Adventures in doll care- hair repair

Saige and Mckenna's hair was absolutely whack. Even though they had been brushed responsibly, stuff happens with long hair. Both of them were enormous, bushy, and tangled. The synthetic fibers had curled up on themselves and made strange squiggles that interlocked and made terrible knots.

For mckenna's hair, which was reasonably short and incredibly thick I just pulled apart sections and brushed them individually, working from bottom to top, trying not to pull it out and trying to ignore the noises the brush made going through the tangles. It took more strength than anticipated.

I bunched all the sections together to see what it would do and got this lovely... to me it looks kind of like flames shooting out the end of a rocket or a really cool motorcycle. It could also be a haystack. Anyway, the hair stuck straight out and was still insanely frizzy at the end. I stuck her aside and tried to do the same for Saige's hair.

Here are the crazy, frizzy, interlocking squiggles. This was a nightmare to brush through, and it poofed right back out and bunched itself together when I was through.

Heres how it was when I got done. Still very frizzy and you can see all the hair this poor doll lost in the bottom right corner. There was even more of it out of frame.
BUT WORRY NOT! There was hope for this hair, and hope that did not lie in scissors. (In fact, scissors are for when you lose all hope.)
Our hope here lies in boiling water. Plastic heated up will bend to your will. Or straighten to your will.
So I boiled some water in the teakettle, poured it into a big bowl, and let it cool for 5 minutes lest I melt their hair.

After several dunkings and brushings, saige's hair was getting more manageable. The crazy squiggles straightened out and the brush positively glided through.

I did the same for mckenna.

After several more brushings to ensure everything was perfectly straight and not tangled, I left them to dry.
Now let's see how Maddie is doing

Maddie has had a little strand of wig hanging off for quite some time now, and her part was weird on top so it showed the seams and cap.

I pulled up the hair, showing the wig cap, so I could find where our dangly strand belongs. I'm always amazed at the cleverness of wigs.

My sewing job was messy, but the strand is now back on securely. The white thread is mine

Doll care adventures- limb tightening

My younger cousin Barrett just turned 13 and does not play with her dolls much anymore, and her family is going to remodel some parts of the house, which means a lot of stuff must be stored or purged. I, being the weirdo 17 year old who still enjoys dolls, offered (or really, requested) to let Barrett's dolls stay with me for a few months until she wants them back.
There are 4 dolls from her-

From left to right:
Maddie, a Just Like You with blue pinwheel eyes, lined brows, and platinum blond hair.
Saige, Girl Of The Year 2013
Mckenna, Girl Of The Year 2012
Kaya, a BeForever bought in 2014.
Saige and Kaya are in the best condition since they are the newest. Bear has always treated her dolls well, even when she was little, but things happen with little children and over time.
My orders of buisness were: tighten Maddie and McKenna's legs, fix Saige and Mckenna's hair. Kaya got to chill on the floor with my dolls while her crew got intensive hospital and spa treatment.

Loose string makes for loose legs!

 My Simple Limb Tightening Process:

1. Untie neck string and remove head

2. Use two clawed fingers to scoop out stuffing

3. Find the socket joint for one of the legs, pull it out the neck hole or as close to the neck hole as you can so you can see what you're doing while you work on it.

4. Pull on the elastic string sticking out of the socket joint. This pulls the limb further in and doesn't let it flop around anymore.
5. Use a hair tie to keep the elastic string tight, which just means keeping the knot pulled up from the white thing.
6. Now do it to the other leg!
7. Begin putting stuffing back in. Use a pencil to pack it down, especially in the butt and hip area, where a lack of stuffing will either look weird or cause the joint casing to wiggle around or fabric to fold.
8. Make sure the knotted ends of the string aren't poking at the body fabric, that'll look weird too.
9. As you get close to the top, pack the stuffing tightly around the arm joints.
10. Slide the head lip back under the neck hole, and tie the string tightly. Admire your handiwork.

Ta Da!