The first day of a whole new world! (A tad long)

NicaieriRege · Post by **NicaieriRege** » Sat Sep 14, 2019 5:32 pm

Hello everyone, prepare for a long first post!

I decided to take the plunge on a TPE doll after some deliberation (and a sale that popped up) and I am blown away by just how many dolls and sites there actually are. I made the mistake of not fully researching before my purchase and ended up buying the "Pre-Configured 145cm Lilly WM-74a" 1am doll from a third party site (adameve), which actually charged me about 600+ more than I could have gotten off with on the 1am site (even after factoring in all the extras they sent her with). She was the only one that existed on that site, which I have used for Fleshlight products before. I unfortunately did not even know this type of community existed and was absolutely shocked when I checked out the 1am website after the doll arrived (3 days ago) and directed me to some tutorial videos. Though slightly annoyed that I could have customized her a bit more for a lesser price than I purchased for, I am still going to keep her. I'll just buy an extra head with my preferred options (hair style/color/eye color) when I have recovered funds a bit. I am fortunate that she came with the standing option and built in vagina (perhaps even the shrugging shoulders, I don't really know), but still, lesson learned. She came with blond wig 3 and blue eyes (I prefer darker hair and green eyes usually, the blues she came with were very nice though!) and a pink spaghetti strap top.

My advice to any potential first time buyers that may have luckily found this site before purchasing, research is paramount! Take some extra time to read through some of the threads here before making your decisions.

In any case, I am thrilled to see I am not alone in this very new world to me. I even spent about 7 hours browsing the forums and looking at tips from all the members on here, though that did end up generating some additional questions in my mind. I have so many plans for her!

Let's move onto my initial setup observations and concerns!

I see that it is recommended to wash her down after unboxing. The instruction sheet came very soaked, I thought some disinfectant from the included package of wipes had leaked onto it and I had to dry it out before I could read it. Luckily, most of the print stayed intact! The first difficulty I had was getting the head actually on. The neck came slightly bent which I didn't realize at the time which made it way more difficult to install as the screw thread angle was very awkward. I was still not fully sure I attached it correctly but it was staying on at least and was able to move side to side. It was only afterward that I figured out that I could move the neck to a more straight, upright position. She also seemed to have shipped with a lazy eye, and I was able to correct it somewhat but did not want to keep messing around with her eyes, so it is still not completely spot on.

The initial setup sheet that was provided had said to use the included disinfectant wipes on her entire body. Boy, what a process that was as the wipes dried up rather quickly. I think I ended up using half the package and after a bit and some pruny fingers I finally completed that step. My goodness did I ever underestimate her weight. I feel bad for the older UPS guy who dragged the box up a flight of stairs to my apartment. Luckily I had set up plans to be there to sign so he didn't have to carry it back down and up again the next day! I felt like I went and lifted weights for a few hours at a gym the next morning! It wasn't until I got onto the forums later that I realized that probably hurt the doll and I should have washed her with mild soap and water first. More on that later.

The next step in my instruction sheet was to powder her entire body after the disinfectant dried, simple enough, though I feel I breathed in quite a lot of it and had one falling bottle incident that released a fairly decent cloud applying a generous coating to me and the floor. Whoops! I spent some extra time on this step getting close to her (while still clothed!)

Now I had the wig, the bane of my existence. I am very bad with working with hair and wigs and did not have any of the spray the instruction sheet mentioned so I had a pretty tangled and frizzy mess for a bit. I did receive a nice metal wig comb with her which helped tame things a little, though I don't know if I actually put the wig on the proper way and it fell out of my hands at one point messing it up a bit more. By this point I almost decided she looked fine bald. (I had grown attached to the baldness during the powdering session). Finally, I got it on and got the wig to passable appearance. The hair still feels weird to me though. I need to figure out the best way to wash it to avoid damaging it, as well as find that spray the setup sheet mentioned. This was as far as the instruction sheet went.

