Are your children’s dolls in need of a spruce-up? Here’s how to remove pen from a doll’s face (or any other part of a plastic doll for that matter!).
One thing I often write about is my love of buying second-hand.
Not only is buying second-hand good for the environment, but it’s also great for saving money too.
The majority of the clothing, homeware and toys I buy are preloved and my current favourite place to buy is Vinted.
I recently purchased a doll that I planned to give to my daughter for her birthday. It was listed as ‘Brand New In Box’ although the seller admitted that it had been played with once or twice.
However, it looked to be in great condition and I went ahead and purchased it.
Unfortunately, when the doll arrived, there was a large pen mark on the doll’s face that hadn’t been visible from the photographs on the listing.
Overall the doll was in good condition, and I was torn between sending it back (at cost to me as are the rules with Vinted) and trying to remove the pen mark myself.
Honestly, I could do without the hassle of returning, so I decided to try and remove the pen from the doll’s face myself.
My first thought was to use a wet wipe which did not work at all.
Next, I tried hand gel, which often works with removing stains. However, it did nothing on this occasion so that was a dud.
Here’s what I did that worked.
How To Remove Pen From A Dolls Face
The doll I was removing pen from in these images is a DesignAFriend doll, a brand that can be found at Argos, Sainsbury’s and Chad Valley.
However, this should work on any type of doll with a plastic face, including a Barbie doll.
You can also use this method to remove pen from other parts of the doll as long as they are plastic.
Take extra care around and print features on the doll such as the eyes, eyebrows and mouth, as rubbing these too vigorously could remove them in addition to any pen marks.
To remove the pen from the doll’s face, I used rubbing alcohol.
This was something we already had, but if you don’t have any, you can purchase it in small quantities from both Amazon and eBay. You do need to be over 18 to purchase and may be required to show I.D on delivery.
There are many other clean tasks it can be used for, so it is handy to have.
Removing Pen From A Dolls Face In 3 Easy Steps
You will need:
- Rubbing Alcohol
- A Face Mask
- A Ball Of Cotton Wool
- A Cotton Bud
Before getting started, you may wish to put on a face mask, as rubbing alcohol is very strong. It’s also advisable to open a window or two and not attempt this when there are children around.
- Pour a small amount of rubbing alcohol onto the ball of cotton wool.
- Start to gently rub the pen mark. Leave for a few seconds and repeat until the mark starts to fade. You may need to add more rubbing alcohol to the cotton wool as time goes on.
- Repeat this action until the pen mark has completely gone from the doll’s face.
For smaller more delicate areas you may wish to use a cotton bud instead of a ball of cotton wool. This process can then be repeated all over the doll until all pen marks have gone.
Halfway through the simple cleaning process the pen mark on the doll’s face has started to fade and can only just be seen.
And here are the final results! The pen mark was gone from the doll’s face in a matter of minutes and she looks as good as new!
This is a great hack for giving toys a bit of a clean-up or even a complete makeover and preventing them from needing to be thrown away.
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
