Dollieh Sanctuary

MMkay I am going to be dealing with several compo dolls from the 50s. They aren't in "collector's condition" because they were quite loved but I'd like to figure out if something can be done to cheer them up a bit. I would like to know any and all things that can be done to make them pretty again.

1 They stink, literally. Is there anything that can be done so they don't smell so sour and musty?
2 Their finish is crackled/chipped/dinged and some fingers are missing. Not that much of a problem if I can clean them up.
3 They need to be restrung, how isn't the problem so much as what to use.

Not sure but this might help http://www.savethedolls.org/

1. Repair holes in composition dolls by patching them with epoxy putty. Work quickly using a putty knife to smooth and conform the putty into the contours of the doll for this putty sets in merely three minutes.
2. Use a pourable finishing coat, such as Evercoat 417, to fill cracks in dolls' bodies. Again, use the putty knife to smooth the coating evenly onto the doll, and work in a well-ventilated area wearing gloves and a face mask.
3. Sand the doll down using fine sandpaper to make the doll completely smooth.
4. Apply a base of PVA glue onto the doll bodies before proceeding to paint them with water-based acrylic paints.
5. Allow the painted dolls to dry completely, and then spray them with five or six coats of clear satin finish to give them a clean, glossy shine.

·Ball joints for jointed bodies can be made from kindergarten wooden beads.
·Unpainted drawer pulls or spools cut in half and sanded make good neck plugs. Ball Joints may be made from fisherman's plugs or wooden beads.
·To rebuild fingers on a ball jointed doll, drill a hole in the end of the remaining part and insert a pipe cleaner and build around it with Weldwood. When thoroughly dry, sand smooth, coat with shellac. When shellac is dry enamel with paint of a shade to match the rest of the hand.
·Broken fingers can be rebuilt by adding a bit or wire and building a finger with plastic wood around the wire. Sand when dry and paint.

As for restringing:

Try here: http://www.miniworlddolls.com/TS9Armature.htm

Oh! Thanks victoriavictrix! I never thought of doing that for fingers.

For smell:
"One lady who had a "smelly" doll put about two cups of Tidy Cats Kitty litter in the bottom of a plastic bag, with her doll, and tied it shut. It came out with all of the smell gone." She did it with a cloth doll so I'm not totally sure.

Composition is sawdust and glue, so anything like Plastic Wood works just fine for rebuilding.

Since you don't have to worry about staining (and you are probably going to repaint anyway, I would suggest repeated sprays of OdoBan. Spray, dry in the sun, spray, dry in the sun. You don't want to soak the composition so it falls apart, but you do want the OdoBan to penetrate. You can find it in places like PetsMart (it takes out cat urine, so it should take out just about anything.)

Ill keep an eye out next time we're at the pet store.