FILLING FINE CRAZE LINES

USING OIL BASE PAINT LIKE MAKEUP

Before trying this on you best composition doll, I strongly suggest you try it on a really sad doll of little value to get the feel for this technique. It's only sufficient for the fine spider web crazing but it's so much better than filling the lines with greasy "temporary" products. This paint is very much like the original surface material and will dry and seal the cracks. Many of the "temporary" products stay soft, attract dust, go rancid and turn black and and can even soak under the paint layer where they'll loosen it and let in humidity which will cause core to expand and the cracks to widen. What was an acceptible flaw has then become a very serious problem that no "miracle concealer" will solve. At that point the only cure is to strip and repaint the head.

The technique is like putting on makeup only you wipe off and buff the surface leaving the paint only in the lines. Using the paint very sparingly and quickly wiping away the excess will seal even the lines too fine to see. Buffing the face gently with a soft cloth will give some dolls with the original shiny faces (Candy Kid, Kewpie and most of the Patsy family, for example) a beautiful glow.

1 - The Patient: An Arranbee Debuteen with fine hairline crazing on her face. She's too good to refinish but left unchecked, the fine lines will grow wider and deeper.
2 - Since we won't be removing the wig, we need to make her a sort of shower cap to protect her hair. Place a plastic bag over her head. I didn't have a small one so I cut a corner out of small kitchen trash bag. Place a rubber band over the head and around the neck.
3 - Pull the bag back over the head and let the rubber band rest around the hairline.
4 - And secure in the back with another rubber band like a phoy tail
5 - This doll doesn't look dirty enough to need cleaning, but in the 65 years she's been around, she may have been cleaned with something that is on the face. For this project to be successful, the face has to be completely clear of any wax residue or soil.
6 - Use a lint-free, soft cloth or a facial tissue with a small amount of cleaner on it. RUB GENTLY. This has an abrasive that could rub off brows, lashes and eye shadow so go around those features. Just touching them with the liquid and then wiping off is good enough. Don't scrub.
7 - The doll will already look better but the problem isn't fixed, yet. All that's happened is the craze lines are filled with cleaner. So don't stop yet.
8 - Now that the face is clean, like with our own faces, we need to get rid of the left-over cleanser. So, the doll astringent is next.
9 - Wet another tissue or a soft cloth with the astringent and really wash the face with it. Use liberally, but don't scrub. You just want to wash off any of the cleaner.
10 - Finally, the makeup. This is going to fill the craze lines and dry hard, like the rest of the surface. It will not stay soft and attract dust like craze concealers.
11 - Start by putting a small dot on the cheek. This is all you'll be using.
12 - Use your thumb or fingers to rub the liquid into the craze lines and blend across the surface.
13-Work quickly to spread this small amount over entire face.
14 -The makeup is evenly blended on the face and is starting to get sticky, so it's time to stop. Let this dry for about an hour.
15 - Use some of the astringent on a tissue on a fingertip and wipe the haze off the brows, mouth and painted lashes. If you like, you can add to the blush with a powder blush. If you over do it, though you'll have to go back to step 9, so easy does it!
16 - And here she is. All finished. The craze lines checked, almost invisible and it doesn't look like we did anything to her at all. If the lines on your doll are still too visible, you can wait a week and start from step 11 and repeat. Each time you do this, the lines will fill a bit more until they're even with the surface and completely gone. Powder eye shadow can be used to touch up or replace eye shadow in the same way I used the blush.

After about six months, you can use any furniture polish on a cloth to clean her face if she needs it, just don't use anything containing mostly water and be sure to dry quickly so it doesn't soak into the surface..

Kit contains 1 ounce each of Dolly Liquid Makeup (oil based paint) in apricot, peach beige, and white for lightening. Colors can be mixed if a better match is needed. If craze lines are as fine as the example above, and only the lines are filled as in the directions above, mixing should not be necessary. Kit also contains 2 ounces of cleanser and one 2 ounce bottle of astringent (mineral spirits).

There have been requests for me to put together a kit of these products so there's one available on the ThisOldDoll shop. You can click here for a shortcut.

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	1 - The Patient: An Arranbee Debuteen with fine hairline crazing on her face. She's too good to refinish but left unchecked, the fine lines will grow wider and deeper.
	2 - Since we won't be removing the wig, we need to make her a sort of shower cap to protect her hair. Place a plastic bag over her head. I didn't have a small one so I cut a corner out of small kitchen trash bag. Place a rubber band over the head and around the neck.
	3 - Pull the bag back over the head and let the rubber band rest around the hairline.
	4 - And secure in the back with another rubber band like a phoy tail
	5 - This doll doesn't look dirty enough to need cleaning, but in the 65 years she's been around, she may have been cleaned with something that is on the face. For this project to be successful, the face has to be completely clear of any wax residue or soil.
	6 - Use a lint-free, soft cloth or a facial tissue with a small amount of cleaner on it. RUB GENTLY. This has an abrasive that could rub off brows, lashes and eye shadow so go around those features. Just touching them with the liquid and then wiping off is good enough. Don't scrub.
	7 - The doll will already look better but the problem isn't fixed, yet. All that's happened is the craze lines are filled with cleaner. So don't stop yet.
	8 - Now that the face is clean, like with our own faces, we need to get rid of the left-over cleanser. So, the doll astringent is next.
	9 - Wet another tissue or a soft cloth with the astringent and really wash the face with it. Use liberally, but don't scrub. You just want to wash off any of the cleaner.
	10 - Finally, the makeup. This is going to fill the craze lines and dry hard, like the rest of the surface. It will not stay soft and attract dust like craze concealers.
	11 - Start by putting a small dot on the cheek. This is all you'll be using.
	12 - Use your thumb or fingers to rub the liquid into the craze lines and blend across the surface.
	13-Work quickly to spread this small amount over entire face.
	14 -The makeup is evenly blended on the face and is starting to get sticky, so it's time to stop. Let this dry for about an hour.
	15 - Use some of the astringent on a tissue on a fingertip and wipe the haze off the brows, mouth and painted lashes. If you like, you can add to the blush with a powder blush. If you over do it, though you'll have to go back to step 9, so easy does it!
	16 - And here she is. All finished. The craze lines checked, almost invisible and it doesn't look like we did anything to her at all. If the lines on your doll are still too visible, you can wait a week and start from step 11 and repeat. Each time you do this, the lines will fill a bit more until they're even with the surface and completely gone. Powder eye shadow can be used to touch up or replace eye shadow in the same way I used the blush. After about six months, you can use any furniture polish on a cloth to clean her face if she needs it, just don't use anything containing mostly water and be sure to dry quickly so it doesn't soak into the surface..