I bought a used doll that smells heavily of perfume, but is otherwise
in quite good condition. I'd like to know how I might eliminate or
significantly reduce the smell without damaging the doll. This is an
"American Girl" doll made by the Pleasant Company
(www.americangirl.com). She has vinyl head, arms, and legs, a stuffed
cloth body, and a glued on wig. I've heard that you're not supposed to
wash the hair, but I'm not sure of this. I already removed and washed
her clothes, but the unclothed doll still has a pretty strong smell.
I'd appreciate any help. I searched Google with queries like
[eliminate perfume odor] but these have tended to produce descriptions
of products that eliminate nastier types of odors (animal, etc.)
without use of perfumes, and they're typically for smells in the air,
or on heavy duty items like carpets. I didn't find anything about
eliminating the perfume smell itself.

Thanks for any help you can give!

Greetings!  Having had a personal experience with an ozone generating
air purifier, I believe the use of one of these will solve your
problem.  My own experience was because I am a smoker and my car stunk
of the smell.  A local dealer gave me a demonstration of the model
150HMA machine from San Air by placing it in my car and turning the
unit all the way up for two hours.  The car was closed execpt for the
small space required for the power cord.  After the procedure, my car
had no smoke smell at all and I was amazed.  The descriptions below
are NOT from the dealer I contacted.

All San Air dealers should be happy to give a you demonstration
because it proves the validity of their product.  I would suggest you
contact a local seller of the units, explain your problem and ask for
the demonstration to be performed on your doll (placed in a bag or box
with the unit on high).  Even if you do not buy a unit, the
demonstration will secure for the seller a satisfied result and your
word-of-mouth to others will prove good for the dealer.

According to the web site for Ron Goens BUILT-IN-SYSTEMS:

"SAN AIR

"MODEL 15OHMA
The 150 HMA is designed for sanitizing hotel/motel rooms and
automobiles. The unit removes odors and residue from walls, draperies,
carpets and furniture; it even keeps air conditioning and heating
ducts clean. This model has proven very effective in meat lockers and
other food storage areas by prolonging produce shelf life. The
stainless steel cabinet is lightweight, durable, easy to clean and
moisture resistant. Also available in wood grain.

"MODEL 25OHMA
Model 250 HMA is the industrial air purification giant. Useful for
cleaning large areas where ozone can be distributed by auxiliary fans.
This is the unit for meat markets, industrial cleaners, manufacturers
and businesses using chemicals and plastics. The 250 HMA even
deodorizes garbage collection areas.

"Either of the HMAs are excellent for readying homes for open houses
for sale in the real estate business."

This is from the Air Purifier Buying Guide site:

"Electronic air cleaners that utilize negative ions and low-level
ozone (negative ion generators and ozone generators) are able to
remove particles as small as 0.01 microns from the air, which is
smaller than many airborne pollutants."

I cannot verify the performance of other manufacturers but I can
attest to the fact that the San Air unit used in my car worked
effectively in completely eliminating (not just covering up) the smoke
smell.  I hope this information proves beneficial to your quest.


SEARCH TERMS and LINKS:

san air ozone machine  [Google search]
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=san+air+ozone+machine

Goens Systems
http://admnet.com/goens/purif.htm

Alpine Air Purifiers [buy direct]
http://www.h2owarehouse.com/alpine_air_purifiers_parts.htm


san air air purifier  [Google search]
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=san+air+air+purifier

Air Purifier Buying Guide [paid link, right column]
http://www.indoorpurifiers.com/air-purifier-guide.htm

---

Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 30 Aug 2002 10:50 PDT

PS  On a perfume side note, I am in the habit of carrying a bottle of
Tabu perfume (a strong, spicy scent) in my car which I regularly spray
on the air vents and seats to mask the smoke smell for passengers. 
The San Air removed that odor as well.

---

Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 31 Aug 2002 11:08 PDT

To clarify, I stated "I would suggest you contact a local seller of
the units, explain your problem and ask for the demonstration to be
performed on your doll (placed in a bag or box with the unit on
high)."

With my phrase "explain your problem" I assumed you would explain your
problem honestly.  Of course you would admit you were not in the
market for purchase, which is what I did in my case.  I was curious to
see if the units really did what they claimed, and the dealer I
contacted was only too happy to show me. I remain amazed that the odor
was completely removed.

I hope you discover a way to rid the doll of the odor without soaking
it in a solution.  Should you want further clarification of other
deodorizing methods, please don't hesitate to ask.

I appreciate your effort to answer my question, but the answer is not
very satisfactory (I'm only giving the second star because the answer
at least addressed the topic of the question). Buying an ozone
generating air purifier would be a very expensive solution to the
problem (as I think you understand). If I wanted to spend a lot more
money, I could have just bought a new doll. On the other hand, I would
feel that I was being deceptive if I took your suggestion of asking a
San Air dealer for a demo to get the doll de-odorized. I have no
intention of purchasing the air filter. I don't believe the PR value
would motiviate the dealer the way you suggest, if he knew what my
intentions were.

