How do you stick her eyes on?

I am curious about how do you stick the eyes of your doll when you change them from the originals or you do a custom. I have been use blue Blu-tack for years but it doesn't give very good result because the eyes move and sometimes drop inside the head if the doll is lied down for a long time. That happens more in summer because the tack goes softer with the hot.

I have been thinking about using hot glue to glue them inside the head, but I don't know if the eyes will end damaged if I want to change them anytime.

 

What do you use and why?

Lately I've been using clear silicone ear plugs to keep some of my DDs eyes in place. It sounds strange, but it actually works pretty well! I've used blu-tack before too, and while it works alright for me, I think the ear plugs work much better and don't fall out nearly as much. You can find them in drug stores and pharmacy departments.

 

Alternatively, you can use kneaded erasers or Volks' own eye putty, which recently started using a new formula and sticks much better than their old kind.

I will try the ear plugs, they probably are easy to find. It's nice to ear about Volks eye putty, I got the old one once and it didn't work at all, it was too hard or I didn't know how to use it.

if you opt to use hot glue for a more permanent approach at keeping your girls eyes in place, are there any negative side effects to the doll or her eyes?

I assume there is not aside from not changing the eyes to easily?

 

I don't think so, I sueded my DDI body once with hot glue and nothing happened to the doll. Anyway it was an awful idea to suede it, I had to take it off because it didn't help with the poseability of the body. At least, after it I know it is not difficult to take the glue out from the doll material.

About the eyes, you have to aply it hot and I don't know if it could melt that kind of plastic. I should get a pair of cheap acrilyc eyes to try it.

White Jovi Plastilina. Just a visual reference below:

 

http://www.enasco.com/product/9726334

 

and more about the clay itself here:

 

http://www.bleepblick.com/categories/modelingclays/

 

You can order it from the Kerbey Lane Doll shop and I highly recommend it. The Volks stuff went through a couple improvements but it's still difficult to work with. It's tough enough to get your eyes perfectly centered.... only to have them fall out when you put the head on. The white shade of Jovi Plastilina does not stain and leaves your dolls looking at new as the day you got them.

 

Plastilina does not harden and I always use enough of it to surround the eyes completely on all sides. It will hold in place until you're ready to switch eyes- making eye changes really easy. ^^

 

I've not found a place online to order the individual packs but you can order it from:

 

http://www.kerbeylanedollshop.com/

 

If you find another place to order it online then let me know!

 

 

As an aside, I've never heard of hot glue causing any issues other than permanence. You may still remove the eyes if you change your mind later but you may have to use some acrylic thinner to ease the removal. One slip with too much thinner can mean you damage the face-up. O.o That said, I am sure tons of folks are able to be less clumsy than I am and use this method successfully. ^^

When I changed the eyes on Yukino I used a blow dryer to soften the glue Volks used to hold them in place. Worked really well and no chance on dripping the thinner that way (not that I had any thinner on hand). It worked fine. I did the same thing to remove the glue from Rin's eyes as well (they were loose and rattling around in the head when I got her).

White Jovi Plastilina. Just a visual reference below:

 

http://www.enasco.com/product/9726334

 

and more about the clay itself here:

 

http://www.bleepblick.com/categories/modelingclays/

 

You can order it from the Kerbey Lane Doll shop and I highly recommend it. The Volks stuff went through a couple improvements but it's still difficult to work with. It's tough enough to get your eyes perfectly centered.... only to have them fall out when you put the head on. The white shade of Jovi Plastilina does not stain and leaves your dolls looking at new as the day you got them.

 

Plastilina does not harden and I always use enough of it to surround the eyes completely on all sides. It will hold in place until you're ready to switch eyes- making eye changes really easy. ^^

 

I've not found a place online to order the individual packs but you can order it from:

 

http://www.kerbeylanedollshop.com/

 

If you find another place to order it online then let me know!

 

 

As an aside, I've never heard of hot glue causing any issues other than permanence. You may still remove the eyes if you change your mind later but you may have to use some acrylic thinner to ease the removal. One slip with too much thinner can mean you damage the face-up. O.o That said, I am sure tons of folks are able to be less clumsy than I am and use this method successfully. ^^

 

I'm glad I read through this thread before starting a post on eye putty - now I'll be ordering some of this stuff! Thank you!

Of course. Anytime. ^^ Getting eyes to stick can be a real pain!!!!

In Italy we have a kind of rubber called "bread rubber" that we use for drawing. It's so soft, white and similar to plastilina (I imagine you have it too, but I dunno its name in english). Do you think that's okay? Mine was made by Faber-Castell and Pelikan.

In Italy we have a kind of rubber called "bread rubber" that we use for drawing. It's so soft, white and similar to plastilina (I imagine you have it too, but I dunno its name in english). Do you think that's okay? Mine was made by Faber-Castell and Pelikan.

 

I think the English term is an "artist eraser" for those types of things.

One thing I learned (hope I'm correct) is if you use enamel thinner to remove the "hot glue" from factory eyes, make sure to clean the inside of the head good before putting in new ones.

 

I had the hardest time getting my Yukino's eyes to stay in for a while. I'm pretty sure it was because the enamel thinner left some kind of oily residue on the surface. I was using the white putty that Volks sells and while it was very sticky at first it kept getting less and less effective.

 

I eventually cleared the area again and got some new putty, throwing away what I was using, and it worked pretty well. It's been a few months an no problems. Not sure if it was just me or not but I thought I would throw that out there, it wouldn't hurt to clean the area before putting in new ones. I assume it's safe to wipe with a tissue with some rubbing alcohol on it.

 

**James.