Holding on to your Barbie collection for your little one to grow up and play with is something that mothers have done for years. If you store the dolls properly, your little one will have a great collection in beautiful condition to play with when you are ready to present them to her. Below, you will find several tips to help you store the dolls, clothes, and accessories properly to ensure their condition is protected while they are being stored.
Dolls
Clean the dolls and their hair. If your dolls are fairly clean, you will just need to give them a quick wipe with a damp cloth. If they are fairly dirty, use a few drops of liquid dish soap mixed with hot water to bath them.
Use your favorite hair shampoo and conditioner to wash the hair. Use a comb to carefully comb the knots out of the hair before you rinse the conditioner out. Once you have the knots removed, carefully rinse the hair without knotting it again.
Position the dolls in an upright position to dry them and drain any water that is trapped inside their heads. Standing them in vases or glass bottles will keep them in an upright position as the heads drain and the hair dries.
Once the dolls are dry, slide knee-high nylon stockings over their heads to their feet. The stockings will help to keep the hair pretty, keep some of the dust off of the dolls, and allow for any moisture that remains to escape while they are stored.
Clothing
To store clothing, you want to make sure that it is clean and dry. Hand washing is the best option for older clothing, but newer clothing can be placed inside a laundry bag and sent through the wash on the gentle cycle. Once washed, line-dry the clothing.
You don't really want the clothing pieces stacked against each other while it is being stored. Place a sheet of tissue paper between each item to keep the colors from bleeding into each other.
Accessories
Again, you want the accessories to be clean and dry before you store them. You can easily clean all accessories that don't have stickers by soaking them in hot water with a little bit of liquid dish soap mixed in.
Egg cartons can be used to organize the accessories. After you have the accessories in each little egg section, get some tissue paper and lay it across the top. Then, use the bottom of a second egg carton to press down into the holes to keep everything in place. Close the lid and tape the carton together so that it's ready to be stored.
Store your collection in a cool, dark, dry space. If you don't have anywhere in your home that is suitable for storing this type of collection, consider renting a small mini-storage unit from a company such as Simonson's Mini Storage to house it in.
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