Care and Cleaning
As far as a Shimmers
miracle cleaning formula, I don't know of any; due to the pearlised
paint cleaning can be difficult and tedious. I suggest getting
out an old toothbrush and some Q-tips. I don't suggest using
more abrasive cleaners, like Oxyclean or Goo Gone, etc. Clean slowly
and watch closely their condition as you progress; please don't
brush off your Shimmers glitter before you realized you have.
--Note, clean at your own risk.
Basic Cleaning:
- Soak in sudsy water
(preferably warm); I would let them soak about 30 minutes
or so, depending on condition. If you have an adult with
extremely frizzy hair she may need to soak longer.
- Thoroughly Shampoo
adults (for mane and/or tail).
- Put conditioner
on the Shimmers hair and let it set in a while before rinsing
(about 5-10 minutes).
- Take a toothbrush
to the body, but be gentle with the shimmering body parts, very
carefully brushing them or using a Q-tip.
- Comb through hair
while still wet and conditioned (only if you want to straighten
hair or refix it) and then rise the conditioner out.
- Very gently towel
dry.
- Proceed down to
the hair section if you want to fix or re-curl your Shimmers'
hair.
Hair:
- Shimmers' hair is
not naturally straight, if your Shimmers has lost her curl, you'll
have to decide on whether to re-curl her or not.
- If her curl is okay,
just wash, shampoo and condition gently, rinse, towel dry, then
just set her out to dry. The curl will dry back into the
hair if you do not comb it out while wet.
- If your Shimmers
are naughty girls and need to be totally re-curled, here's one
way to do it:
Step One:
Defrizz. If possible use a detailing conditioner or
leave a regular conditioner in for a longer period of time if
your Shimmers
has extremely frizzy hair. Afterwards, rinse and get a comb
after her. It may take some struggling to work the tangles
out. You might try sectioning
the hair off into different sections and work on detangling each
section. Is it still frizzy at the ends?
Very carefully try this:
Divide hair into
four or five separate sections. Use a warm curling iron
starting close to the beginning of the head plugs or tail plug
and work out to the end for each section. You will hear it pop
and fizz. I suggest using a low heat (depending on how proficient
you are with a curling iron) setting and patiently try straightening
until the frizzies are gone. The heat will work the frizz
out, but be carefully not to singe the plastic. Over-heating
plastic hair will cause it to melt.
Step Two:
Curl. You'll need rollers for this. The regular
foam rollers or any other kind should work, for large curls use
large rollers for regular curler use medium rollers. I suggest
the regular 2.00 medium foam kind you pick up at a local store.
If you used the curling iron technique, go back and re-dampen
your Shimmers' hair. This isn't a must but will help the
curl to set. If you didn't use the curling iron technique,
your Shimmers' hair should still be wet. Towel dry and section
off the still damp hair in the curlers. Let set overnight
and dry. After removing the curlers shake out the tightly
curled hair into loose bouncy curls and style as desired.
- Note: If you
wish to put your adult Butterflies hair back into a ponytail,
just take a small rubber band to do so.
Very badly
marked and/or irreparable Shimmers:
- For terribly faded
pink hair you might try RIT dye or a basic dye to re-pink.
Rose colored RIT dye is a popular product for such, sold in the
U. S.
- For terribly marked
bodies, sometimes Fingernail Polish Remover (non-acetone) works
well. I suggest taking a Q-tip and carefully applying to
injured area. Avoid eye paint, cheek blush, lips, eyebrows
and shimmering parts of the body. This is pretty well limited
to parts of the face and arms.
- For touch ups or
scuffs on non-shimmering parts of the body, try Acrylic paint.
- Shimmering body
parts, look for a pearlised craft paint match. For
a clear pearlised finish try: Delta Ceramcoats Pearls. *thanks
to LSDiamond for the suggestion* Though the glittery areas have
a different texture.
- If you Shimmers
are beyond repair you might try customizing them. Repaint
them and give them an entirely new look. If not, don't throw
them out, trade them to other collectors who might want to customize
them.
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The contents contained
within this site are Copyright © 2001-2007
by Lavonia Martin. Shimmers is a registered trademark of
Kenner.
