Probably a dumb question, but for those that do silicone I had a question about sanding/stripping. I have a horribly painted silicone kit that I got to experiment painting silicone on. The kit was just painted over, and not sealed with silicone or done in layers. I’ve tried stripping the paint with WN and straight acetone, there are still a couple stubborn areas and some bad seams. I started sanding and it seems impossible! The baby is so sticky that sanding is beyond difficult, I’m basically just wiping it with sandpaper with no results. Are you supposed to do anything before sanding? It seems counterproductive to add matting powder, but I wanted to make sure that I’m not just making it more difficult for myself trying to continue what I’m doing with zero results so far.
Use fine grit sand papers and NOVOCS gloss. Wet the sand paper with the NOVOCS and sand in circular motions. Keep paper wet.
This is an excellent way to go about it. I’ve seen many people have great results with it.
I prefer using matting powder as I go. It does seem counter productive but I promise it isn’t. I wipe the nail file in one direction. If the silicone starts building up to a ridge then I switch to a perpendicular angle and remove the ridge. Once a bunch of boogers build up I’ll grab some matting powder and rub it on there with my hands. The little boogers get coated with matting powder and roll right off. The nail file will still work even with the matting powder on there.
I use fine grit nail files. I like the bigger foam ones. I get the Tropical Shine 120/240 grit ones. They seem to work the best for me. If you are really careful with it, you can go up some grit to a 100/180 grit file. Go easy with that. Really light handed. That size will leave grooves. I have found the matting powder method to leave a nice smooth finish.
I have a video on YouTube channel with some silicone sanding advice. I think that video was prior to me trying matting powder so it doesn’t mention it.
This is one I have used the matting powder on. That 2nd one in the bend of the knee are the ridges I’m talking about. You would just sand those in the same direction the run.
Thank you so much! You guys are a life saver, you literally probably saved about 6 months of my life that I can spend on other things now 
I will definitely try both the wet method and the matting powder one and see which one works best on this kit. Thank you again!
are you talking about silicone matting powder?
I might have to try that but matting powder is so expensive…does corn starch work?
Corn starch is so so. Just Matte is a bit less money and works better than Silicone Velvet. I never tried powdered sugar. I know some people matte with it.
The issues I had with corn starch was that it doesn’t coat the boogers well and it doesn’t last near as long. So I ended up putting more cornstarch on the baby every few minutes. The matting powder lasts a good 20 to 30 minutes of sanding.
I dare say that sanding with the fine grit nail file and using the thinner to remove boogers is a better idea than cornstarch. I had Mona Lisa thinner and it prohibited the nail file from working really well. I ended up using Acetone to wipe it off before I could sand more. The Windsor and Newton might work better. I haven’t used it.
I think the most important part of sanding silicone is to take your time and keep a gentle hand about it.
I liked corn starch on my mini silc - however!
I wasn’t doing any work on it at all, haven’t tried any other powders, and only used it following a rinse and dry. My mini is just on display and so for my basic purpose it worked fine and I’m glad I didn’t invest in more expensive powders.
Sorry, that probably wasn’t useful info.
@DollChick I’m glad you like to experiment and share your findings with everyone. You go through work that lots wouldn’t want to bother doing, and it’s so educational. 
Corn starch has long been the matting used for silicone collections. So it is fine to use it for that if that is all you have. I will tell you that Just Matte works so much better and does stay on longer. It also looks and feels more velvety.
As for sanding, I don’t ever sand whole dolls but occasionally while painting I will get a drip I missed to set up and need to sand it down to blend and keep painting. Even using the NOVOCS it is not an easy task!
Where do you find the Just Matte ? I don’t really like Silicone Velvet and want to try something else.
D3 Creations
I’m up in the air about silicone velvet. Why don’t you like it? I don’t like it for maintenance matting but I almost like it better for a final wet matte.
I can’t really tell, as I am new to this and have nothing to compare, but I feel there must be something that gives better final results.
In the class I took from Susan she said the Just Matte is the most matte of the current ones on the market and has the most velvety feel and the others let more of the translucence of the paint coloring be seen. (not her exact words but my interpretation). She did say she keeps all 3 matting powders and uses them each based on the look she wants. SAM matting powder is the 3rd one out there. I have only ever tried the Just Matte (what I currently use) and the old FuseFX matting powder which some say is basically powdered sugar but I do not know that for sure.