I carried her to what would probably end up being her normal area on the bed and dressed her some of my older pajamas to keep her warm. They were way over-sized on her of course, but it was late at this point and I still needed to get up for work in the morning. The pajama shirt was a little tough getting on, but the pajama pants definitely took some extra work to get around her generous backside, complicated by her weight and the hybrid memory foam mattress I sleep on. I folded up her white blanket it and placed her head on it as my sheets are dark and I had read about fabric bleed from the instruction sheet. The pajamas I put her in were also very dark (everything I have is dark), but since they were so loose and well-worn and washed, I thought it would suffice and just made sure to cover her exposed skin and hope for the best in the morning. I put her into a sleeping position that looked comfortable and snuggled with her (no 'sessions' for now!). My night was not yet over though...

While trying to fall asleep and find a comfortable position to fall asleep with her in, I was confronted with the numb arm, a problem I have had in the distant past with my last actual real girlfriend. I had forgotten about this as I hadn't been in bed with anyone for 13 years (one of the reasons I got the doll. It is difficult to meet and date real women with my work schedule, and I was starting to miss the companionship and was starting to develop some depression. Lilly has a the added bonus of being somewhat therapeutic for me). After trying to find that sweet position I felt something odd. An exposed head bolt! Somehow in my struggle and posing attempts I had dislodged her head, showing me that I did not actually have it screwed on properly. I am still not sure if I have it on correctly, but I have not encountered any other unexpected detachments, thankfully. They are mildy heart wrenching to unexpectedly see. Her head still turns and seems to move properly, though it does seem to reset into a different position in certain poses. I always feel weird screwing it on and feel like I am damaging the TPE on the top of the neck. We finally fell asleep in the spoon position (one of my favorite sleeping/cuddling positions!) I may end up getting one of those pillows with the hole for your arm underneath to help with this.

I do have some questions and concerns that have arisen in my forum diving but I'll put those in the next post space below this. This is already long enough as it is, and being brand new I need my first couple posts to be approved (sorry moderators! I hope it is not too much!) Thanks for reading about my first day, anyone who made it through!

Post by **Slew** » Sat Sep 14, 2019 8:12 pm

NicaieriRege wrote:(I had grown attached to the baldness during the powdering session)

Welcome NicaieriRege, glad you found us. Better late than never.

You can apply a little bit of vaseline to the neck and the rubber on the bottom of the head, which will help to avoid friction when screwing it on.

And there are lots of options for wigs out there... have fun.

NicaieriRege · Post by **NicaieriRege** » Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:59 pm

Thank you!

As mentioned in the previous post, I did have some concerns arise. Some of the obvious things I have noticed are and seem to be getting a really loud squeaking noise when I move her right leg from the thigh/crotch connection area. The left leg makes zero noise so I am wondering if something may have happened there when I was working on poses. The joint at the knee does not make any noise and seems limited to just that thigh area. It is very loud and makes me cringe every time I try to move that leg and I am wondering if there is something I can do to fix it, seeing as her left leg is absolutely silent in movement. I don't even know how I would go about this though. I searched for squeaking joints among the forum and only a handful mentioned it but I was not able to find something that could work as a solution. I can't recall if that noise was present when I first got her.

Another issue I have had is I can't seem to get her wrists to rotate, if they are even supposed to. I did not want to force anything because I wasn't sure if they were meant to rotate. I tried watching the 1am videos on skeleton manipulation but the one that showed wrists did not demonstrate them rotating, just moving up and down and messing with the fingers.

Speaking of her fingers, I did notice on her left thumb there seems to be a small flap of TPE that I can lift off her thumb and see some of the wire underneath. It also forms a small bubble of some clear liquid when pressed after lifting the TPE flap. I read that TPE usually rebinds itself after a while so I am hoping that will work itself out. I bought a bottle of TPE glue that I am waiting to come in in case this may help bind that flap back down, though that clear bubble still concerns me a bit. I also have taken notice of some sort of bubble on the sides of her knee joints. It kind of resembles a larger mosquito or spider bite, and is slightly whiter than the rest of the skin around it. It does not lift off like the thumb one though, so it may just be normal. I have to make a few more posts before I can actually show the pictures I have taken of these areas though.

Those were the only issues I have come across so far.

