How to wash & CARE for a Lifelike Reborn Baby Doll

How To Care For A Reborn Doll
A reborn doll isn’t just any baby doll, it’s a work of art. A reborn artist spent countless hours adding layers of paint, rooting hairs, and finishing to make it your perfect doll baby. As a work of art, your reborn should be handled with the utmost of care.
Avoid direct sunlight. While your baby may look lovely sitting in the window, excessive sunlight will fade baby’s delicate painting, hair color and clothing.
Avoid extreme heat. You should never leave a real baby in the backseat of a hot car. Your doll baby will not appreciate that either. Vinyl softens when heated, which may warp or even melt your doll.
Avoid extreme cold. Babies stored in cold garages, basements or storage facilities may crack when they get too cold. If the baby must be in storage, make sure baby is well packaged in a box in a climate-controlled area like a closet or under the bed.
Avoid highly pigmented objects. Vinyl is easily stained by strong dyes and inks. Please keep the baby from coming in contact with items such as: bright colored fabrics, colored paper, newspaper, un-treated painted surfaces, markers, colored pencils, crayons, etc… Also, be careful handling the baby as the nail polish on your hands, makeup on your face and dye in your hair can also stain vinyl.
Keep out of the reach of pets. Even a well-trained puppy may not be able to resist the urge to nibble on your baby.
Supervise small children. A small child will treat your baby like she would any of her other dolls. Rough playing could scratch the painting and potentially soil or tear the cloth body. Always supervise your baby when in the presence of small children. If your little wants a lifelike baby of her own, CustomDollBaby.com creates affordable lifelike babies for children over age 3!

Preventative Care
First and foremost, be gentle with your reborn, much like you would treat an actual infant. Being too rough with reborns can result in limbs or hair detaching and can permanently damage the doll.
Avoid direct sunlight and extreme heat. A reborn is typically made from vinyl, which is susceptible to age and fatigue when exposed to the harmful UV rays of the sun or excessively high heat. The sun can cause the vinyl to become discolored or to break down. Other heat sources, such as a kitchen stove or a hot car, can cause the vinyl to warp and deteriorate. Finding them a spot in the house that is removed from excessive heat sources and direct sunlight will prolong the life of your reborn doll.
Avoid objects that can stain your doll. When dressing your doll in new clothes, be sure to pre-wash them to avoid colors and dyes from transferring onto your doll’s vinyl parts. Highly pigmented items can stain the vinyl, so be sure to test certain materials and fabrics before dressing the doll. Rubbing a fabric on a sample piece of vinyl will determine if the colors will bleed.
Keep out of reach of pets and children. Nothing can ruin a reborn doll quicker than having Fido playing fetch with it. Unsupervised children can also be too rough with reborn dolls, so make sure that an adult is present to instruct them about the proper care and handling of the doll.
Keep magnetic parts away from individuals with hearing aids, pacemakers, or metal implants. These magnets can interfere with their electronic devices. You will also want to avoid getting the magnets near cell phones, tablets, computers, and hard drives to avoid damage. Some reborn dolls come with magnets already inserted into the head, so check with the artist or manufacturer to see if these magnets will be an issue.
Care Tips
These dolls are collectibles and cannot be cleaned like toys. If you need to remove dirt or residue, we recommend a slightly damp washcloth. Never scrub the doll as this will damage the paint and coloring of your reborn doll. Never get the cloth body wet, but instead use a damp cloth to wipe away stains. Always towel blot to dry and try not to get the stuffing wet to prevent mold and mildew issues.

If a reborn doll becomes extremely dirty, consider sending the doll back to the original artist or finding a reborn artist to work on the doll. They will be able to give the baby doll a proper cleaning and possibly replace the body and stuffing as needed.

Reborn Hair Styling Tips And Tricks
Wig hair should only be brushed with a soft bristle brush, as harder brushes can cause the baby’s hair to detach or can damage the painted details on your reborn baby. Brushing with a soft bristle brush will also help to remove dust and particles that may settle on the baby’s hair.

Mohair should never be washed or brushed because it will felt and become matted in cold water. Simply pat the hair down with your fingertips to keep the stray hairs in place.

Hair is extremely fragile when wet and it is not recommended to wash your baby’s hair. A slightly damp cloth can help to remove dust and dirt from the baby’s head.

Tip: dry shampoo can take the sheen off of blond synthetic hair to make it appear more lifelike.

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Cleaning the Baby

Each Custom Doll Baby is created from soft vinyl and a cuddly doe suede body.

If any dirt or residue gets on the vinyl parts, these can be wiped away with a damp washcloth. A very small amount of baby wash or mild dish soap will help lather away stubborn stains. Avoid scrubbing as this may damage the painting. Do not wet or submerge the cloth body. Towel blot to dry.

If the cloth body is dirty, clean it as you would a teddy bear. Use a damp cloth to wipe away stains. Try not to wet the stuffing. Allow drying completely.

If the baby is extremely dirty, because your two-year-old was teaching the baby how to make mud pies, consider sending the baby back to the artist for a replacement body, fresh stuffing and thorough cleaning.

