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What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

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curiousswede
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What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by curiousswede »

Hi! I haven't found any compilation threads about what materials clothes can have (or not have) in order to avoid possible stains on the TPE doll or "removing" parts of the TPE doll by becoming stains on the clothes (if that is even possible).

I am looking at clothes for my coming WM168E doll "Jenny" so I would love to find a list over what fabrics are OK/don't stain off or on the TPE doll. I am gonna get her leggings, bras, pants, possibly a sweater and some t-shirts to begin with.

What material can this be made of in order to be OK with TPE doll and/or minimal cleaning afterwards?

Thx in advance! / CS

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Mr Franz
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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by Mr Franz »

It's not so much the fabric, but rather what it's dyed with. White and light pastel colors are a reasonably safe bet. Dark colors are more prone to staining, but can be made safer by washing a few times prior to putting them on. Cheaper things though, especially darker items tend to bleed color no matter what you do. It's good to have an extra chunk of TPE on hand to test things on.

I like to buy used things myself. These have generally been washed plenty of times and the risk of further color bleed is minimal. Swap.com is a good source for used clothing. They sell pre-owned name brand stuff at rock bottom prices. No problem to date with anything I've got from them. Great return policy too.

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by Arthur1960 »

Hi there, I was very cautious when I first started out 2 years ago as you see so many cases of staining, however I have become much more relaxed now as after a while you learn the things to avoid and what will be ok if you wash it well first. To start with fabric like cotton, silk, Spandex/lycra is fine, wool is too but you will get little bits on the tpe if its straight on it. With underwear that's going to be on for a while then best stick to 'safe' colours like white, cream, baby pink and some other very light pastel shades. If you want to see your gal in dark lingerie then wash it a few times to see if colour runs, if it does then keep washing till the water is clear. A way around this it to get your gal a white body stocking, white, flesh coloured tights and stockings etc which can act as a barrier, then you can be bolder. I use high denier stockings on my gals then I put them in dark leather look leggings which are normally about the worse for staining. Bear in mind that the cheaper you buy new stuff the more likely it is to lose colour so it's better to get good quality, watch for bargains on eBay. If you can get hold of a bit of tpe you can use that to test, sometimes if I'm not sure about something I will wrap a bit of it around a gals finger to see if it starts to stain, remember also that most stains will go eventually. Worse staining incident I had with a gal was from a dark wig that had a black wig net but the marks have completely disappeared now. Hope all that helps.

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by jmedeski007 »

From what I've noticed, the cheap stuff ordered from the internet stained, but the stains went away in time.

My doll has black leggings from target and typical black haynes tank tops and they never caused stains and I don't even worry about it. Cheap stuff from the internet stained with in a few hours.

My advice is, not matter what be cautious, but if its something cheap from the internet you're going to be fucked.

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by curiousswede »

Thanks for your replies! Btw, I found the exact lingerie my soon arriving WM168E Jenny wears in her stock photos: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/one-pie ... autifyAB=0

Comparison: http://dollstudio.org/sites/default/fil ... d-0183.jpg

What I will do is that I will handwash the lingerie a couple of times in the scullery in my apartment until I see that there is no color/dye/staining left in the water. This should be a good preventive measure for all ordered clothes including those of white colors?

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by Mr Franz »

That's actually a swim suit btw, not lingerie. If you ordered the light color, should be no problem. The dark one I don't know. Give it a good few washings and test it somewhere inconspicuous if you can before putting it on her.

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by curiousswede »

Mr Franz wrote:That's actually a swim suit btw, not lingerie. If you ordered the light color, should be no problem. The dark one I don't know. Give it a good few washings and test it somewhere inconspicuous if you can before putting it on her.
Will do! I think her feet will be the victims since I'm not a "feet man" and I will rarely look at them. Yeah, I find swimsuits really sexy so I don't mind her wearing that indoors! :D

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by Mr Franz »

curiousswede wrote:
Mr Franz wrote:That's actually a swim suit btw, not lingerie. If you ordered the light color, should be no problem. The dark one I don't know. Give it a good few washings and test it somewhere inconspicuous if you can before putting it on her.
Will do! I think her feet will be the victims since I'm not a "feet man" and I will rarely look at them. Yeah, I find swimsuits really sexy so I don't mind her wearing that indoors! :D
That'll work. Just let her stand on it for a while, (if she has that option). Top of the neck where the head bolts is another good test area that doesn't show.

