It’s easy to get obsessed with a specific doll. Flickr is horrible great for that. After all, all you need to do is put in those few key words and bam, you’re bombarded with images of your dream dolly. Next thing you know, you’re coming up with potential names for the doll, looking her up on eBay every hour (or so) and also checking all current threads on buy/sell/trade forums and thinking of what doll you can post up for sale to get the funds needed.

It’s official, you have the fever. It’s easy to get, even easier to diagnose. Your heart starts pumping a little harder when you see the doll online, when you see an active auction. The signs are easy to see and hard to ignore. But how difficult is it to get rid of the fever?

Some say that you absolutely need to buy the doll to cure yourself. Even if you have Kozy Fever and nothing short of mint will do. But you have things to sell, right? So you do, in a feverish state you let go of your lesser-loved dolls, half of the doll clothes and a few designer staples that you swore up and down that you’d never sell (never say never!). Others say you can get away with buying a substitute, but will you be happy with that little substitute? You’ll know the entire time that you could have saved up a bit more, sold a little more, to get that doll that you so passionately want.

I’m currently feverish for red-headed Kenner Blythe. (And hey, if you know anyone selling one, let me know…) It was so easy to see that I had a good case of the gimmes, but it is so much harder to cure it (drat!).

How do you cure dolly fever when you have it? What doll was it for?

Disclaimer: I do not hold any responsibility for any damage that may occur to your dolls’ clothing from what you learn from this post. This is what works for me and my doll clothing, which is why I’m writing this. Please don’t get angry at me for ruined dolly clothing and remember to TEST detergents and other cleaning solutions on small (hopefully hidden) patches first before dousing an entire pricey little dress in it.

Photo by sxc.hu user marekwo.

I clean all thrifted doll clothing, or at least try to (especially if it smells or has a visible but removable stain). The problem is that generally doll clothes don’t have a care tag label or even a label telling you what kind of fabric it is. The good thing is that most things can be washed.

First thing first: Is the fabric colour-fast? If you have dark or very bright clothing, you might want to check of the material is colour fast first. Just get the fabric a little bit wet and blot it with a paper towel. If the colour comes out, it is not colour-fast (and you most definitely do not want to put it on your doll). Blythe bodies get stained very easily so you’ll want to avoid all fabrics that are not colour-fast.

Hand washing is recommended for doll clothing, mostly due to their small nature. If you’re not wanting to use laundry detergents, you still have options:

• Wash with water only
• Wash with water and mild soap
• Wash with water and vinegar (50/50 solution)

I tend to wash my doll clothes in the sink, if I need to. The clothing is laid flat to dry after I’m done cleaning them. I would avoid bleach, especially with vintage clothing items.

Washing machines can also get the job done. They are less gentle on doll clothing than hand washing is, but it takes less of a time commitment from you. What you’ll need to do is:

• Separate your lights and darks (please check to see if fabrics are colour-fast before putting them in the washing machine!)
• Put the dolly clothing into a lingerie/laundry bag or into a zippered pillowcase. Make sure to zip it close.
• Put the bag in with similarly coloured (human) laundry. Put it on the delicate cycle.
• Lay doll clothing flat to dry.

What about things made with yarn? If the item in question was knit or crocheted in acrylics or superwash wool – you can go ahead with washing it without any problems. If the item was made with mohair, non-superwash wool or any other animal-fibre, take care not to shock the fibres! But never fear, you can still wash them if they get a bit dingy.

• Hand wash only!
• Use cold water – not warm or hot water (warm/hot water will agitate the fibres and cause your doll clothing to shrink!)
• You can use detergents specially made for wool/animal fibres or a very mild baby shampoo.
• Lay dolly clothing flat to dry (much like you would a human-sized sweater).

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What tips do you have for cleaning doll clothing?

Having a group of local people that also love Blythe is great! You can get together and chat about dolls with people who also care about Blythe. Here are some pros and cons to consider when putting together a local Blythe group.

Pros to a local Blythe group:

• A group of like-minded people who also love Blythe
• You get to see dolls that you may have thought about buying before and then decide that you don’t want to buy her (yay! money saved!)
• Getting to chat (and chat and chat) about dolls. Your family and other friends get a break for a few hours!
• Taking photos of Blythe in public is easier when you’re in a group (safety in numbers!)
• There’s always someone with a plastic doll comb or an extra stand available when you forget yours
• It’s easier to buy/sell/trade in person, or just spread the love of dolly clothing around
• Getting to discuss crafting for dolls (like sewing, knitting, etc.) with other people to discuss ideas or techniques
• Putting together fun meet-ups like picnics or just walking through a tourist location in your own city
• Having more fun with the Blythe hobby! and just so much more.

Cons to a local Blythe group:

• People are enablers – people in meets bring new dolls (yay!) but you can easily get persuaded into buying a new doll
• Or you just fall in love with a doll you’ve seen before due to more exposure to the doll (eep)
• Yeah, there’s no real cons…

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Do you have a local Blythe group that you’re a part of?

Besides a selection of matte BLs and FBLs, most Blythes are shiny, shiny, shiny. Some are shinier than others (some are too shiny!) but we either embrace the shine or do something about it. Some people use a spray to matte the dolls, others use sanding sponges. Regardless of what you do, most Blythes start out shiny.

My dolls are all shiny (my RBLs are shinier than my EBLs!). I can’t bring myself to spray them with something and I really cannot bring myself to sand matte them! But I do adore the look of matted dolls, especially in photos because you don’t see people’s cameras or windows or doors or other things reflecting off of Blythe’s big forehead.

Like in the photo, my bedroom window is reflecting off of my doll’s forehead (Sophie – Cappuccino Chat). I get that a lot, especially whenever my window’s around and not blocked (but I do love me some natural light!).

Do you prefer stock-shiny Blythes or matte Blythes?

Blythe costs a lot of money. She costs more money than the average Barbie, Monster High and Moxie Girlz doll combined. And let’s not forget the hefty price tag that doll clothes can have on the secondary market… But regardless of your dolls’ wardrobe (clothes are just clothes that are just clothes), it is important to remember that the doll is one of the most expensive part of the hobby. Especially when you start creeping up in the number of dolls that you have.

In light of a recent event that happened at my summer work (there was a fire, I had to leave the Blythe I had brought into work on my desk when I was evacuating the building – I also left my purse, cell phone, all my identification…), I had to consider things. Like “What in the fudge am I going to do if the *building* burns down?!”. Very fortunately, the fire was contained to an area that was outside and away from the main building – but the alarm was still pulled so we were still evacuated. Which really just led me to think about what I would do in the event of an emergency like that – mostly considering my home because that’s where my dolls spend most of their time.

Without needing to get into details of how much my doll collection costs, let’s consider the average stock doll is approximately $200. If you have a collection of just three Blythes, it’s at least around $600 (less if you’re only buying Simply dolls or the non-limited Prima Dolly dolls; a lot more if you’re only buying Kenners, anniversary dolls or older/limited releases). Despite being varying types of plastic put together, Blythe is an expensive item. Losing a collection would be both horrifying and expensive to replace.

If you do have a pretty large (or just pricey) collection, it could be worth your while to either have the dolls included in your home (or rental) content insurance or a separate type of insurance for collectibles. I did a little bit of research and I was able to get my dolls added to the content insurance for only a few extra dollars per month (after I submitted proof of purchase price so they had the model names on file).