Doll Collecting ~ Archiving & Conservation Issues

As someone who has worked as both an artist and a crafts person for many years, I have developed some familiarity with the use of archival quality materials and conservation. I am not an expert - not by a long shot! However, I do have enough knowledge to give helpful advice and to point out issues that should be of concern to you as a serious doll collector.

The two issues of primary concern for a doll collector are the preservation of the actual physical doll and her accessories and the avoidance of exposure to substances and conditions that can cause harm. Unfortunately, some of the standard practices of doll collectors and collectors in general work against the preservation of the dolls themselves.

In this blog, I am going to try to give you all of the information you need to know in order to care well for your precious little people, so that they can be around for a long, long time. I will update this blog whenever I learn something new, discover I need to correct or amend something, or if I think of something that should be included. My hope is that you'll get most of your answers here and won't have to bother with researching complicated scientific details elsewhere. I will also keep it very simple...that works best for me!

I am a practicing visual artist who has worked with acrylics, oils, watercolors, etc. I've learned a bit about archival materials and conservation while learning to paint. I've also had some experience in restoring and/or preserving antique clothing and other vintage items such as furniture, ivory, porcelain dolls, etc. Although I cannot pretend to be a professional conservator with a specialty in dolls, I do have a sound knowledge base, which will prevent me from unknowingly giving poor advice.

Factory Packaging

I am starting with what has to be the most controversial area among doll collectors - the preservation of factory packaging. There are two schools of thought on this 1) You should keep the doll in the factory packaging and dolls that are never removed from packaging should be priced the most highly; 2) You should remove the doll, and display and enjoy her doing your best to keep her in good condition. From a conservation perspective, option 2 is the only option. The materials in factory packaging will ultimately decimate the doll.

When your new doll arrives, immediately remove her from the packaging. Cardboard contains acids that can damage both the doll and her clothing. The cardboard itself is in a state of rapid decomp, even if it looks fine to the naked eye. The wood fibers in cardboard and paper contain a high degree of acid, which causes them to break down rather quickly. Additionally, the packaging will be treated with various chemicals that will off-gas and cause damage to the doll and her clothing. Dyes in the paper can leach onto the doll. Finishes on the backing paper can become sticky and adhere to the doll's skin with the passage of time. Much depends on humidity, exposure to fluctuations of hot/cold, etc. The chemicals in the packaging and the environment they are are stored in will work together to trash the packaged doll. 

These chemicals and their potential for harm will not be disclosed by the manufacturers because they are only obligated to disclose poisonous chemicals. It is safest just to assume they are there - whatever they may be.

If you wish to store the factory packaging, find a cool, dry place to store it. Having it on hand to include with your doll should you sell her, may increase the price by a small amount. 

Personal aside: I have been storing my boxes, but I think that I will probably reach the point where I become frustrated over the space they are taking up and recycle them. I think we need to get over this whole "original packaging" issue and stop rewarding and encouraging the practice, since it does result in a lot of damage to dolls.

Clothing

There are two major concerns with clothing - the preservation of the clothing itself and protection of the doll from dyes and chemicals in the fabric. There is a very simple answer to this - wash the dang things! Doll clothing can be safely hand-washed in cool or warm water. Those items that are exceptions such as real fur pieces, leather, etc. should be stored in sealed packets and worn only briefly by your doll. Silk and other delicate fabrics can be safely hand-washed in cold water using a mild detergent. After washing, thoroughly rinse them following with at least two final rinses in distilled water to remove anything that may have been in your tap water. This washing will remove excess dyes and manufacturing chemicals that may damage your doll or the fabric itself. 

All sorts of chemicals are used to treat fabric: Sizing, flame retardants, starch, anti-microbial agents, water proofing, fade retardants, and so on. You will not be able to determine what may be in your fabric and you will not be able to determine just what the threat to your doll will be from whatever was used, so just wash everything immediately upon purchase. 

