How to Clean Thrifted Dolls – Used 18″ Dolls American Girl Dolls
Found an American Girl doll while thrifting? Or maybe you snagged some used dolls from eBay. Either way, here’s how to clean a thrifted doll! You can clean 18″ dolls and make them ready for play again with a few simple steps.
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If you’ve found this post, you are probably looking for some tips about how to clean up 18″ dolls. Maybe you’ve rediscovered your childhood dolls, found a bargain on ebay, or couldn’t pass up a sweet doll at the thrift store.
This guide is primarily geared towards cleaning and lightly restoring thrifted American Girl dolls and Pleasant Company dolls. Note: Pleasant Company is the name of American Girl prior to Mattel purchasing the company.
Other dolls require different techniques, so use your best judgement or reach out in the comments if you have questions.
Disclaimer: After cleaning several dolls this way, this post simply shares my experience and best advice. The techniques shared in this tutorial are intended for thrifted dolls that may already be well-loved or damaged. If your doll is a rare, retired, or collectible piece, please be aware that cleaning or altering it in any way may potentially cause damage or reduce its value. Some materials, finishes, and hairstyles can be more delicate and may not respond well to water or cleaning products. Use discretion and proceed at your own risk. For valuable dolls, seek professional restoration advice.
How to Clean a Thrifted Doll
I primarily clean American Girl dolls, so that’s the dolls that my tips are geared towards. The techniques also work well for similar dolls like Our Generation and Magic Attic Club.
Watch my Instagram Reel which shows this whole process in under a minute!
This post doesn’t cover all the potential repairs that are possible (and you truly can fix nearly anything with AG dolls!), but it gives you the perfect start for cleaning a used doll.
My top priority when cleaning a used doll is getting the doll fresh, clean, and ready-to-play. My process is simple. I wash clothing, hair, and rub the body and limbs clean. Hair is carefully brushed and restyled–which is usually a total gamechanger!
For this tutorial we’ll primarily look at two different dolls. The first is a newer American Girl doll from 2019. She is called “Blaire” and was the “Girl of the Year” (GOTY) in 2019. She was purchased used from a thrift store.
The second doll is Kirsten. This is an approximately 1991 Kirsten doll that is actually Pleasant Company (Mattel purchased Pleasant Company in 1998 and the name later changed to American Girl). She was also thrifted and was quite dusty/dirty (and honestly, a little gross–hence the gloves!).
Remove Clothing and Clean Separately
I have an upcoming post about washing Pleasant Company and American Girl doll clothing step-by-step for best results. For now, you can just undress the doll and set aside clothing. Generally, hand-washing in cold is the best option, but there are some outfits where even that can be risky, so I’ll provide more details in that forthcoming post.
Clean the Vinyl Limbs
First, cover the eyes. I use cotton balls and painter’s tape.
Why cover the doll’s eyes? Moisture that goes behind the doll’s eyes can cause the eye to rust and create a problem called “silver eye” where the eye turns an almost robotic-looking silver. Fixing eyes is a harder repair to make so avoid it by carefully covering the eyes.
Then I use a damp soft washcloth with a bit of gentle clear Dawn dish soap. Gently rub the vinyl limbs clean.
Don’t use a dripping-wet cloth–it will be too hard to control where the water is going. You want to wipe the doll clean, but you do NOT want to soak the doll (or end up with excess water going into the vinyl limbs).
American Girl actually provides a list of helpful tips for cleaning your doll and another way to clean is to use a paste of water and baking soda on the vinyl portions of doll. Carefully wipe away until clean. Again, avoid getting the paste on the body, interior of limbs, or on the eyes.
For the face, I usually will wipe neck, chin, forehead etc. gently with the washcloth and then come back later with a damp q-tip to remove dirt that is closer to the eyes.
When I purchased this vintage Kirsten doll she was a dusty mess. To remove the dirt around her eyes (as seen below) I carefully used q-tips to remove the debris until clean.
