Spot Cleaning Waldorf Dolls

I felt like cleaning this week, or I needed to clean in a very big way.  Seems that effort I gave last Friday, before the company and the birthday and the Halloween, completely wore off!  There's another wave of company coming this weekend, so I'm using it as motivation.  Clutter is going out, dirt is coming up, and furniture is shifting.  Enough talk, though, let's clean dolls!

This method works very well on most of the dirt we were dealing with--toothpaste, pencil, general grime.  Some face dirt was left, mainly because I do try to be gentle to the fabric.  The doll is back in commission quite soon and everyone is happier.  Give the clothes a soak or a run through the washer and things are even merrier!

The main rule, I think, is to treat dolls like people, since they embody such a spirit to the child.  The face gets dirty because it is the main thing that hits the floor most often.  We make a real effort to make sure dolls are never left on the floor, both for what they mean to the children and because we want to keep them around and in good shape.

In the past, I've used several methods to keep Waldorf dolls from turning that dreadful gray color.  Tide To Go pens work on bad stains, like ink, though they do create wear on the fabric.  Another option is dunking the whole doll in wool wash, either for a short time or a long one.  I recommend short--we have had terrible staining from something wicked that rose out of the wool when I did a full, long soak. 

This washing session was largely about dealing with "bruising" on the dolls, or tea-colored stains that still lingered from that longer wash we gave them.  Oh, what a mess that made.  I did my best to rid them of most of the stains, but they were discolored for well over a year.  I'll admit I was really disappointed and a bit at a loss.  Luckily, clothing covered up most of the stains.

Recently, I thought of another way.  Fill the sink, same as always, but just dip the dirty areas for just a moment!  Give them small squeezes outside of the water and dip again.  You can massage some of the dirt away.  Use a bar laundry soap applied to a damp cloth to gently wash any gray areas or stains, like the pencil around poor Rosalie's mouth.  Rinse by giving another gentle dip and squeeze and put in a sunny spot to dry.  Your child and your doll will thank you!