Do you think Acetone degrades vinyl with repeated use?

In line with a previous post I had about the volks make pen - a few of my pals over the weekend were talking, and I mentioned how I had used acetone on one DD head and noticed even after plenty of ZM spray the volks Make pen left yellow stains.

 

It made me wonder that using Acetone may not be the best bet for removing faceups if you plan on doing more than one or two on a specific head. Generally after cleaning the head with the chemical it does feel softer and a kind of more matte texture. I mean it can degrade your fingernail bed over time with repeated use right? How would it not eventually eat away at vinyl which is susceptible to so many other issues?

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? : ) What's a safe back up method? Or am I just pulling this theory out of no where?

I know that acetone melts resin and are a no-no when cleaning resin dolls. Don't know if it applies to vinyls too, but I have a small memory of my friend saying that he wanted to melt a piece of plastic(unknown type) with acetone to remove the electronics in it so I guess it applies to more than one type of plastic.

I haven't used the Volks make pen before, but wow that sucks that it leaves yellow stains? Gross! :< How are you using it? Before or after coating? I'm curious now so I can avoid that.

 

I don't use acetone to clean doll heads because of how strong it is. I use Windsor & Newton brush cleaner and haven't had any problems. The reason why I use it is because in the resin BJD community, acetone has been known to soften the resin and cause other mishaps. In one case, a person's limited Volks head was so squished after vigorous scrubbing with acetone-- since the owner was holding the head tightly to make sure she didn't drop it while cleaning-- that the untouched headcap no longer fit on the doll's head.

 

The vinyl (Dollfie Dreams) and polyurethane (resin BJDs) that dolls are made of are both plastics, and plastics can be softened by acetone. While Dollfie Dream heads are already a bit squishy, I still worry about the potential of permanently squishing a feature out of place with acetone. These kind of mistakes did happen in the resin BJD community years and years ago when using acetone was more commonplace, and I just wouldn't want to risk that with any doll head.

 

Also, Windsor & Newton brush cleaner comes in a humongous bottle that lasts forever. I use it to clean dolls. I think it's a good thing to invest in over acetone. It doesn't soften plastic at all and won't eat through your doll unless you decide to soak your doll head in it for over a day (the same can't necessarily be said about acetone, as people have had melted doll heads over the course of hours depending on the material quality). It's pretty tough too, so removing face-ups and cleaning is really easy.

I haven't used the Volks make pen before, but wow that sucks that it leaves yellow stains? Gross! :< How are you using it? Before or after coating? I'm curious now so I can avoid that.

 

The pen seemed to leave a residue (at least in my experience) *after* I previously cleaned the head with acetone then washed/dried and sprayed a nice layer of ZM spray. The ZM spray seemed to not even keep some of the blue dye (which apparently has yellow in too) from seeping through. The only way to remove the yellow tinge was another round of acetone but then even after the 2nd time it was clear the yellow was *not* coming out.

 

Now say a resin head with ZM spray on it - I've left the Make Pen lines on there for *weeks* and it made no staining. So that maybe makes me think that the acetone breaks down the vinyl making it softer and possibly more porous so it leeches dye easier and then once it's so far down you just can't get it out? Thats my non chemistry science style theory b/c I stink at both of those subjects.... XD

I've never had the Make Pen leave yellow marks behind, but then I usually paint the faceup within about a day of drawing it on. And I've never used acetone to remove things because I heard early on that if you use nail polish remover it should be acetone free. I've only used thinner to remove faceups so far, but I recently got a big bottle of Windsor and Newton to use instead. If you get it from Michaels you can use a 40% off coupon.

 

Using thinner or Windsor and Newton I've never had the vinyl feel softer or anything. I would say that if acetone changes the feel of the vinyl then it's dangerous to use.

Wow...

 

I'm not an expert, but I think it's a bad idea to use acetone to clean a soft vinyl head. It's a solvent, and I wouldn't use a solvent on anything soft and made of plastic (especially something as fragile and easily stained as the doll vinyl), unless it was extremely diluted. It can melt many plastics, that's for certain. So there's always a possibility is does something to the Volks vinyl.

 

If I was cleaning a head I think I'd just go in with the magic eraser. Non-chemical way of removing stuff. Sure, it's an abrasive, but it will only scratch the very superficial surface, and if the head is sealed with MSC under the paint, then it could remove only the sealant + makeup without doing much to the surface of the head itself.

I've never had the Make Pen leave yellow marks behind, but then I usually paint the faceup within about a day of drawing it on.

Oh yeah totally me too - the resin heads were the only thing I've left the make marks on there for more than a day - the vinyl heads it was immediate - say you make a mark, erase it with water and bam - it's yellow. Now when i used the pen on my brand new DDH-04 way back I didn't have any trouble - or with my brand new DDH-06 white skin - so you'd htink with WS if it were just the pen it would show up on a WS.

 

The DDH-02 was where I noticed the issue - and it did have 3 faceups on it total before it was adopted by someone else - and all were used with acetone just b/c it was a common suggestion here on the forum at the time when I asked. So that maybe makes me think acetone (while super effective) should really never be used because long term it's not good for the vinyl.

 

But I'll for sure check out that brush cleaning stuff for when I ever decide to do another faceup resin or vinyl.

There is an entire topic about the Make Pen leaving stains. Personally, my experience left me mad enough to throw mine away and swear off using it ever again. http://www.dollfiedreams.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5795

 

I did use acetone to try to scrub off those stains after Winsor Newton and the magic eraser failed. The head seemed soft at the time, but it always seems softer after I scrub with Winsor Newton. It hardened back up to normal the next day. Then again, I used some acetone on a papertowl quickly on my BJD and had no ill effects. I have no idea how the acetone would cause damage over time, but there has been no damage since I used it this last time.

We used acetone to dissolve caulking in the gutters of my boyfriend's grandparent's house. It will eat all sorts of plastics and rubbers. I'd definitely advise against using it repeatedly on a doll. On resin dolls, it actually takes off small layers of resin when used to wipe faceups and if used too often I've seen heads end up with some very thin spots after years of acetone use.

I used acetone to clean a obitsu (1/6 scale) once, the poor doll melted....

Kicking an old topic here, but it is somewhat relevant.

I work on aircraft, and use all kinds of strong and mostly toxic chemicals in my work.

The least "harmful" chemical is Isopropyl Alcohol. Usually harmless, can often be used without PPE, (Personal Protective Equipment) i.e. latex or nitrile gloves, safety glasses.

MEK, or Methyl Ethyl Ketone, is Super Damaging  to skin, and usually eats both of the above mentioned types of gloves! Use the heavy, kitchen-style oven cleaning gloves.

(Which means Don't ever use this on your Kiddos!!)

Acetone can be used, but in extreme moderation, and in very small amounts. 

As others have posted above, Windsor and Newton is a safe bet. If it takes a bit more "elbow grease" to remove stuff, so be it. 

I'd rather do that than have to toss a head/body parts..