The most dangerous chemicals in the fabric is likely to be the sizing and/or starch used on most woven fabrics to give them body and stiffness. Starch and sizing (pretty much the same product) are highly acidic and cause a fairly rapid deterioration of fabric, especially if it is made from natural fibers. Cotton is very vulnerable to damage from sizing & starch and it is among the fabrics most likely to be treated with it by manufacturers. The acid in the sizing can also damage your doll, but the damage will take much longer to make itself noticeable. Sizing and starch are responsible for the general deterioration most commonly referred to as dry rot. In fact, the term dry rot seems to be used to describe just about anything that causes the fabric to crumble into dust. 

Damage from dyes is probably the most noticeable and often the most heartbreaking. A simple preventative measure is - once again - washing. All dyes can bleed regardless of intensity, but it is the dark colored clothing that causes the most damage. Dark and brilliantly colored clothes should be soaked in warm water with a somewhat stronger solution of laundry detergent. They should be soaked multiple times to encourage the loss of as much excess dye as possible. I have done this many, many times and have yet to have a single doll garment fade by doing this. Silk and cotton denims tend to show the most dye bleed. It may frighten you to wash silk if you haven't done it before, but it will work out fine and the potential that your silk garment will be a little less bright is far less of an issue then having that lovely doll damaged by the dye. Thus far, I have not had noticeable fading on any silk clothing. 

Even stockings and panties should be washed. Even very pale or white fabrics should be washed!

If you make your own doll clothes, always wash your fabrics before assembling them into garments. Wash them after assembly to remove any chemicals that could have been transferred by your hands.

The dress shown on Evangeline below is a Tonner "Eye of the Beholder" dress that was washed in warm water several times over to encourage maximum dye bleed. Note that it did not lighten the dress or cause any damage to the pleather choker with its inset gems.

Fabric Longevity: According to something I read recently the longest lasting fabrics are the synthetics such as polyester, followed by wool, cotton, silk and linen (in that order). All of these fabrics have the potential of lasting hundreds of years with the exception of linen, which may not last a century under even optimal conditions. Rayon is a natural fiber that is typically a blend of cotton and other natural fibers, it should be treated as such. Wool is the longest lasting of the natural fibers but is the most vulnerable to insect damage. Polyester and similar products have the greatest potential longevity, but are more prone to deterioration due to exposure to UV and heat.

Doll Hair

Although less of a problem then clothing, doll hair can still expose your doll to dyes and chemicals that can be damaging through time. Again, the solution is to wash it. If it is a wig, wash it in cool water with a mild detergent and rinse thoroughly. Gently blot dry with a towel. Rinse rooted hair with cool water and blot dry. If you notice dye bleed on the towel (this should never happen with rooted hair on a quality doll), wash the hair with a mild detergent and rinse. "Fur" wigs may bleed dyes simply because the fibers cannot solidly retain pigment the way saran hair fibers can. If you notice excess dye bleed while washing any wig, and the wig does not stop bleeding dye with repeated rinses, you may want to consider tossing it in the trash. (Also, blog and warn the rest of us!)

Flowers, hats, and other hair ornaments: Wash them. Wash fabrics before constructing hats and other head pieces. Wash purchased headpieces without exception. Most will survive a wash in cold water with a mild detergent. The greater threat than damage to the headpiece is dye bleed into rooted doll hair. Although dye stains can be removed from a doll's skin, dye stains in hair are pretty much impossible to remove. If the doll has rooted hair and it is stained you may have to remove the hair and start using wigs. Metal and plastic clips are usually safe but you should use care in positioning them as you may tear or break hair if you are too rough.

Almost all doll hair is very resistant to fading from exposure to light. However, human hair and fur wigs can fade. As a rule, keeping the dolls displayed in a cabinet with UV glass and making sure they are out of direct sunlight should prevent all but the most fragile of wigs from fading.

Your Hands ~ Goodness, Even You are a Threat!

Almost everyone already knows this, even if they are a total newbie to the world of doll collecting. Always wash your hands before handling your dolls. Your skin secretes oils to lubricate your skin that are detrimental to your doll's health and well-being. These natural oils can give your doll a slick appearance, grind in surface dirt, and may be acidic (this actually depends a good bit on your diet and general health, etc.), which can cause deterioration over time to the doll and her clothing. If you will be handling a doll for more than just a brief period of time, wear rubber gloves. If you are doing a face up or repairing a doll, you will be handling it long enough for the oils to return and you will rub them into the doll's skin. 