I do have some other more general questions, one of them being what is the best way to hide the dolls? I live in an apartment complex and the maintenance guy randomly comes in to work on a few things. Usually I get advance warning but a month ago or so I had no idea he was coming and did not have certain other embarrassing things adequately hidden when he came over to install a carbon monoxide detector while I was at work. This has led me to become slightly paranoid every morning. Since getting the doll a few days ago I have been covering her with her shipping blanket as well as my bed sheet blanket, but it still settles a bit and reveals certain rather shapely aspects of her, despite still being covered (usually the head, breasts/nipples and leg contours). I have thrown clothes on top of the sheets to try and even out the curves, but it makes it look more obvious something is hiding there. I don't want the maintenance guy to think I have an actual human body laying there, and since the dolls appear so realistic if he investigated really quick he might not immediately know it is not a real human (paranoid and overthinking, I know, but still). She is much to heavy too for me to move on and off the bed every morning after I have just woken up and am rushing to get to work. I tried to stand her up in my walk-in closet, since she is a standing model, but it did not work out too well and ended up in her legs buckling due to insufficient standing and bracing space. Also, heavy to lift off and down my thigh high bed frame and 14 inch mattress, so it would ideally have to be a way to hide her while still being on the bed, if such a thing was possible.

Another question I have is what is the best was to clean of the silicone lube on the female condoms? After researching through the forums I found that many TPE owners use a female condom for 'play time', to aid in clean-up even though silicone lubes are a no-no. It is mentioned to just wash the silicone lube off and let it hang dry. Is it just as simple as running water and your fingers over it for a while? I worry that I will miss a spot or not get it completely off. Perhaps that is just another overthinking issue. I tend to do that a lot, especially with items with a large price tag.

Wow, I sure do type a lot. I really do try to avoid making long posts since people don't read them as often (the whole TLDR thing). I'm sure more questions will come up but there sure is a lot of type in here at the moment. I just want to make sure I can protect and preserve her adequately for a long period of time. Thank you anyone who took the time to read through everything and for any advice you can give!

Post by **Slew** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:42 am

NicaieriRege wrote:Thank you!

Wow, I sure do type a lot.

You're welcome Nic. Well, you're not a man of few words. That's okay, at least we'll always know exactly what you're talking about.

On the issues you've found - always first try to contact your vendor and ask them for help/advice, they should know best. It sounds like you got a doll with a gammy hip. If your vendor is of no help, are you willing to cut her open and take a look? If so, we have some experts here who can walk you through a diagnosis and maybe repair. If you decide to try this, post about your problem with photos and info here: https://www.dollforum.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=7

Vendor should certainly know if the wrists rotate or not.

Not sure about the bubbles, but they could just be typical blemishes. Showing photos is best, so we can form an opinion. Again, best is to use the Repair forum I linked above for this kind of thing.

For hiding/storage:
https://www.dollforum.com/forum/viewtop ... 01&t=73495
https://www.dollforum.com/forum/viewtop ... 87&t=72526
https://www.dollforum.com/forum/viewtop ... 43&t=69930
https://www.dollforum.com/forum/viewtop ... 14&t=47841

I would guess that soap and warm water would do the trick on the condoms, although I have no first hand experience.

Tyr · Post by **Tyr** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:51 am

I use washing up liquid and warm water to first time clean a female condom, not had any problems. After that shower gel, I think any soap will do though. Take the ring out too, you won't need it.

Tyr

adelea · Post by **adelea** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 4:48 am

For sleeping, I usually move her neck forward a bit, so it is lifted off the pillows - this way I can slide my arm under it without having the weight pressing down on to me - so no dead arm.

I also do something similar with her back, and leave it arched so I can get my arm under it easily.

AGL · Post by **AGL** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:32 pm

Not sure if she's got hinged wrists, or just wires. If they're hinged, bend her wrists so that the hands are at a 90 degree angle to her forearms, then use the hands as a lever in which to rotate the wrists.

