Great Doll Conservation Tips to Use on your Collectible Barbies | Dolls

Any serious collector of Barbie dolls will tell you that proper conservation of her or his treasures takes up a big chunk of time and effort spent on the growing collection.  Even the occasional hobbyists are beginning to understand that only through conservation of their dolls will they be able to avoid costly restoration procedures – some of which may actually take a lot of value away from dolls, and forever change their looks and sometimes even the way they feel. 

Yet how do you go about conserving these treasures of the past?  Should you just put them in carton and keep them in a cool and dry place, much as you would store potatoes?  This is hardly congruent with your aim at proudly displaying your Barbie dolls!  Here are some great doll conservation tips to use on your collectible Barbies:

Protect your dolls from yourself.  While this may appear odd to some collectors, it is indeed standard practice amongst serious collectors to wear surgical gloves when handling their treasured Barbie dolls.  This protection will aid in the conservation of the doll’s clothes and other accessories, since the gloves prevent oils and chemicals you may carry on your hands to be transferred onto the doll and its clothing. After all, if you handle a doll often enough, sooner or later the oil buildup on the clothing and hair will make her look a bit lackluster.

Keep your dolls away from sunlight.  The sun not only emits harmful heat that will accelerate the deterioration of certain components in the doll’s material, but it will also fade the doll as well as the doll’s clothing.  It is heartbreaking to see a doll that has been displayed in partial sunlight for a length of time, only to see a stripe of discoloration on her clothes, face, and other exposed body parts.

When choosing light sources for your doll displays, stay away from fluorescent bulbs, which have much the same effect on the dolls as the sunlight.  Incandescent bulbs are a bit better, but you should not have even these lights on for long periods of time.

Watch the temperature!  You do not want to display or store your dolls in a location where the temperature fluctuates widely during the day and night.  Similarly, do not keep the dolls anywhere near a heating vent.  Many a doll collector was most diligent about keeping a doll out of the sunlight, only to expose her to the high heat of a vent close by.  In addition to the foregoing, these vents stir up a lot of dust, dander, and other debris.  Sometimes these vents are also breeding grounds for insects – especially if they are not frequently used, or have not been used in quite a while – and you most certainly do not want any insects on your dolls!

Install an air filter that will clean your air from dander, debris, dust, and any of the other particles that may be floating around in your air and landing on your dolls.

If you decide to store the dolls you will not be displaying, stay away from Tupperware containers and zip loc bags.  Similarly, do not use grocery bags.  Instead, wrap the dolls – naked – in acid free paper, and then store them in a cardboard box.  Be sure to include some silica gel to nip any signs of moisture in the bud.  Do the same for the doll’s accessories, such as shoes, clothing, handbags, and sunglasses.

If you follow these tips and tricks, the odds are very good that your collection will remain a worthwhile showpiece for many years and maybe even decades to come.  Unfortunately, some doll collectors have taken conservation to another level, which usually includes several preventative measures so as to head off problems in the future, while conserving Barbie for the present.  While these efforts are laudable, it is important to remember that not all of them will work.  Here is a list of don’ts with respect to doll conservation:

Stay away from bleach.  It will add to the deterioration of the doll’s clothing, rather than conserving the whites.

Stay way from questionable chemicals like Armor All, which some doll collectors use to create dramatic effect on the rubber portions of their displays. It will break down the dolls in time.

Do not starch your doll’s clothing.  The starch attracts insects!