Bjds's strong smell?

They do need time to air out. And some are much, much stronger when first opened. I also think the off-gassing might go on for awhile. My dolls are behind glass and opening the cabinet will definitely get you a good whiff sometimes.

 

Different resin companies tend to have different smells, I find.
Smooth-on resin has little to no smell when freshly cast, but sanding older pieces from them, the odor does tend to get noticeable. I imagine that most BJD companies use different resin (BJB resin even offers a vanilla 'scent' you can add to the resin in it's liquid form), so differing smells make sense.
I too have got a mild headache from some brand new dolls (I believe it was df-h). Also, if you were doing a faceup it could have been that when removing the head, the s-hook scraped off a little resin inside the s-hook slot, and that can bring up a lot of fumes, even in older dolls.

 

I have 2 Shoushou dolls and they don't smell particularly strong or anything compared to my other dolls.

I think I remember reading that resin that hasn't cured properly could have a very strong smell? Could the head have been defective?

 

After a million years of owning a small number of different companies resins, and having suffered from migraines my whole life. I never experienced anything like with MYou's resin scent. I got one back in 2022, after more than ten years of having stopped purchasing BJD. I immediately got a migraine, nausea, and just plain discomfort after opening the box my doll came in. I was afraid I would have to sell him because of how strong the scent was -- I had never experienced anything like that prior, and I already owned about five or six different companies' resins.

Luckily for me, after airing my doll for a few days, his scent is no longer giving me grief. Despite me keeping all my resin BID in their boxes, whenever I take him out, he is no longer giving me a migraine. Tge scent has faded quite a bit, I can still smell it some, but nothing as bad as when he first arrived. Good luck with airing yours, and having the scent fade! (:

 

LEave it in an open container somewhere well ventilated for a week or so. Factory fresh resin is often still offgassing stuff you don't want to inhale

 

Most new resins I've gotten have been quite mild and pleasant in their smell... aside from Huajing. I have a light tan body from them and after 6 months the smell is still very strong whenever I open the box - I know some other owners have also mentioned the strong odor from them, although it seems to be a hit or miss a bit and maybe dependant on the resin colour/mixture?

I wish I knew what causes this exactly, though, but seems like many Chinese companies who have similar resin have this issue every once and a while.

 

So, I'll preface by saying I basically have a dog's nose. Minor smells imperceivable to others will be obvious to me all the time. Resin always has a smell to me, though I've not had any doll by any company still in business that was especially pungent. (I've owned a ton of different dolls from different companies that I mostly got second hand, and I tended to not repeat on companies much). While the smell doesn't usually seem very noticeable to me once the dolls are unboxed and not new, such as when I have them displayed in a room, any time I pack them away to move them, just in a cardboard doll box for a few weeks to move, when I open the box again the smell slams me right in the face. (I can also smell the dolls if I'm right up on them sniffing) I feel like dolls might be offgassing forever? Whatever it is they seem to be making their chemical plastic smells forever and if they go back in an enclosed space it's very obvious to me again.
Anyway, on to migraines! I have a lot of headaches probably from various causes, tension, spine, unknown. Most of my migraines seem to be visual/cognitive without pain, though I also have enough with pain. Since they can be somewhat invisible I don't always notice easily (I'm used to feeling weird) and since I have near constant headache periods I don't always know triggers. However as far as smells go the thing most likely to trigger them is certain types of perfumes. Candles with citrus smells are unfortunately a common one. I've been in the doll hobby over a decade doing things pretty much exactly the same, living in a room with a ton of these, and I've had periods where I have headaches constantly and years and years where I am not having headaches. So, I think at least for me, I could say that the dolls (having always been present) are not triggering me. Not to say it couldn't happen with the wrong combination of doll and person!
I'm sorry that was overly thorough. I hope it was helpful

 

I LOVE that new resin smell. Sometimes, even after they've been boxed away for a time, I'll open a box and get that smell all over again.

 

Yes I think the smell becomes stronger if the doll lives in a box, even some old dolls will have the new doll stink if they were boxy babies. I have dolls from all those mentioned here to be strong and the smell went away after sitting out for a day or two, including the Huajing light tan which totally had a sharp smell fresh out of the box. the gas smell also sticks to the plastic packing materials. I do tend to hold on to them for the purpose of moving the dolls so I air out the boxes and packing materials as well as the doll. I'm smell sensitive too, some are definitely stronger than others and I am just totally guessing but maybe some maker leaves the dolls out of the box to release the gas longer before packing them up.

 

I have so many problems with strong scents, resin off-gassing included - it's a lifelong thing, I can't abide all scented things, from fabric softener to scented candles or even scented lip balm (ugh). I have migraines, sinus issues, breathing issues, brain fog, etc. So I truly sympathize with the issue.

So far my issues with the odor of resin haven't been too severe. I've had some mild sore throats, coughing, etc. from handling dolls when I first opened the boxes, but I've been careful so far and have been trying to air them out.

If the odor of resin bothers you and builds up in a place where you store your dolls, I recommend charcoal satchels that you can find on Amazon and other places. They absorb strong scents from the air and can be "recharged" by an hour or two in sunlight. I keep those in the containers where my dolls are and they definitely help. The newest doll (Maskcat 1/3) still smells fairly strong, but I really haven't given her an opportunity to air out yet since she's new. I will say that the lovely little suitcase she came in was PUNISHINGLY intense in a glue-like odor. So much so that unfortunately I haven't been able to use it! So that's a heads up that sometimes it isn't just the doll, it may be the box and packing materials or the wigs, etc.

