Scrubbing Bubbles: Cleaning Dawn Dolls

There's nothing like a hot tub social!

• Twin Pines' 911 doll cleaner (diluted per instructions)
• Baby shampoo or dishwashing detergent
• Liquid fabric softener (diluted with 5 parts water to 1 part softener)
• Cotton balls
• Cotton swabs

Note: 911 doll cleaner might be interchangeable with Simple Green or another environmentally-friendly cleaner, but as I don't have any experience using other cleaners for this purpose, any experimentation is at your own risk. I know Twin Pines products are safe for Dawn and dolls like her, so I'm sticking with it for now. You can learn more about Twin Pines' products at the Twin Pines web site.

1. Undress the dolls and remove any hair accessories.
   
   
2. Wash the doll's hair using baby shampoo or dishwashing detergent.
   
   If the doll has great hair (and especially if it is styled up, as is the case with Daphne and Denise) you might want to skip the hair treatments. In some cases, washing and conditioning the hair, then restyling it, is more trouble than it's worth.
   
   
   Dawn enjoys a scalp massage
   
   
3. Dip a cotton swab in the diluted doll cleaner and use this to clean her face.
   
   Be careful around the face paint. If the paint is loose (as is sometimes the case with eyebrows) it might start to lift. I've only had this problem with one doll out of 40, so I actually use fairly firm pressure with the swab, but proceed at your own risk.
   
   
   Glori gets a facial
   
   
4. Dip a cotton ball in the diluted 911 cleaner and rub down the doll's body.
   
   I rub fairly briskly to make sure the dirt comes up. It helps if you set the doll on a hard surface and rub her down with some pressure.
   
   
   A brisk cleaning works wonders
   
   
5. Rinse the doll's hair thoroughly with warm water.
   
   
6. Pour the diluted fabric softener over the doll's hair as a conditioning rinse.
   
   You can leave this in her hair for a while (a few minutes to a few hours) for extra conditioning treatment.

   
   This looks extremely unappealing to me
   
   

7. Rinse the doll's body, face, and hair with warm water.
   
   
8. Comb the her hair into the basic style you want.
   
   
9. Set her someplace away from direct sunlight to air dry.
   
   

Drying Time at the Topper Bathhouse