NicaieriRege · Post by **NicaieriRege** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 5:40 pm

Thanks everyone for your replies and tips! My sponge bath items came in today so I have been trying to wash her up a bit. I used a spray bottle with hand washing liquid and water, and some microfiber sponges to spread it around. However I do not know if I used enough washing liquid because I haven't seen any dark stuff coming up that would be factory gunk. It is also possible I may have missed the window seeing as she has gone unwashed for about 4 days now (except for that initial disinfectant wipe wash the manual said to do when I first got her), so it may have been unfortunately absorbed into the TPE already. I'll have to hope nothing crazy happens when I start the oil treatment, like one post I read on here that turned everything black upon first oiling.

I am pretty sure she has the hinged wrists since they do go up and down 90 degrees all at once. I'll see if I can get any movement after that.

I did contact the vendor first but got a pretty generic response about checking their skeleton movement videos. I may wait a bit on the squeaking leg. It did not seem as obvious and loud this morning, though when I was washing her this afternoon it did get slightly more noticeable again. I am not ready to cut her open yet, but thank you for pointing me towards that post in case it gets really bad.

I will definitely post the issue pictures once I have reached the post count that allows me to post pictures (I think it was 5, Almost there!)

Those storage links were definitely interesting resources and give me a few ideas to try, thank you very much!

Also had some white lingerie and white satiny pants come in today for her, just so she can have something to wear for now. I will test it to see if white actually stains anything. I don't have good access to a washer dryer until the weekend to do a pre-wash (nor the time during the week to run to a coin-op), so hopefully white is fine. I'll start working on other clothing later that I can hopefully combine with my wardrobe of all dark to minimize wash loads (since I don't really own anything white or light colored to share the wash with) at least she has something to wear until I can sufficiently wash the darker things.

AGL · Post by **AGL** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 8:38 pm

Mineral oil works great as a cleaner for TPE. Spread it on her skin but don't let it soak in. Instead, use a soft cloth to remove it, which will lift off most if not all of the manufacturing residues.

GooseLooney · Post by **GooseLooney** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:18 pm

Hi, NicaieriRege.

Yay! Congrats on your new dolly. I think you'll find learning all this stuff about TPE dolls is quite a fun experience in itself. I brought my beautiful Annie home on April 12, 2018, and she's been amazing. One of the things you wrote that really jumped out at me is that you are thrilled that you are not alone in this new world. I was relieved when I found the DollForum and have learned so much on here. I have also been blogging on other sites such as Fetlife, SuicideGirls, Twitter, and Instagram and have found many doll owners and supporters of the doll community on some of those sites as well. The other thing I liked was that your doll, Lilly, has the added bonus of being somewhat therapeutic. I tell a lot of my closest friends this when they ask about Annie. I have no trouble getting involved with real women, but I enjoy being single quite a bit, and having Annie around has helped with the loneliness. In fact, I feel less and less lonely each day that I am with my babygirl. She also helps with me being creative and using my imagination. It has been fun creating a backstory for her and buying her clothes that go with her personality.
Again, congratulations! Hope to see you around the forum and see some pics of Lilly soon!

Goose

NicaieriRege · Post by **NicaieriRege** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 7:50 pm

Thanks for all the advice. I had a bit of a panic attack inducing moment this morning. I put her in a different spot on my bed and went to grab something and heard a slam come from the bedroom. She had fallen off the bed somehow!

I made sure to have her braced and everything. I think the memory foam may have pushed back weirdly since it was a new spot on the bed and nudged her off while I was walking around (I do shake the floor in there a little when I walk). This was nerve wracking because my bed with mattress is waist high meaning it was about a 3-foot drop! After stifling a sailor-like shout (I live in a multi room apartment building with thin walls, I didn't want to alarm my neighbors), I quickly put her into her normal spot which memory foam had conformed to and immediately began inspecting. Luckily she didn't seem to have incurred much damage, though I had to readjust her head and eyes a bit. This actually helped correct her lazy eye somewhat, though I don't recommend that as an action! I was using a bright LED mag-light and my word I did not realize how much of a lint and hair magnet they are, even being powdered. I tried to clear it off but I could not seem to get the microfiber towel to pick anything up. All it did was shift it around her body and I had to start picking hairs out, carefully. I didn't think my floor was that dirty! She looked fine without that light though. I was wondering if there was an easier way to get that sort of stuff off. I even tried to wash her again and it sort of moved piled up white (presumably old powder mixed with the dirt and lint and such from her accident) gunk around her body. I tried piling it and then wiping it off with the microfiber towel, but it just kept moving the piles around, I ended up using my fingers again and grabbing small balls of it off, but it just wouldn't stop. I'd like to avoid having to pick stuff off with my fingers as I don't want to accidentally damage the TPE.