What if my doll is REALLY dirty or smelly? American Girl dolls are pretty cool in that you can actually completely disassemble your doll and even wash the cloth body and stuffing. So even really dirty dolls can be totally cleaned. Now, the techniques used to do this are beyond the scope of this post, so browse Youtube for some help if you have a doll that requires a more intense cleaning.
How to clean the fabric body
For the fabric body, I will use a damp washcloth and just gently wipe the body clean. Kind of like spot-cleaning a stuffed animal.
You do not want to soak the body and stuffing. It should start drying out almost immediately, otherwise you are using too much water and could cause water stains or mold.
I wouldn’t necessarily attempt to clean a collector doll’s fabric body just because of the risk of water stains. But for play dolls, I do like to make sure that it’s at least been surface-cleaned.
Set the doll in front of a fan to finish drying the body before dressing her.
How to Wash Doll Hair
Next up, it’s hair washing time. If your doll has any slight odor, washing the hair often takes care of a lot of it.
This Blaire American Girl doll actually still had factory braids in and she was quite clean (or at least looked that way) so I washed her hair really carefully while leaving the braids intact. Then after restyling (process to follow), I was able to restore fly-aways and get everything looking great.
How to preserve braids etc: For dolls with braided hair, even if it’s not the factory braids, you might wish to loosely tie off each braid or section of braid with hair ties before washing. You can gently move the hair ties around as you wash, but it will help keep the segments intact so it’s easier to restyle later.
To wash the hair, follow these steps.
Be sure the doll’s eyes are still completely covered. I use cotton balls and painter’s tape–use plenty if you need to and avoid getting the doll’s face wet.
For dolls with pierced ears, I also cover their earrings!
Use cold water to wet the hair throughout.
Generally it is best if the wig cap (the fabric part of the wig that covers the doll’s head) stays dry. However, I find this basically impossible when washing hair. So I don’t worry about getting it wet, I just make sure to dry it thoroughly and use a fan for quick-drying power that will prevent mold or mildew.
Why cold water? Many American Girl dolls have a curl pattern (and some have textured hair). To maintain that original hair style or texture, you want to avoid heat! With cold water, you should be able to brush and restyle the hair to its original beauty!
Soak hair well and then shampoo with a little gentle clear Dawn dish soap. I’ve seen so much conflicting advice on what to use and not to use, but I’ve had great results with Dawn so I stick with it.
I would certainly avoid anything with a scent as well as Downy. The top priority is to avoid anything that may leave residue on the hair. You can also just rinse the hair and avoid soap at all. Because I’m restoring dolls to play condition, I do feel best about using soap to get things as clean as possible.
Rinse hair until all soap is gone and then wrap and press gently with a towel. Carefully press as much water out of the wig cap especially.
Set up a small fan and allow the doll’s wig cap and hair to dry thoroughly (I usually flip doll and/or move hair around). Because the wig cap is usually wet after washing, I prefer to completely dry the doll out at this point and then lightly rewet the hair with a spray bottle for styling.
Yes, that is extra steps, but I think it’s worth it to ensure the doll’s wig cap is completely dry.
How to Comb and Restyle Your Dolls Hair
There are two things that are really important when you are ready to style your doll’s hair.
- ONLY brush WET hair (always use cold/room temp water).
- ONLY use a wire wig brush to brush your doll’s hair. Not a plastic brush–plastic brushes will ruin the hair.
Look for a “wire wig brush” like the doll-size brush from American Girl.
Wet the doll’s hair with cold/room temp water in a spray bottle. Avoid the wig cap. Don’t add anything else to the water.
Start with small sections and gently brush, starting at the ends and working your way up. Be extra gentle with dolls that seem to shed a lot. This sometimes happens that certain dolls are more prone to losing hair and you don’t want to remove more than necessary.
Curly Hair Dolls
If your doll has a curl pattern, you can wrap the curls around your finger, hold for a few moments and then gently release the curl. Look at the original curl pattern when possible to figure out which way the hair “wants” to go. It will re-curl much better if you work with the original curl.