 

I’m actually studying on this matter and yes, smell is an indicator of something that’s not right, but it doesn’t mean toxic (unless tested).

For resin, the “gassing” process only happened while it’s curing, after it’s set and solidify it’s not the gassing process anymore but rather the catalyst drying out. Thank you for your sharings

Thank you for your sharing, for my case, the doll got sent to me brand new and I didn’t chip it off/ scratched it anywhere. The smell isn’t bad, but it’s very strong. From what I have studied on the matter, it’s less likely that there’s a vanilla scent they added but rather the catalyst they use carry a scent similar to vanilla, such as benzen. I’ve never experience fume/ odor coming out of scratches on dolls though but that’s very interesting to hear.

Thank you for your sharing, I think it has something to do with batches of dolls from companies perhaps. I did faceup on brand new Maskcat dolls a few times and none of them ever smell.

 

I'm sure you are right about batches! And I might be more sensitive than most people - who knows! I should perhaps clarify that I've found Maskcat quite good in general - for example, I have an older 1/3 doll who doesn't give me any trouble at all (which is good, since I love Maskcat dolls!).

 

I've never noticed a smell from any of mine, but then I'm not very sensitive to subtle smells - I know people in the general doll community (not just resin dolls) who are very sensitive to the smells and have had issues with newly arrived dolls (also who have deliberately sniffed my newly-arrived dolls for that hit of "new-vinyl-smell" for a particular range of dolls they had as a child).

I suspect it's one of those individual things that varies greatly from person to person.

Teddy

 

Re: sanding - I was sanding a ca 20 year old Volks head recently and the process brought up a strong resin smell. I guess it has something to do with the porousness of resin under the cast surface and the smell releasing after the layer "closing off" the pores is removed? I wonder if there is a difference to the smell of sanding new vs older resin.

 

I can’t speak for everybody’s experience but for me, one of my DC doll does not carry any scent when I sand them, but another did. I’m not sure about it too, could be a batch problem?

 

1 - I don't remember where I read it here, but there is a company that either sprays their packaging or dolls with some fragrance. (I would link it, but it's been some time ago. I just don't remember.)
2 - I have read that resin in contact with plastic, in a tightly closed container, can give off a strong odor. I forgot if prolonged contact could potentially add the natural aging of resin. Speaking of which, I need to remove a doll head out of its bubble wrap. I did open the container to air it out, but I never checked if the smell dissipated.

 

That's Asleep Eidolon It was the CoA that they sprayed with perfume. I think Xagadoll did it for a while as well (as they are sister companies) and my Xaga body did arrive with a faint flowery smell - unsure if it was the resin, packaging or CoA, though.

 

Resin smell is one of the issues , most of my dolls like my notdoll,iplehouse din't have that bad of a smell but soom oh boy they were an issue , many of the spare heads/fantasy parts and unused dolls that I've kept in containers still have the smell I would say do the exact opposite of what I did keep it out of box and ventilate the room well but don't overworry the air is so polluted in our times that a few resin fumes won't make a difference in health. As long as you don't live inside the factory that produces them I hardly thing there will be long time effects. It's like a bad smelling perfume causing annoying nausea ventilate well and sometime it will fade . I wish you that it will be soon gone and you'll be free of this smell!!!!

 

I read somewhere a long time ago that plastics react to plastics. Like, if you store Barbies or something in plastic bins it can eventually discolor them or cause them to warp because their type of plastic breaks down easily? I don’t know how true it is. I’ve got a few old Barbies stored in a bin and so far they look fine. Anyway! That could account for strong smells coming from resin if they’re stored in plastic bins or cabinets.

I recently purchased a bunch of stackable cabinet bins with doors to store my dolls in. I just opened one up to sniff and, yup, the resin smell is much stronger than it was a few months ago, when I kept them in a different type of plastic cabinet. Not to the point where it gives me headaches or anything but I might crack the bin doors a bit to let them air. It’s been beautiful outside all week so I’ve had windows open to let fresh air in the house. Now will be a good time to do this before temps start heating up again and we’ll shut the house up in favor of AC.

 

not all plastics react bad with other plastics but yes one has to be careful , I certainly know that one of the best options for bins is polypropylene , and I never heard about resin reacting especially bad with something but vintage soft vinyl in contact with ABS plactic or certain hard plastics of similar compound may cause melting over the time , and soft silicone like the one in phicen dolls melts if it is left in contact with naylon for long or in a one use plastic bag a guy left his phicen inside a lastic bag and after a few months of forgeting them ended up with a bunch of stainless steel armatures and a very pricey silicone plastic blob scary. In storage I suggest always put a layer between dolls and the bin preferable natural paper (without plastics) like sheets of aquarelle paper or fabric a sheet or towel cotton or linen of very light collor but watch that it is very clean without detergent/softener residue and super dry except if you like mold in dolls. That's why moving and having to put to storage most of my collection was that stressfull one should be so careful Back in the smell theme yes I noticed the smell became stronger after I unpacked something from the move many of my dolls stink almost like new after spending months in a bin I thought it just became noticeable because they didn't ventilate enough or because I just got unused to it but now you say it there might be a reaction.