Hair Care

Your baby’s hair was hand-rooted one to a few strands at a time to look like the fine hairs on a real baby.

The hair was then sealed with a waterproof adhesive to keep it from falling out. However, baby hair is still delicate and requires a little TLC (Tender Love and Care). These tips and tutorials will help you keep your baby’s hair shiny, fresh and beautiful for years to come.
Wash your baby’s hair as often as you like. Just keep in mind that, just like our hair, the more it is manipulated, the higher the risk of breakage and pulling hairs out.

It’s no secret that reborn dolls were meant for the enjoyment of their owners. Having one of these unique, ultra-realistic dolls is an undeniably fun experience that can’t be put into words. With owning one, though, comes the responsibility of caring for it. Doing so will ensure that your reborn doll withstands the hands of time and remains as beautiful and flawless as it did when you first got it.

Above all, a reborn doll’s purpose is for you to enjoy. This means you can play with it, dress it up, or just collect and show it off to your friends. You don’t have to keep your reborn locked away in a glass case where no one can reach it, but you should do your part to keep it protected and well taken care of. Treating your reborn carelessly or being too “rough” with it will increase the chance of it becoming damaged or otherwise broken. Minor damage can usually be repaired with the right materials and know-how, but more severe damage could essentially destroy your reborn beyond repair.

Fragile
Fragile Sign

Handling Your Reborn
Reborns are more than your average doll and as such, they should be treated differently. Remember, a reborn doll is essentially a piece of art that someone spent countless hours perfecting; therefore, it should be treated as such. Unfortunately, this is a mistake that many newcomers to the hobby are forced to learn the hard way. Depending on the type of reborn you have, such a mistake can cost you hundreds of even thousands of dollars.

The bottom line is that you should always handle your reborn with the utmost of care. Try to think of your reborn as more of a collectible and less as an everyday toy. Collectibles are meant to last and should be handled with caution. Don’t toss your reborn around, pull on their limbs or hair, or be too rough with them in general. Failing to properly handle your reborn could result in damage that’s both costly and difficult to fix. If you take your reborn out to dress up or play with, make sure you put it back in a safe storage area before leaving the house.

Dog Inside

Pets and Children
If you have pets, you’ll want to keep your reborn doll out of their reach at all times. If a dog gets hold of it and mistakes it as a toy, you can say bye-bye to your precious reborn. A family dog can easily mistake a reborn doll sitting on the couch for one of their toys. Once they get it in their mouth and start chewing on it, even the most well-made reborn doll will slowly begin to come apart. Most pets won’t mess with dolls, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Small children can be another concern for a reborn doll. If you want your reborn to remain in the same pristine condition as the day your first got it, you’ll want to store it in a place that’s out of your child’s sight and reach. It’s no secret that small children are drawn to dolls like magnets, but unfortunately, they’re likely to be rough with them. This doesn’t mean you can’t ever let them see it, but you have to teach them the boundaries of what’s acceptable and what’s not. If you have a child, teach them that your reborn isn’t a toy, and once they have developed an appreciation for it, you can let them hold or even play with your reborn as long as you’re around to supervise.

Cleaning Your Reborn
Even if you walk on pins and needles trying to keep your reborn as pristine as it was the day you got it, it’s inevitable that some dirt and dust will accumulate on it. Small amounts of dust probably isn’t going to cause any serious concern, but thick layers can slowly damage the paint and integrity of your doll. Thankfully, however, the occasional cleaning will help prevent buildups of dirt, keeping your reborn looking its best; here’s how you do it:

If your reborn is just dusty, take a feather duster or lint-free dusting cloth and give it light but thorough wiping down. I don’t recommend using any cleaning product, as some of them contain harmful chemicals that may stain or even strip the paint off of your reborn. For basic cleaning, you should be able to brush it down with a basic feather duster to remove the majority of dust and dirt on its surface.

If your reborn is dirty to the point where a duster isn’t doing the job, you may need to be a little bit more creative in your cleaning. Start by removing all of your reborn’s clothes so they are in their birthday suit (yep, a buck-naked reborn!. Once the clothes are removed, take a small hand towel, run it under luke-warm water, and gently wipe down your reborn from head to toe. You may need to add a drop of non-toxic soap to your towel if it’s still not getting your reborn clean. Once your reborn is clean, wipe it down with a dry towel and put their clothes back on.

Reborn Doll Hair Brush

Reborn Hair Care
Part of caring for your reborn is maintaining their hair, keeping it clean and tangle-free. Whether your reborn doll has mohair from the Angora goat or any other type of doll hair, you’ll need to occasionally brush it. In order to do so, you’ll need to get a baby brush or comb, both of which can be found at most infant stores.

Start by gently brushing through the hair back and forth. If it gets stuck at a knot or tangle, don’t force it, as it’s easy to pull out the individually rooted hairs. Just remove the brush and try again. For some of the more stubborn knots, you may need to hold the hair with your free hands while slowly working it out using the brush in your other hand. Keep doing this until their hair is tangle-free and there are no visible clumps.