I wanted to thank you for the wrist rotation tip as that seems to have solved that problem. I was not bending her hands far enough to enable that joint movement. Now we can hug and cuddle each other properly, haha. Also, thank you for the cuddle position tip, that has helped out a lot since I do hate the dead-arm.

On the more 'adult' side I am still waiting for the female condom to come in. The disadvantages of international ordering. It's been hard to practice abstinence with her (she just looks so dang enticing!) while I wait as I am nervous to 'play' because of the TPE ball problem she may or may not have. I thought about grabbing some regular condoms, while I wait, but I read that you can't use petroleum jelly with them, which is what I use to help coat and treat her inside. I am trying to avoid much cleaning because of the aforementioned TPE ball problem, and am hesitant on using water-based since I read it can cause mold (which can apparently be circumvented by doing the petroleum jelly treatment, so it seems contradictory). I am never too sure if she has completely dried out since I can't get my finger in that far to check. I bought the Absorbing Wand 1am has (which may or may not work), but I don't want to dislodge that ball. I am at an impasse!

I need to start studying wig washing and hair-styling. I haven't yet done that as I thought it would be fine, but I am becoming more conscious of it now when we are cuddling and I am growing closer to her. I also plan on buying her a new wig at some point for cosplay and just the hair color and style I am more attracted to.

I think I will be able to post picture soon after the post gets approved! I am very excited to show her to you (as well as address some of those issues I mentioned in earlier posts)! Thanks for reading!

DevonRayne · Post by **DevonRayne** » Sun Sep 22, 2019 11:39 am

I find that baby oil helps pull all that dirt to the surface and you can use a paper towel to remove it. It is a royal pain to clean the doll that way and is a bit time consuming but I've yet to find a more efficient way to remove all the dirt you'd pick up from having the doll hit your floor. I'm also new here with a doll only a few months old and have been reading your posts entirely. Oh and I dropped my doll too. I think you'll be fine!

DevonRayne · Post by **DevonRayne** » Sun Sep 22, 2019 12:09 pm

I also have a similar living situation to yours. I'm in an apartment complex where sometimes the maintenance guys will come by in the event of some service emergency. I have a seville classics locker that I can store my doll in hanging from a rod when not in use but I prefer to have my doll out in the open since I live alone and like having her presence felt. It's probably just a matter of time before the guys stumble upon the doll and I become the talk of the day at my front leasing office. Oh well! I'm honestly more concerned with their curiosity getting the best of them and them touching my doll while I'm not home with their dirty hands. Go figure.

Here is the link to the locker I use. I got the idea from a member here and purchased one through ebay.
https://www.garage-organization.com/Pro ... gK6m_D_BwE

Only problem is, now I want a second doll and will have to find yet another storage solution!

Post by **Rock13** » Sun Sep 22, 2019 12:57 pm

NicaieriRege wrote:I need to start studying wig washing and hair-styling. I haven't yet done that as I thought it would be fine, but I am becoming more conscious of it now when we are cuddling and I am growing closer to her. I also plan on buying her a new wig at some point for cosplay and just the hair color and style I am more attracted to.

Welcome to TDF, NicaieriRege!

You've already gotten some great pointers above, but I'd like to offer some tips on wig care and clothing. Apparently, as with mine your doll has a threaded head connector. When screwing her head on and off (and it may seem a little creepy) I always take a gentle grip high on her neck and pull down slightly on her neck to reduce the friction between the mating surfaces of her head and neck. Once you've got a few rotations done you can relax your grip on the neck and let it return to normal length. A small amount of TPE-safe sex lube applied to the mating surface surrounding the screw can help as well, but can result in stickiness and more cleaning whenever you remove her head.