While I'm thinking about it. I got my gal a nice white dress. Since it was white, I wasn't worried about staining, but the darn thing had a label sew on the neck with red and blue lettering. I was suspicious so I carefully cut it out. Dropped it in a cup of warm water just for the hell of it and it turned the water purple in a mater of seconds! So watch out for labels too.... :wink:

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by curiousswede »

Mr Franz wrote:
curiousswede wrote:
Mr Franz wrote:That's actually a swim suit btw, not lingerie. If you ordered the light color, should be no problem. The dark one I don't know. Give it a good few washings and test it somewhere inconspicuous if you can before putting it on her.
Will do! I think her feet will be the victims since I'm not a "feet man" and I will rarely look at them. Yeah, I find swimsuits really sexy so I don't mind her wearing that indoors! :D
That'll work. Just let her stand on it for a while, (if she has that option). Top of the neck where the head bolts is another good test area that doesn't show.

While I'm thinking about it. I got my gal a nice white dress. Since it was white, I wasn't worried about staining, but the darn thing had a label sew on the neck with red and blue lettering. I was suspicious so I carefully cut it out. Dropped it in a cup of warm water just for the hell of it and it turned the water purple in a mater of seconds! So watch out for labels too.... :wink:
That's great advice! A very small detail easily missed that will give anyone headache if they don't have any effective stain removal kit nearby. I don't know if it will be included for my WM168E from BD. Anyway, I still want to not have to use it so I will make sure to wash and test all clothes for her.

The best thing for all purchased clothes:
1. Look for and remove all labels without damaging the clothes.
2. Handwash it several times or until you see no colors longer in the water you wash it in.

I need to "collect" as many of these simple but preventive procedures as possible to make the regular proper care effective right off the bat instead of having to "learn by trial and error".

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by donoghu »

Here's a test I suggest.
Note that I still don't have my first doll so this is more of an "every day" tip than an actual Doll related tip.
(I can't wait for her to arrive!)
I know about this test because I usually wear a T-Shirt under everything and, whenever I buy a new shirt, I do the following trick to avoid staining my T-Shirts (especially the white ones). I'm someone who walk a lot so staining clothes is one hell when you sweat a bit in them.

A) Remove the exceed of ink from the cloth.
First, pull some hot water in a sealed tub or a sink. Not burning, but between hot and warm. You have to be able to put your hand in the water without feeling any discomfort due to the water's temperature.
Add about 2 table spoons of liquid detergent.
Put clothes of the same color in the water and start playing with them (or it). While not stretching it, try to compress, fold and lightly stroke it together as much of the surface as possible. Leave it for about 2 min in the water to rest. Remove the clothes, drain the water, clean any ink residues left in the sink or bath tub and fill it again, but this time, with cold water. Leave the clothes in the cold water for 5 minutes. Depending on the type of clothes and what kind of fabric is used in it, you might have to leave it hanging to dry or, if possible, you can put it in the drying machine with an anti-static softening sheet which will leave a nice sent onto the clothes.

If you still fear for stains, what you can do to test it out is to put a bit of tap water on the clothe and then put something like an useless white clothe (like an used T-Shirt or sheet) under the wet spot of that clothe. (Make sure the wet part touch the cloth under.) Leave it for a few hour and check the area that was wet. If it leaves a stain, that cloth is most likely to leave something quite easily on your Doll.

If you REALLY like that piece of clothe and it stain just a little bit, I suggest the following trick.
First, put a bit of water onto that clothe just so that it feel tiny bit damp. A bit like if it was used in the humidity of a foggy morning. Dry it with a dryer once it's done. Then put a piece of uniform cardboard (not printed cardboard!) inside the clothe and iron it on both sides.

