when talking about The greatest challenges for doll makers in 2018 a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I'd consider the darn TPE plug issue to be actually solved in the near future because of an upcoming sealant kit by Indigo. I was wrong - Indigo will not release this sealant kit for a number of consumer protection reasons (handling is too complicated). So this long-standig TPE plug issue is still not resolved - neither by the manufacturers, nor by 3rd party tools.
So at this point you only have three choices to (more or less reliably) avoid rust and mould inside your doll:
- Either discard the majority of TPE dolls available on the market and choose the one manufacturer who has actually targeted (and solved) the TPE plug issue; deciding with your wallets might encourage the (ignorant) rest of the crowd to target the TPE plug issue, too;
- or try to seal a loose TPE plug yourself; Indigo's TPE repair kit comes in handy, but it might be a bit complicated to succeed, and the kit is not available for TPE blends;
- or last but not least you decide to go for the insert variant of your favourite TPE lady. This does not resolve the TPE plug issue, but it mitigates it as the insert will relieve strain on the TPE plug and it is less likely to become loose.
Sandro