HINTS ON PRESERVING YOUR DOLLS
1. Never store your dolls in a basement or attic
When you are an avid collector and storage space can become a nightmare or if you have vintage and antique dolls handed down from your family, you want to preserve these dolls so you too can hand down to your child, do not store them in an attic or basement. Unless of course, you have a temperature controlled area. Both attics and basements have a tendency to maintain great degrees of hot and cold, which can soon ruin the compositions, plastics and other doll materials.
2. If you display your dolls be sure to dust them often
If you elect to leave your collector dolls on display you may be very sorry later. But if you do decide to display them be sure to dust then frequently. Dust can dull the costume colors, it can set into wigs causing damage, and it can set into the doll clothes making it necessary to wash which in turn can diminish the value of the doll.
3. Never lay your antique bisque dolls on their backs for storage
Store you antique bisque dolls face down. If you lay antique bisque dolls on their backs to store them, their glass eyes can fall out of their setting and crack the eyes and maybe the bisque head. This is due to the fact the eyes are held in with plaster, and the weight of the eyes and the plaster can make them drop out when stored on their back.
4. Keep children, dogs, cats, turtles, and giraffes away from your dolls
Ok, I know you most likely do not have one of the above but the message is clear. In order to preserve your collector dolls you must keep them out of reach of curious hands, teeth, feet, paws, and hooves.
5. Do not keep your dolls in plastic containers
This may seem like the right thing to do to safe your dolls, but you must be very careful if you decide to do this. Even the slightest bit of moisture in an air tight plastic container, over time can cause mildew and mold on the dolls. One possible hint on this would be to put a few small holes in the plastic container to let any moisture evaporate.
6. Never display your dolls in bright sunlight
Nothing can be worse to the preservation of a doll than bright sunlight or bright lights to display your dolls. This will definitely fade the colors of most outfits and it can damage some materials of dolls, including the vinyl in most Barbie dolls.
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