Can touching cause shiny skin/questions.

I have had my first DD for about 2 years now and I think I have started to notice that the face up or the whole head in general is a bit shiny in the right light. There is no doubt about it at this point. Its not the worst ever but it stands beside my other DD and its noticeable. By face up I mean basically the whole face not just the painted parts. For awhile I thought it may have been a sealant but its a Volks face up so I have a few questions. I know it is advised to not touch the face up and I do not touch the painted parts unless it happens by accident or I really have to. (DD is normal skin)

 

Can touching the face up cause a shiny look? I have changed the wigs and removed the head and I have pretty much touched all of the face at one point however some places I touch way more when putting on new wigs or removing the heads, but the shine seems evenly distributed.

 

Does Volks seal default face ups?

 

If it is a from touching, what gloves can I buy to touch the face up safely in the future I plan to get a new DD soon and I want to take the most care I can out of it as it is a rare occurrence for me to be able to afford one.

tl;dr answer:

 

Yes, you can cause shiny spots on vinyl with your fingers. No, I doubt you'd be able to get an entire head shiny from just that. Could be just the vinyl, who knows. Did you buy her new from Volks or used? I know there are some people that apply sealant to their brand new DDs.

 

Older Volks faceups are more... simple and IMO do look a bit more shiny, they've refined the way they apply them as well as the look.

 

And no, Volks faceups are not sealed, despite what some people seem to claim.

 

As for gloves? Regular cotton gloves would probably work. Or you could simply just wash your hands before you're gonna touch your DD heads. Personally I simply never touch mine on the face, if I'm gonna turn a head or do something it's much simpler to just grab around the ears.

Abrasion can cause shiny spots on vinyl and plastic. Even handling with clean cotton gloves (given enough time and handling) can cause shiny spots. Clean gloves will keep the oils and other contaminants from your hands off of your doll but any handling will cause abrasions, especially to relatively fragile face-up materials and sealants. An easy to see example is to look at your computer mouse. Most mice are molded with a little bit of texture to the plastic surface to improve grip. The spots where you hold the mouse and push the buttons with you fingers will become shiny from the texture being rubbed off.

Now don't panic, touching your doll's face with your white cotton gloves is not going to rub in shiny spots overnight. It will take time and quite a bit of handling. Just be aware that wearing gloves is not a "get out of jail free card" for facial handling. The best advice is to avoid touching the face as much as possible.

Yeah, with dolls it's best to never touch the face, I also just touch the ears.

If you want her face to be matte again you always have the option of spraying her with a coat of Mr.SuperClear. It is the spray that people use to seal faceups.

Light handling should not bring any issues and if you are not very touchy with your doll you may not need hloves. if you do need, buy really cheap cotton ones, you can use them for several rounds and the cost drops down to almost nothing.

 

Washing your hands before handling dolls is important because you may be carrying other junk on your fingertips than just the natural oil of a human skin. Clean hands clean doll.

 

I myself do think sealing a doll will be a good idea. Gives the material and the faceup a longer last and in cases of dirt emergency your doll will more likely survive, than without a sealant. Most sealants are completely matte and won't bring extra shine to your doll. Sealing is very simple and you only need a very light dusting of a coat.

 

EDIT // Also something I picked up from my BJD days is a miracle tool: MAGIC SPONGE. It's a white blocky ponge which can be found all around the world in most bigger grocery stores. The sponge is re-usable, works on almost every surface and all you need is water. Lightly washing your doll with a magic sponge can get rid of small stains and dirt - sometimes even superficial coloration from dark clothes. Dry lightly with a tissue or a soft clean towel and your doll should be good as new!

 

Of course I wouldn't do this step on a face, sadly.

In my personal experience, I've had doll faceups that I got customized from artists develop shiny streaks. I've never had this happen with a default faceup though. Must be the way they are sealed. It's hard to avoid touching the face if the bangs on the wig need fixed, so my advice is to avoid touching that area as much as possible >< I had Rise's faceup develop shiny streaks (custom faceup) because of this.