Just a heads up for Pony Wear enthusiasts :)

BittieBaby

BittieBaby

Ovechkin's Dream
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
1,901
I've just started the process of inventorying my collection and packing up my Pony Room. Today I was doing the pony wear and noticed that all the shoes for the Pony Wear with Jewelery Sets (Hearts & Candy/ Lights, Camera, Action/ Pageant Queen/ Something Old, Something New specifically) have started to do that "plastic breaking down & feeling oily" thing. All the other shoes for all the other Pony Wear I have are not doing this.

I figured I would make a post and give people the heads up in case they have some of these shoes in storage in baggies with the rest of the outfits. I wouldn't want anyone's outfits to get ruined ;)

I put all the shoes in individual smaller baggies and then put them in the baggies with the rest of the outfit, just to make sure the outfits stay undamaged.
 
Thanks so much for the head's up! I hate that whole sticky plasticizer-leaking thing. Grar! It's one of the worst things a vintage toy collector has to deal with!

Glad you noticed and nipped it in the bud before anything too damaging happened.
 
im going to ask some one about it, there has to be something we can do about this! i learn a bit about whitening yellowing plastic, but its way to dangerous really lol
 
The thing I'm most devastated about is my FF Cotton Candy. She was my very first pony and this is happening to her too. It makes me SO sad. I really wish there was a way to make it stop :(
 
Thanks for the great tip about the shoes, I'd never considered the possibility of that happening. It's so much better to be safe than sorry. I'm going to go put all my pony shoes in separate little baggies right away!
 
Thanks for the heads-up. What can we do to prevent/lessen the plastic breakdown? Every time I get one of those silica packets in a new bag or something -- you know the little packets that look a little bit like sugar that say DO NOT EAT? I keep those and throw them in my storage bins. I have no idea if it does anything, I think the little bags attract moisture and I have no idea if moisture has anything to do with plastic breaking down, but I figure it can't hurt. Is there a chemist among us? :)
 
You can slow down, if not stop, plasticizer leaching. Acetates in the plastic react with moisture in the air, causing the weird, sticky goo.

The first thing is to remove the sticky film, since it encourages further reaction. The film is slightly acidic, so what you need to do is neutralize the acid with a paste of baking soda and water. After doing this, wash the item again with an anti-microbial dish soap. There are certain types of bacteria that feed on plasticizer and cause spots, so you want to remove them.

The second thing you'll want to do is prevent moisture build-up. Sealing plastic in air-tight containers, like Rubbermaid bins and Zip-Loc bags, allows moisture to build up. If your ponies are in baggies, free them! They need to be stored where air circulates. Most of my ponies are on shelves, but I keep some of them in storage drawers with packets of silica gel. I moved them from Rubbermaid containers to the drawers about six years ago, and the plasticizer leaching stopped.

I hope this helps! :D
 
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That really helps a lot. Thank you so much for what both of you posted. I'm going to go save my poor accessories now. o_O
 
Dava. omg. If this works I will be your biggest fan! I'm off to go try and save my shoes and Cotton Candy!! <3!!!
 
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