Avoid using hand lotion ahead of handling your dolls. Traces of the lotion can remain after multiple hand washings, so if you know in advance that you will be working working with your dolls, hold off on moisturizing your hands. As with all things chemical, think like a conservator and assume that these products do contain something harmful and take proper precautions.

Keep your dolls in cabinets to deter others from just picking them up. Encourage others to wash their hands before handling the dolls and be firm about this, even if they give you attitude! These are your babies and they are costly!

Light Exposure:

Much has been made of UV exposure lately - our bodies, our cars, our collectibles, etc. are all in potentially grave danger from UV rays. It can seem like exposure to any light form can be a danger to anything. At the very least, exposure to light can cause fading. At the worse, it can cause some materials to crumble or discolor (resin). The fear of light has caused so many people to take excessive precautions and spend huge chunks of money on specially designed cabinets with special non-florescent lights and UV resistant glass.

If you have resin dolls in your collection, you should protect them from all exposure to UV light. If they are not kept in a window free room, they should be closed in a cabinet with solid doors during daytime hours. Cabinets with UV blocking glass are a good option, but they can be very costly. Retrofitting existing cabinets with UV glass is a great option for those who are good with their hands. Exposure to UV will cause resin dolls to turn yellow and can cause the resin itself to deteriorate. New resins are being made with UV resistant materials and you are strongly encouraged to purchase your new dolls from manufacturers who use this material. The actual effect of UV light will vary from doll to doll. There are other variables, such as finish varnishes, heat and humidity that have an effect that is not fully understood or predictable. As with those bleeding dyes - take the precaution and reduce or eliminate exposure altogether.

If you have a collection of vinyl dolls and/or porcelain dolls, heave a sigh of relief. Although you should not display your dolls in bright sunlight, you do not have to worry about the horrors of UV exposure the way the owner of a resin doll does. Your doll will be fine under normal lighting conditions with exposure to indirect sunlight, such as that which filters through a curtain or from a nearby window. Many of you probably already know this through experience. A vinyl doll can actually take exposure to direct sunlight. This will not cause any damage unless the doll is left in the sunlight for a prolonged period of time. It is the clothing and face ups that could fade with exposure to excessive bright light. A face up done with quality materials, such as Liquitex, Golden and Windsor & Newton paint, will not fade even under extreme circumstances. Factory face ups done by quality manufactures should not fade either. The clothing will be the most vulnerable, but should be fine without direct exposure and do even better if kept in a cabinet with UV blocking glass. (Other plastic dolls tend to do as well as vinyl, however you may wish to err on the safe side and keep them in a cabinet with UV glass.)

I have items that date back to the 19th century and earlier that show no significant fading, so I do believe that ordinary protective measures should be adequate in most situations.

Fabrics that fade readily in intense direct sunlight include cotton, silk, and linen. The synthetics are the most colorfast, however the UV light itself can damage synthetic fibers. My experience has been that cotton fades the fastest in direct sunlight. There are dyes and chemical treatments that resist fading, but you may not be able to determine if your fabric has them and they may be damaging to the doll and the clothing fibers.

Cabinets - You Thought They Were Safe!

You spent hundreds, even thousands on a cabinet and now I am going to tell you that even it could be unsafe? Sorry, but I am going to do just that. The wood, the stains, the varnishes, the various polymer products that could be in the cabinet can off-gas releasing chemicals that can cause deterioration in your dolls and/or their clothing. In fact, some chemicals used in the manufacture of furniture are so dangerous when they off-gas that they can actually pit stones and porcelain. Many museums learned about this the hard way...a closed cabinet concentrates the gases and actually accelerates the damage making it more dangerous to put them in cabinets than to leave them on an open shelf.

Archival cabinets are available from vendors such as Gaylord and these are an excellent option...if you've got a lot of money to spare. Even the smallest of cabinets manufactured with lab tested archival materials can cost nearly as much as a used car. I do know that there are collectors out there who would think nothing of spending a large sum of money for a display cabinet, but that is not an option for most of us.

