Skin So Soft
for Mildew or Cigarette Odors

Ooooooooh boy... Smoking odors are tough. I tried Febreze, which is recommended for removing odors from many things. Unfortunately, my doll took up smoking again the very next day. And, Febreze can leave a sticky residue.

It took a while to find things that really work on smoke odors and/or mildew odors. First, clean the doll thoroughly with soap, water, scrub brush and plenty of spray cleaner with lots of bleach in it. Bleach does help to cut smoking and mildew odors. Spray mildew remover is also excellent, it has bleach in it as well as other secret ingredients and it does not seem to harm vinyl dolls.

Many times, the bleach spray or mildew spray will solve the problem. If there is still an odor, then let the doll sit in therapy with Skin So Soft oil. The oil is good for the doll's hair and the vinyl. It "conditions" the hair and refurbishes the vinyl. I spray a little oil directly on the doll and rub it all over her body. I also spray some in the hair and rub it in. I'm more generous with the hair oil because the smoking odors seem to cling to the hair even more than the vinyl body.

Let the doll sit with the oil for a few days. I spray her again every few days until the nicotine smell is no longer noticeable. It can take several weeks, sometimes more and sometimes less. Give the doll a good soapy bath when finished with the oil treatments. If the cigarette smoke returns later, then start the oil treatments again. Sometimes it takes a while before a doll finally gives up the habit, but Skin So Soft does eventually win in the end.

This same therapy is very effective for mildew odors in vinyl. If mildew odors are really bad, I soak the doll completely in bleach and water, and leave her to soak for hours. This might ruin the hair but what does it matter if the doll is ruined with mildew odor anyway? If you can get the odor out of the vinyl you've saved her. Then just give her a wig later on.

Someone recommended leaving the vinyl doll in a plastic container with laundry soap for a few weeks. Sometimes that removes mold odors.

Unfortunately, there are times when I just can't get mold smells out of vinyl. I can usually conquer nicotine eventually but sometimes mold is the worst to deal with.