Please Help with my Berenguer's Dull Eyes & Ink Marked Skin?

_Long time creeper, first time poster! lol I am trying to restore an “abused” Berenguer doll. Poor thing has red marks all over her and her eyes have went blurry & dull. I used the advice I found on here and after trying every other cleaning agent known to man and some non-cleaning agents that were sworn to work to no avail, I finally have applied benzyol peroxide to the spots and have set her under my skylight (a long process it seems??) I have removed and replaced the cream several times now and didn’t notice much of a difference yet? This last time, I have let the cream alone and have left her about a week under the skylight, I am almost afraid to wipe the cream away and check. lol Has anyone else had success removing deep, dark marker stains from a vinyl doll by using this process? If so, do you remove and replace the cream daily, weekly, or do you leave it be? Is the point of her being under the skylight more about the sunlight or the heat or both? I am afraid to place her outside in the sun because the neighborhood kids would make off with her, I’m sure. How long is too long, I mean, when will I officially know that this process has not been successful and to move on to another possible fix? Next, her eyes have gone dull and blurry, I tried the hair dryer trick I found on here (using a rolled up cone of stiff paper placed directly on the eye with a hair dryer at the other end to sort of “dry out” the eye and kill any mold that may have grown there) well, it may have cleared the eye a little but it totally destroyed my hair dryer! The plastic on my hair dryer actually melted while doing this! (So, unless anyone else has any ideas??? )I think perhaps at this point, I should just buy her new eyes? I have seen conflicting info on if she would take a size 16mm or 18mm and no one seems to mention if they should be flat eyes, round eyes or oval shaped? I am truly sorry for the bombardment of questions, but being new to this world and after trying anything and everything I could, I am truly at a loss! Thank you for taking time to read this rambling of mine! I would sincerely appreciate any help you could offer a newbie!?

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You can try to take out the eyes and measure them, then order the same size.
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Thank you so much! I guess I was sincerely hoping to find a way to fix the eyes before attempting to remove them…I mean, they are such a pretty blue color under all that smutz! lol

This little vintage baby had ink all over her face. I used the zit cream and put her on the hood of my truck directly in the hot Oklahoma sun for about 5 hours and she’s all better. I think the heat helps.

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Thank you so much dear!!! I’m in Florida, so if it is heat that helps, I’ll take her outside tomorrow morning and she may be fixed up in no time?! lol I will gladly show before and afters if it works for me. :slight_smile:

Sewing machine oil or WD40 will fix cloudy eyes.
I have used the 10% benzole peroxide cream to remove marker and it works really well. For the marks on that poor baby it might take 4-6 weeks.
Put the cream on the marks thickly and then cover with seran wrap to keep the cream moist. Check every two weeks and re apply as needed.

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I use the OXY Cream on the dolls my daughter has inked up. Some dolls took longer then others depending on the hardness of the plastic/vinyl. I mostly faded out eventually, like three applications at the most. I didn’t even have the dolls in direct sunlight just out on the back screened porch in the heat. Someone mentioned keeping theirs in the car for the heat. That could work as well.

Put it on leave it set about a week, check it and see if you need to reapply.

I am not sure about the eyes though. Sorry.

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@Twethert Thank you for your response! I tried the WD40 (as I do not own a sewing machine or oil for one lol) and it didn’t seem to budge the yuckiness on her eyes? Maybe I applied it incorrectly? The Seran wrap is a great idea! I would have never thought of that! I will try it for sure! :slight_smile:

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@RabbidBunnies Thank you!! I will stick her out on the lanai and hope for the best! :slight_smile:

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Maybe if you put her in a big box with a open top where the sun can get to her but nobody can see her and mess with her

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Where did the seran wrap became the thing? I just apply the cream thickly, leave it in warm preferably sunny spot and it takes about 24 hours for the cream to start drying on the top, that is when I wipe it off and apply fresh layer if needed. Sometimes I am too impatient and wipe it off earlier. I wonder if the wrap does make it better or if it actually slows the process; I would have thought that the cream reacts with air and sun rays speed up the process. But I might be wrong. Next time I have big stain I may wrap part of it and leave the other bit to breathe.

I was told about this method some 40 years ago by a lady who ran doll hospital, and I have cleaned many dolls and other vinyl objects; some had old stains for years and none took weeks. There was a kit I bought stained and if I recall correctly that took me about 3 days for big very deep dark stain.

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So sorry for the delay in my reply…school started back and things have been nuts around here! But I wanted to give an update on my boo boo Berenguer baby. The zit cream and heat/sun worked well! I left her on the windowsill of my un-air conditioned shed for about a week and the marks faded substantially!

So thank you guys for all of the fabulous advice!! Boo Boo Baby thanks you!

*I also wanted to mention that I tried everything for the eyes and nothing seemed to work! One of the methods I tried to clear the blurry eyes was the “folding a cone of paper and putting it around the eye and blow drying it method” and it helped a lil…

But ummm…maybe I did it wrong or something because then THIS happened!

I ruined my blow dryer! So, I decided to remove & replace the eyes this time… can you blame me for giving up?! lol

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Wow.
Yeah its best to just replace the eyes! The store bought doll eyes like that aren’t the most realistic anyway. IMO.

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Thanks @taylorsgirl I decided to finally admit defeat when my blow dryer MELTED! lol Not sure what I did wrong, but had to share as a precautionary statement/allow you guys to laugh at my stupidity!

16mm half rounds. I’ve reborned so many of these babies. One of my favorite sculpts.

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Oh I’m so glad things worked out for you and boo boo well except your hair dryer yikes. I can’t wait to see her brought back to life and loved once again, please post pics :slight_smile:

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What berengur sculpt is that?

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I’m glad it worked out for you on getting the ink off! Sorry about your hairdryer!

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It’s a mass produced la newborn that you can buy at kmart, Wal-Mart and toysrus. They’re sculpted by a man in Spain.

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Thanks so much everyone! @Little_Ducks_Nursery I bought her “used and abused” off of EBay but after reading your response I did some searching & I found this:

Toysrus.com, The Official Toys”R”Us Site - Toys, Games, & More

It looks like the same face to me, maybe? (I’m sure you could find this sculpt cheaper somewhere other than Toys R Us but I just happened to stumble across this example.)

I also wanted to share something with you ladies regarding this boo-boo babe. As I said, I purchased her off of EBay and my purchase price was donated to the Salvation Army by the seller (who turned out to be a sweet lady that lives only a hundred miles or so from me.) Well, she was moved that I would buy a doll so damaged, so moved, that a month later, I found this on my doorstep!!!

Now I am not a “crier” but THIS made me tear up! I instantly emailed her and asked if I could pay her anything or at least reimburse her for shipping?? She refused and told me she just wanted them to have a good home so she thought of me. It had been a long time since I had been the recipient of a random act of kindness so this made my day! I just wanted to share my story and hopefully give you ladies a smile. :slight_smile:

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