Celluloid was invented in 1869 by the American John Wesley Hiatt, and soon the mass production of film and hollow celluloid dolls began in Europe and America. The very first dolls were produced by the German celluloid factory "Rheinische" - all bears the trademark "turtle". But in Russia, the mass production of baby dolls began only in the 30s of the twentieth century at the Okhta Chemical Plant - each product has an OKHK stamp.
All these dolls are amazing creatures with brightly painted faces, plump tummies, detailed fingers and toes. If you are the lucky owner of at least one of these old dolls, then you are probably familiar with the problems associated with caring for celluloid, as it is a very fragile and capricious material.
Cleaning and washing celluloid dolls
Initially, celluloid dolls were positioned as "washable". But you can only wash them with warm water and soap. Any other chemistry can irreparably ruin the doll! If you decide to remove stubborn stains, for example, with alcohol, then whitish stains will form on the surface of the celluloid, which can no longer be removed; and the spots, by the way, will remain. Other chemicals can generally melt and deform antique material. It should also be remembered that celluloid is very flammable and, when burned, emits harmful substances: because of this, its production was suspended. So old dolls should be kept as far away from heating appliances as possible.
Repair of celluloid dolls
Due to the fragility and antiquity of the material, celluloid dolls often receive various damages: divergence of adhesive seams, dents, cracks, breaks and holes. If the damage is serious, it is best to have the repair done by a professional in the workshop. You can try to cope with minor problems yourself.
Repairing dents: Soften the celluloid in very hot water or running steam, and then try to correct the dent through the holes in the torso.
Patches: inside some dolls pieces of celluloid “dangle” - plugs of internal holes for attaching body parts. If you manage to gently pull out these pieces with small tweezers, then you will get wonderful patches from them: they need to be put in acetone to soften, then glue on the hole and wipe the gluing place with a swab dipped in acetone.
You can glue cracks and small holes with homemade glue. You will need unnecessary photographic or film (celluloid), which you first need to rinse with a hot solution of soda (1/2 teaspoon per glass of water) to wash off the emulsion, then finely chop, put in a glass jar and pour acetone or vinegar essence - 1 part celluloid for 3 parts of solvent. The contents of the jar must be shaken until the film is completely dissolved. The glue is ready. You can give it the desired shade by adding a dye in powder.
The missing small parts of the doll's body, for example, the nose, can be sculpted from paperclay - a self-hardening polymer clay based on cellulose fibers.