It sounds like you expect your doll to spend most of her time in bed or sitting on furniture. If you didn't get the standing foot option, then portions of my reply will of little use, but may be worth reading should you ever buy another doll.

Wigs are easier to style on a wig stand, then carefully put on the head- and NEVER let a hot curling iron get within a few inches of her skin. Use a blow dryer on the cool setting only. Always brush the tangles out of a wig starting at the ends of the hair and working your way up inch by inch. When using hairspray, I apply a little bit of my favorite- Pantene Pro-V series "Volume" high lifting hairspray- as I style the wig. Once it's on her head, if you need to give it a few more squirts to control bangs and stuff be careful to put your hand up to her hairline to shield her skin from the spray. Also, synthetic and human hair wigs differ greatly not only in price, but also cleaning and maintenance requirements. You can also obtain eyebrow wigs that I find enhance facial realism to a remarkable degree. I'll provide a few of my favorite sources for wigs and stuff below.

When you are doing maintenance on her head, be sure to put a small quantity of powder in her eye sockets and gently spread it around in there evenly. That will help her eyes move easier. Also, the cornea tends to be the glassiest part of a human eye and contrasts with the slightly more textural surrounding sclera. Whenever I receive a new set of eyes, I use a Q-tip to apply a light, wet layer of clear acrylic floor wax (Pledge or Future Shine) mixed 50:50 with 90% isopropyl alcohol to just her corneas. It dries in just a few minutes and makes the eyes look very lifelike.

When dressing the doll, keep in mind that some fabrics can grip her skin and bind in places so if you pull too hard or don't manage the friction it can cause micro tears and rough spots. Easy does it! I never dress my doll with her head attached. When donning and doffing clothing, you can put your doll's arms in positions that a real person would find quite uncomfortable- like 90° to her rear with hands close together- which is how I put heavy leather jackets and other sleeved tops on my Hadleigh. To prevent fingers snagging in the sleeves, which can cause finger wire breakage, wire pokes through the tips, and lost fingernails, I always reach into the end of the sleeve and put it over my own wrist. I grab her hand and get her finger and thumb tips into my palm to keep them from snagging on the fabric and simply push the sleeve from my forearm over onto hers. For dresses and tight skirts, I lay her down on her slab with legs raised slightly and feet close together and pull the garment up to her hip/thigh joints. Socks, shoes, and boots are put on and taken off while she's still laying on her back in this position.
Then I swing her off the slab into a standing posture on her dolly and pull the dress/skirt/jeans up over her hips and make final adjustments. Then comes her tops and accessories. If she's wearing a cap sleeve or formal dress I keep her hands at her sides and until I can get her hands through the "holes" and then pull the garment the rest of the way up, incrementally.

Some fabrics can stain her skin even after washing. To avoid this, I either test the fabric on a spare piece of TPE that I bought from RLSD or I put her in a champagne-colored leotard. The leotard also has a satin sheen so clothing slides over it very easily. It also, I think, provides excellent support for heavy masses of TPE such as arms and legs by exerting a little pressure all around, which I think over time will help avoid gravity-induced splits in her skin. I have about a half a dozen different leotards- bought from Amazon- to match the neck lines, sleeve lengths, etc., for a given outfit.

Here's a few of my favorite links for wigs:

https://shop.wigsbuy.com/

https://www.headcovers.com/eyebrows/eyebrow-wigs/

I usually call out all of my sources whenever I post an updated photo set, but if you are interested in further assistance with clothing, makeup, and accessory sources many of us here on TDF will be able to help with that.

Again, welcome, and enjoy your new adventures as you embark on yoru "whole new world"!

DollLyfe · Post by **DollLyfe** » Sun Sep 22, 2019 1:37 pm

Congratulations on your first doll! There is definitely a learning curve to many different aspects of owning a doll but you seem to be catching on quite well. From the sound of it, you may want to give her a baby oil bath. Check out this thread https://www.dollforum.com/forum/viewtop ... 7&t=119054 regarding bathing her. I've personally only done 1 baby oil bath and make sure you allow yourself ample time, wear gloves (except for oiling her tits, LOL) and have a couple extra towels available for oil that will drip.