In removing odor from a doll, you must take special care because of
specific materials. Certain areas of the doll could be containing the
odor; the vinyl, stuffing, glue, and/or hair. There are certain things
that seem to work best and worst.

(1) According to Doll Care Basics,
http://www.angelfire.com/bc3/blackdollzine/dollcare3.html
"When dolls are exposed to tobacco smoke or other harsh odors over
long periods of time, these odors seep into the doll’s material and;
while the owner may become immune to the odor; if the doll is sent to
a new home, the new owner may find the odor quite offensive. This will
be the case particularly if the new owner is a nonsmoker and the doll
came from a smoker's environment, or if the new owner has a sensitive
sense of smell.
  To remove the smell of tobacco smoke or other harsh orders, it will
be necessary to hand wash the doll’s clothing and lie them flat to dry
or hang them outside on a sunny day to air dry. For dry clean-only
fabrics, these should be sent to the dry cleaners.
  If the doll is vinyl, use a diluted cleaner such as Mr. Clean or
Orange Glo to wipe the doll’s vinyl surface clean and allow it to air
dry. If necessary, use a damp cloth and wipe the doll’s cloth body
with either of these solutions. If the hair is washable, wash the hair
with a mild shampoo. (Rooted hair is washable; wigged hair is not.)
Allow the doll to dry.
  If the smell still exists, or if the doll is made of non-washable
material such as porcelain or composition; place the doll in a scented
trashcan liner and tie closed; or cover the doll from head to toe with
several scented fabric softener sheets, then place it in an unscented
trashcan liner and tie the liner closed. Leave the doll in the liner
for several days. If the doll remains malodorous after a few days,
remove the doll from the liner and place it outside in direct
sunlight. Allow it to sunbathe for a few days. When all else fails,
the sun usually does the trick to remove odors.
  If you opt for the sunbathing trick, be sure that the doll is in a
protected area so that stray animals will not harm or remove it from
the premises! If more than one day of sunbathing is required, bring
the doll inside when the sun sets and take it back out the following
day. Repeat as often as necessary. Usually two or three days of
sunbathing will do."

(2) On a Doll Restoration site people stated that Febreze can leave a
sticky residue, which is something you wouldn't want.
http://www.prillycharmin.com/restore/1smoking.htm

(3)Environmentally safe and effective odor control.
http://www.twinpines.com/DStinkerInfo.html
"D-Stinker was tested on dolls for two years with great success. Odors
from mold and mildew, food and even animal waste odors have been
successfully eliminated. Unfortunately there are exceptions to most
rules. Some dolls made of urea-formaldehyde (1930s and 1940s hard
plastic) are beyond help. These dolls succumb to bacteria that attack
the urea and leave a most unpleasant odor that simply cannot be
overcome."

(4) Doll Restoration FAQ
http://www.homesteadcollectibles.com/faq.htm
"You cannot get rid of the mildew odor without getting rid of the
mildew and that is hard to do as it gets impregnated into the rubber
or the vinyl.
She very well might have mildew inside her. IF she does that is a bad
problem that is really, really hard to get rid of. She was the type of
doll that you could wash in a tub of water. The only way you might be
able to get rid of the odor is to take the doll apart and soak her in
water with strong soap. Then take a tooth brush or scrub brush and
scrub all the inside. The cleaners we use for the vinyl's, "@ 9-1-1"
cleans mold, if it is really embedded we use the remove-zit. Then let
her dry in the sun and then soak her in Armor -all that you can find
in auto stores. This will help to keep it soft as I assume the doll is
rubber.
  If the doll is not rubber you will have better luck with it. The
rubber version is really hard to take apart without damage to the
doll."

(5) Cleaning Tips
http://www.miniworlddolls.com/Goodstuff/Repair.htm
" Do not use newspaper under dolls when working on them The newsprint
may rub off and no amount of cleaning will remove this discoloration.
Use plain butcher paper or something similar.
Chlorine bleach will beach hairline cracks in a china head. 
Clean bisque and china heads with a mild soap and warm water and a
soft rag, then dry.
A little glass cleaner added to warm sudsy water will help clean
composition.
To remove magic marker or ink from plastic dolls, spray with hair
spray and wipe off quickly. Use sewing machine oil also.
A cleanser, such as Brillo or Comet, in warm water will clean
plastic."


=====================================
Other articles of interest
=====================================
Net Doll Discussion Group
http://www.netdoll.com/discus/messages/board-topics.html

American Girl Dolls 
(has infomation about the dolls and a forum for discussions)
http://www.collectdolls.about.com/cs/americangirl/
 

My search strategy was using these search phrases:
"odor" + "doll" 
"restoration" + "doll" + "odor"

Best of luck. Let us know how it goes. If you have any additional
questions, please don't hesitate to add a comment.

-Morgan Mann

Morgan_mann: thanks for all the info. These seem like practical
suggestions. I'll try them and let you know how it works.