Packing your dolls away for Summer? (Or exteme heat/humidity waves)

I left mine in my car in their carrier for a couple of hours. They were fine, and it was hot. But normally no, I don't.

 

Hello all.

I tried to search in the Forum, but didn't find a thread about this
Any BJD must be loved and kept in good conditions, away from sunlight, pets and some people but sometimes it just happens that you cannot do anything. This is what I had experienced almost a year ago. We had a very, very hot summer and I was horrified when I noticed that the eyelashes of one of my dolls have fallen out! The glue must have melted due to the devilish heat that lasted for a couple of weeks. I glued the eyelash back, but I wonder what'll be this summer. The biggest problem is that I feel I can do nothing to avoid it. I cannot put the dolls in the fridge, only keep them in the box under my bed or in the wardrobe - these are the coolest places in my room, but perhaps it would do little help as the eyelash disaster happened exactly when my doll was in one of these places!..
I wonder, has anyone had similar experience with the heat? Any horror stories maybe please share. And any advice how to fight heat problems are welcomed, too!

 

There are a couple of threads on this topic:
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/s...ay-for-Summer-(Or-exteme-heat-humidity-waves)
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?376296-Leaving-doll-in-car

 

I know someone who left her doll in a hot car. It wasn't even for very long, she ran in a store for a few minutes and he was in a bag in the back floorboards, but his eyeputty melted and got greasy and ran down into his neck, getting in his string, and his wig became damaged, as it got frizzy and kind of melty. The melty putty almost damaged the faceup, but was able to be wiped off.
I also had an OT doll that got left in the heat. She was vinyl, and not sure if it could have the same effect on bjds, but it melted her faceup and it rubbed onto other stuff, leaving scraped spots on her face. I've also had some plastic figures and dolls get really sticky and oily from the heat.

 

This is an old thread but I want to respond to it. I used to live in Singapore where the weather is hot and humid 31 degrees Celcius all year round before moving to Saskatchewan Canada where winters hit -40 degrees Celcius. I did not have resin dolls in Singapore but I had vinyl and porcelain dolls, the vinyl does react with humidity, it gets dirtier faster and makeup on the dolls' faces fade faster. Due to humidity, grease (especially if your kitchen is close to where you keep your dolls) sticks onto the vinyl. Yellow or dark patches appear over time. You need to clean the body of the dolls, their clothes and accessories (including hair) with wet cloth frequently to avoid stubborn build up of grease and dirt. In hot climate, our hands perspire a lot, hence, clean your hands before handling dolls or use gloves. I am able to tell the difference of what humidity can do to plastic because after moving to Canada, cleaning and maintaining my dolls is now much easier, requiring less cleaning. Makeup on dolls' faces last much longer. In fact, the discoloration on one of my vintage vinyl dolls' face stopped when I moved her to Canada. Unfortunately, I've already wiped off her 50 year old factory sealed makeup before moving to Canada.

Ostrich is right to observe that humidity weakens elastic, for example, the artificial "leather" used to make some doll's pants, jackets and belts. I bought my Volks Isao Ver 1 full set outfit from someone living in Malaysia (next to Singapore) which is a hot and humid country. The black "leather" waist belt was "soft" and bits of "leather" peeled off the belt staining the doll. As someone who was from that region, I know this is caused by long term storage in a humid. Humidity weakens elastic/rubber causing the belt material to come off. I quickly took the belt off, cleaned the doll, wrapped the belt with paper and carefully kept it in storage. Regardless of whether I can or cannot use that belt again, it is part of the original accessories that belong to an LE doll, it has to be kept. The condition of the belt has not worsen.

 

High temperatures are also well known to melt gloss.

 

I honestly wouldn't do it either. These dolls are expensive and should be treated with fragile care when it comes to damaging them. I wouldn't risk it.

 

If the weather is bearable for you, it's bearable for a doll's materials, usually. So, locked in a hot car- not good. Sitting on shelves in a warm house- probably fine. Out for a snow shoot- fine. In a basement or attic below freezing for hours at a time- Not good.

 

This is why I have a nondescript doll carry case. It's not obvious that a doll is in it, but it is designed for dolls on the inside (Doll zone carry case), so she's not going to just jostled. I can take my doll in someplace and it looks like I'm carrying art supplies, or sports gear or something, so it's not likely anyone would be interested in the bag. I've left it in the car when I'm traveling, but I have an SUV, so the trunk is open to the rest of the car and the heat doesn't build up that bad if I have the sunroof and windows venting. (If I have to go someplace and I do this, I am some place where I can see the car at all times-- i don't leave the windows open for robbers. Anyway... for people who this problem, totally recommend an insulated doll carrier.

