Those you who are still heat setting inside your house with your oven might want to read this.
The Potential Dangers of Toxic Vinyl Fumes When Reborning a Doll … ng-a-doll/
I think it would be wise to make sure there is plenty of ventilation while baking our reborns whether in a portable oven or our home ovens.
— Begin quote from “Ludmila”
Very good article for people who are not aware. I have my oven in my laundry where I keep the window wide open & door shut; and I never bake when my daughter and granddaughter are here. I am rather concerned about so many young artists who also work while their small children are around.
The cost of halogen oven is really small price to pay for health of one’s family. Mine was only $50. Best thing i have done; not only it is portable, and easily placed somewhere out of way, it turns itself off (most of the time) after set time, and being all glass it is easy to peep in the room, and see it is going well without having to open the oven and breathing the fumes.
— End quote
I like this idea of a halogen oven. What kind do you have? Does it work just as well as a standard oven? Does it have the same temperature abilities so you know when it’s at 175°? Sorry for all of the questions! Lol
You do hear all sorts of stories and there are other things that can cause elevated liver enzymes. However, I just am one who believes it is better to be safe than sorry. I myself can not tolerate the “fumes” from vinyl being heated. Whether we can smell them or not it always made us have headaches at my house and sore throat. That was why I switched to heat setting outside on my screen porch. I also found many of the odorless thinners bother me but the Ecohouse Brand and the Zest It do not as well as the Genesis thinner.
Ludmila, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INFO!
— Begin quote from “CreativeAmy”
I broke down and bought a countertop oven from Kohls online. I’m hoping it’ll work, since I have no idea if it’s the right kind or not…
This is the one I got… http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-853105 … n-oven.jsp
I had to take the chance though, since I got a good deal, and if it turns out it won’t work, I’ll just return it.
If you use the code HOMESALE10 you can get $10. off any home item purchase of over $50. plus, there’s a coupon good until Feb. 1 for 20% off with promo code EXCLUSIVE. My total came to $49. and some change, so I added a pair of baby socks for like $1.20 and got $10. in kohls cash. With shipping and tax, my total came to just under $65. which I don’t think is too bad…
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I also think it is too small and the vinyl will be too close to the elements at the top. I don’t think I would chance it with an expensive kit. I bought a GE Convection Oven that is at least 50% larger and gave it to my little brother to use for fixing food. Just couldn’t get the heat to maintain and it doesn’t hold a steady temperature. I bought a NuWave that is very much like Ludmilla’s oven. It seems to work like a charm. I would return the Kohl’s purchase for a refund unless you need a new one for your kitchen.
I bought a Hamilton Beach large convection oven from Amazon.com. It cost approx. $89. It seems to do a good job, holding the temp, etc. but I can only fit a head and a couple of limbs at a time, so it takes quite a bit longer to do 2 dolls at a time. After reading the warnings on this page for cooking food and dolls in the same oven, I am definitely going to use the convection oven.
Amy that should work just fine. I have a similar one by GE I bought at Walmart for $40-50 years ago and it has served me well and still going.
I would suggest once you bake the flocking onto the sealer that you go over it with another layer of sealer and bake that. Maybe if you sandwich it between sealer layers it won’t rub off. Just an idea.
I switched to airdry acrylics- and I was scared at first- because it is a totally different painting technique, but I feel like I have mastered it now and I won’t go back to an oven-it’s healthier and when you get the technique down, you can paint two kits at a time- and they dry in between layers as you move to each part. This is much better/faster for my lifestyle.
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— Begin quote from “Ludmila”
— Begin quote from “anjsmiles”
Amy that should work just fine. I have a similar one by GE I bought at Walmart for $40-50 years ago and it has served me well and still going.
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Yes, it will work, but not as well as the ones that I and others here are recommending. As I said I bought bench top oven but did not even use it. But I tried it out; to start with it took almost 1/2 an hour to reach the required temperature. Basically I had a choice to keep it going all day (it uses heaps of power and heats the whole room, which in summer is not great), or having to wait 1/2 hour every time I had a next batch to bake. Then I heard about so many little fingers and toes getting melted by being too close to the elements or hot metal. I did not want to put the parts on the metal rack, not even covered in cloth, and so I was looking for glass baking dish, but could not get the right size. At that point everybody on the boards were talking about the halogen ones and so I got one.
Another big plus for the halogen ones is that they are not big, they are not heavy, so they are easily put away when not in use. They are easily set up outside and brought back in, if you do not want to bake inside.
— End quote
I have had NONE of the issues you mentioned. I preheat my oven for 10 mins and it is ready to go. It holds the temp just fine. It does not zap my electric bill at all. I do not have any issues with melted fingers and toes or shiny vinyl as long as I don’t turn the heat up too high. I did find an oven thermometer did not register correctly in mine so I just played with some test limbs until I found the spot the paint sets perfectly without burning and then made a sharpie mark on my oven dial where that is. Now I keep it set there pretty much all the time. Mine seems to be consistent with about 265 degrees like any other oven. When you run it on bake cycle, the only element running is the one in the bottom of the oven which is under your pan. No parts near exposed element on top. I put my rack on bottom tier, line the metal pan that came with it with a silicone cookie sheet piece and then lay a folded cotton pillow case on top of that on which I lay my vinyl pieces. If I am heat setting silicone I only use the silicone cookie sheet layer. Mine is not that heavy that I can not move it around either. So I would not let anyone discourage you from trying one. If you buy it at Walmart, try it out on some test pieces and decide you don’t like it Walmart will take anything back.
I am surprised that BB hasn’t come up with their own custom designed portable oven large enough for big babies and such. I think it would be a good seller if it were reasonably priced.
Thanks for this article. I have a room in my garage that is my “work doll room”. It is heated and cooled and quite comfortable but I do not have good ventilation for doll baking. I have painted and baked all day due to weather related work closing. I have a really bad headache tonight and will be more careful. Thanks again for the article.
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I’m so excited! I found a used NuWave oven with digital controls and an extension ring for $35!! It looks brand new and still had all of the papers. I tried it out just because I was too excited to wait and I LOVE IT! Thank you for all of the helpful information in this thread
I work on my babies upstairs so that is where my nuwave oven is - I run the ceiling fan and have an oscillating fan on a stand. I can’t open a window that would do any good. I keep thinking I should move the oven outdoors on the deck - but I sure would be doing a LOT of stair climbing - but then again - maybe I would lose some weight!!
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Ok I think I’m getting sick from baking the dolls. I have stopped and will not do it again till I get a spot on the back porch to bake them. With that said however I use a little heat lamp light inside the head to heat it up to root the hair. How hot does the vinyl have to be to let off the fumes? It gets pretty hot before I turn off the light to keep it from getting hot enough to melt
gracias por la informacion, si bien estaba al tanto de los riesgos, leerlos da temor. yo uso pistola de aire caliente, pero estoy pensando seriamente en usar acrilicos secado al aire. alquien me recomienda alguna marca?