For tighter curls, you can curl the hair around a chopstick or a pen. You can also use sponge rollers (it’s generally suggested to use end papers to prevent crimps on the ends of the hair).
Watch a video of how I did this in my Instagram Reel which shows this whole cleaning process!
Sometimes getting the doll’s original style back can be a little tricky. This is where Youtube can be helpful. Search your dolls name + “hairstyle” and see if you can find any helpful tutorials. I need to do this for Kirsten, whose tied braids are still a little wonky!
Once the hair is dry, your thrifted doll is now ready for play!
More Thrifted Dolls I’ve Cleaned or Restored
Besides my childhood dolls, every AG or Pleasant Company doll I own has been thrifted or purchased off eBay. Here’s a few of the others I’ve cleaned up!
// Rebecca // Elizabeth // Caroline //
Resolving More Complicated Issues
Now occasionally you might find an amazing deal on a doll that you’d love to own…but she perhaps seems beyond repair. Here’s a few tips on more common issues.
Fixing Really Really Bad Hair
A lot of problems can be solved with a wash and very patient brushing, but sometimes a doll’s hair requires greater restoration techniques.
Browse this doll restoration group on Facebook for ideas about how to solve for very damaged hair. It’s a great group with lots of advice, just be sure to do your research before attempting a new technique.
Generally, you should never use human hair products on doll hair. You should never use Downy (often referred to as a “Downy dunk”). The experts in the group also suggest avoiding hot water dunks–another method that is quite popular, but can irreversibly damage the hair.
You can also learn how to re-wig dolls. A great way to give a beautiful doll new life–and solve the problem of childhood haircuts.
Addressing Mold
My best advice is to AVOID buying dolls with mold! Unfortunately I do see these come online for sale from time-to-time which is a real shame. Mold can be quite dangerous for your health (NEVER give a child a doll that has ever shown signs of mold) and it can also spread throughout a collection.
Watch for spots of apparent wetness on a doll’s fabric body (the cloth part of an American Girl doll). Watch for fuzzy greenish or whiteish material on the doll. It can also look like brownish or dark stains.
Mold can happen to dolls stored in basements or garages, so avoid these storage areas for your doll collection. Closets and attics can be problematic too. Store your dolls carefully!
Pen, Ink, and Permanent Marker Damage
This is another area where I would browse the doll restoration group on Facebook. I have not removed ink from a doll yet. I will say that the posts I’ve seen about the process make it seem like it’s a lot of work + time.
Results often vary depending on the dolls and what the stains are from. It might be worth spending a little extra to get a doll in better condition if you don’t really have a lot of interest in restoration.
Should I Just Send My Doll to the Doll Hospital?
If you own a Pleasant Company or American Girl doll you might be able to send them to the doll hospital (now known as the American Girl Care Center) for repairs.
For many dolls, the doll hospital can even replace the entire head. A great option for solving problems like haircuts, bald spots, or permanent stains/pen marks on the face. Just know that the head will be brand-new, so if there is nostalgic value to your doll this may not be the ideal option.
Another perk, if you are a USA customer, you get free round-trip shipping for doll hospital services.
First, you’ll have to choose the level of service your doll requires. Each tier of options will be a different price point, but here’s a quick list of the services that you may be able to take advantage of. Just be sure that the package you select includes everything your doll needs.
- Skin cleaning
- Hair brushing and restyling
- Eye replacement
- Limb tightening or reattachment (18″ dolls only)
- Replacement of up to two of the following: head (includes hair), full body, torso, or limbs (again, check the level your are purchasing to be sure you are getting what you need!).
Additionally, you can also request a hearing aid placement for your doll.
What’s Your Best Thrifted Doll Find?
If you love thrifting I’d love to hear your favorite American Girl thrifting find! One of mine was finding two AG Christmas ornaments–Kit and Molly–at a local thrift.
Happy Crafting! ~Ellen
Craft with me! If you love to craft, follow along on Instagram and Pinterest or watch my videos on YouTube for more ideas like this one!