Hm, maybe one of us should invent some kind of cooler to keep dolls from getting to hot in the car D:

 

If I had to run into a store, I wouldn't leave my doll in the car lol.
I know it's not convenient, but other than the heat you just never know!
Someone could steal your car, or take her. People can be real jerks.
Kinda makes me wonder if you could use a dolly ice pack.
Maybe put her carrier in one of those temperature controlled bags with an ice pack in a baggie so it doesn't leak. Sounds a bit extreme but it might work! lol

As for sun and heat. I just moved to California and last summer my room was stupid hot!
My dolls are in their boxes in the closet most of the time so they stay cool. But it is something to think about.

 

This concerns me a lot because I have all my dolls in their boxes and my room can get very hot and I'm almost never at home as I work full time and go to College ...as soon as I get home I will take them out of their boxes!

 

Well, I live in Singapore and I know just how hot it can be here. I would never ever leave any of my dolls in a non-air-conditioned car. In fact, even when I went on a 2-month-long summer holiday back home to Europe last summer, I gave ALL my BJDs to my friend so that she could look after them and keep them in a cool room while I was away. I was so afraid that something might have happened to them at +30C inside the flat - and right I was it appears, having read the posts in this thread!!

 

Wow, I didn't know the summer heat could damage a doll like that... Thank god I am in Germany, it's never hot or humid here...

 

Wow that's interesting info right there......somehow my solution was to shove it in a cooler........and I probably just offended someone.

 

It makes me laugh that people are freaking out about 90 degrees... We just had the hottest summer on record in Australia, and it was over 100 degrees fahrenheit even at night, and 90% + humidity where I live. :P I didn't even think about my dolls getting damaged by that, just that I couldn't do faceups. lol. That said, the inside of cars gets a lot hotter than the outside air temperature, so it's probably best not to leave things like that in the car.

 

I think my question is on topic, but what about doing face-ups in extreme weather? I'm getting Corbin's head in June--which is the hottest month of the year in central Arizona. I want to do his face-up ASAP, but is it safe to leave his head outside to dry after I spray it? Would blocking it from direct sunlight help? I wouldn't do it on a 115 day, but an average June day is around 105. Even at night, it rarely drops below 100 (though there's no sun). Any tips?
Thanks!

 

^ I would think that letting your freshly-sprayed head dry indoors would suffice-- the super-dry Arizona air would mean sealant would dry super-fast, so you wouldn't have to let him hang outside all afternoon anyway. I have a friend who lives in Phoenix, and she says the dry air is a boon for doll ownership (her house is a fully air-conditioned sanctuary from that screechin'-hot sun, though).

I have another friend in Kentucky, where summers get pretty hot'n'sticky, and she copes with it by keeping her dolls undressed during the summer-- they sit around naked, in white togas, or in white underwear all summer whenever she's not photographing them. ^^ In this manner does she avoid the problem of clothes sticking/staining/degrading onto the doll's body in all that humidity. I don't think she packs them away except in the most extreme heatwaves.

I feel so lucky to live in San Francisco's idyllic cool climate, where you can wear a leather jacket pretty much all year round. We do have fog and damp, but my apartment does not suffer from undue humidity, and my dolls have always stayed in fine shape. They don't get packed away seasonally (just as I don't change my wardrobe seasonally ^^). But some of my friends who live closer to the ocean, on ground-floor apartments, or in the path of the daily rolling fog-blanket, keep de-humidifiers near their dolls.

And boy do I hate sweating... so my heart goes out to all of you who deal with trying to keep things nice in a constantly blazing climate. ;;^^

 

^ I'm originally from San Francisco! It is really so lovely there! I'd love to do some doll shoots at the beach.
And I can imagine that the dry air would make it super easy! My mom suggested moving him to the garage to dry, which would also work. Thanks

 

Does anyone actually know what the safe temperature range for resin is (generally, anyway)? We've been talking about moving, and I'm trying to figure out what I need to watch for if they have to be stored for any length of time. Humidity and light shouldn't be the issue, just temperature.
And please don't tell me to rent a climate-controlled storage room - that's not what I'm asking. Thanks in advance!

 

I'm verrrrry protective over my doll so I'd never leave him alone in a car. I'd either stick him in the trunk so no one gets any ideas, or take him in with me and plunk him into the shopping cart.