If the ink in the clothe is oil based (which is why it didn't fully got removed by the previous trick), this will make the exceed of ink "break" off the clothe and it will mostly find itself stuck to the fibers on the cardboard inside.
If you want a fully "non-stainable" clothes, you can do the ironing of the clothe in its reversed side (inside-out).
This is the trick used in clothes printing such as when you see a logo printed onto a T-Shirt or something like that which is printed with an oil-based ink as it's "thicker" and more durable than water-based inks. Cotton based clothes usually are colored with this type of ink.
(If you don't put any kind of cardboard in-between the clothes, if there's a logo, it might end up getting partially stuck to the back side on the other half of the clothe. That cardboard act kinda like a tampon for the exceed ink as soon as it detach itself from the clothe.)

I suggest you try another attempt at "wet cloth over white clothe" afterward just in case.

If you don't have the time or don't feel like doing the whole "by hand", you can use the washing machine about 3-4 times in a row with express washes. The issue with this, though, is that it can damage your clothe quite a bit if there's anything "loose" on it such as strings, caps or Buttons. It's also not the best when you consider how much water and electricity is being used by wash cycle. ;)

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by Nanako »

I wonder if anyone else has had an experience like this:

Recently, I bought a black dress, which I washed about 4 times. I also placed an old white, cotton sock in the wash with it. The first few washings, it showed signs of stains from the dress. After the 4th cycle, however, the test sock (and I used a new one after each washing) showed no signs of staining. I figured the dress had stop bleeding.

I dressed my doll in the dress the next day, and it remained on her for a couple of days. I then changed her clothes, I didn't notice any color transfer from the dress to the doll. So far, so good - but next time she wore it, it left stains on the back of both her thighs. I'm at a loss as to why this could have happened.

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by Slew »

Welcome Nanako. It's odd that it wouldn't stain the first time, but obviously some condition prevented it then, and not the next time. Maybe it was temperature related or different amount of powder on the doll at the time. But regardless, I would avoid leaving any black clothing on too long.

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by Nanako »

Very odd. Good advice, though. Thanks. Nothing but whites and light pastels from now on.

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by smallcat »

Buy used clothes at goodwill/thrift store, and see how bad discoloration is, considering the amount of washes clothes go through, the dye should be more stable if not gone away.

For colored clothes, under layer it with white clothing, if you like dress's colored, make sure to they have a white underliner, if its pure color, I wouldn't risk it(thats me anyway). I've found nice usa made dress's under 10$ on amazon that are under layered white and color on top. You can usually find nice thin white shirts/under pants which isnt too bulky.

I usually try to stick with white/beige/hot pink(may stain sometimes careful with)/denim light blue shirts.
I never really tempted black/blue/red base colors without any underliners. Doesnt matter if brand is cheap or good, the dyes they use can still fall apart.

The oil in tpe absorbs colors/dyes very easily. Its good to cake her in powder as a barrier when put clothes on her if you don't plan to use her, and check her skin later to see how well the starch is holding. The more oily the doll is, the more likely it'll absorb colors; wm/yl can be oily sometimes, took me a couple of washes and a lot of starching til oil settled down finally.

Some dyes can last a very long time in clothes and still dye your doll, even if you washed it a lot of times. Some people are more lucky than others when it comes to not staining. I'm just overly paranoid with colors :?

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Re: What fabrics are OK and don't stain on TPE dolls?

Post by Nanako »

Ok, I think I have this little mystery figured out...

I believe when I sat her in her chair the first time, the back of her dress must have fallen behind her, and hung over the back of the seat. Thus, she wasn't sitting on it. The second time, I remember her dress was definitely tucked underneath her. With the weight of her body bearing down on the dress for a couple of days, it left the stains. Sound plausible?

And thanks for all the suggestions on clothing choices! They will be remembered.

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