still marking her territory with oil. I got used to it and moved on to other things...

But the other day, I had to use baby oil to remove some fail attempt makeup job. I noticed that even though her head was completely clean, Little balls of black goo started appearing all over her face and smearing all over. Water can not wash it off properly.
Wondering what the heck is that... and how to remove it lol!