What can we, the humble collector who doesn't have deep pockets, do to safely display our collection? How can we even know if our cabinet is safe, since we can't test it and don't really even know the first thing about testing? Buy a used cabinet. Off-gassing from the furniture is most pronounced after it is first manufactured. There is little or no off-gassing from older pieces of furniture. If the furniture has been continuously polished using a heavy duty product on the interior surfaces - it is probably off-gassing. Otherwise, an older wooden cabinet should be safe for your dolls. A good, but not 100% foolproof test, is to sniff the interior of the cabinet. If you smell varnish or cleaning solutions, don't buy it.

Keep your cabinet safe by never using chemicals on the inside. Dust and clean the glass with a damp cloth. Avoid placing any scented materials in the cabinet. Yes, some people do put things inside their cabinets to make the dolls smell pretty...not good!

Cabinets with a laminated finish may continue to off-gas forever, so they should be avoided unless you can actually determine that the cabinet is archival (some archival cabinets are made exclusively with metal and man made materials).

Avoid cabinets that use Lucite or Plexiglas instead of real glass. Both of these products are notorious for off-gassing. If they are PVC (polyvinyl chloride) they can do some serious damage.

The best bet if you, or your significant other, are handy with power tools, is to build your own cabinets. You can do online research and find vendors who sell archival quality materials and UV glass. This will offer you a significant savings over purchasing a ready made archival cabinet, but it could involve a huge investment of time and effort.

Clothing Storage

Your clothing should be stored away from sunlight in a place where the items will not be exposed to either heat or moisture. Light colored items should not be stored in contact with dark items. Ideally, each set of clothing should be sealed in an airtight Ziploc type bag. Unfortunately, these bags may be made from PVC containing polymers that may damage the garments. Thankfully, there is an affordable answer. Gaylord, the company mentioned above in reference to the cabinets, sells archival Ziploc type bags! And they are very affordable! You can also purchase archival document sleeves form an office supply store. However, these don't seal closed and cannot be made airtight. Nonetheless, the document sleeves can be a good budget solution if you have a very large collection of doll clothes that you want to quickly repackage in an archival manner.

Never, and I strongly repeat NEVER, use mothballs to store clothing. They are hazardous to your health. Simply breathing the fumes can cause serious health problems. Prolonged exposure in seniors who were taught to use mothballs to protect stored clothing, is a serious and potentially fatal problem. If you are in a position where you must handle items that have been mothballed, wear protective gloves and use a respirator. If you are actually considering using this foul stuff use this link Are Mothballs Toxic?

Shoes

The primary problem with shoes is staining. Suede and synthetic suede are probably the worst culprits when it comes to dye bleed, followed by real leather. Shoes cannot be safely washed, as this will destroy them if they are not made with water resistant glue.  An easy solution is to use acrylic varnish - the paint on variety usually sold right next to the artist's acrylics that you've purchased for your face ups. These varnishes are easily painted onto the inside surfaces of the shoes and can create a barrier between the doll's foot and the shoe. I've used Liquitex varnish with good results. This varnish is flexible, it does not make your shoes rigid and will not deteriorate with normal use.

Cloth and ribbon shoes may become stiffer with the application of varnish, but this will not present a problem. The acrylic varnish can also make your fragile cloth and ribbon shoes more durable.

Suede and synthetic suede may still dye bleed after varnishing, especially if they have dark or bright dyes. I have personally been so frustrated by suede, that I have decided not to buy any more shoes made from this material. Suede shoes made for the larger feet of SD BJDs may be lined, which should offer enough protection especially after you've varnished the interior surface.

In closing...

I hope that I've been helpful! I hope that I've given you some good ideas for safely caring for your collection. I hope I've inspired you to question some of the dangerous practices some collectors engage in such as keeping dolls in original boxes and not washing the clothes, thereby speeding their deterioration in the mistaken belief they are preserving value.

I will be updating this as I learn more and hope that people who read this post will share problems they've had related to the conservation of their collection.