question Any possible substitute for body suit/stocking?

From what I've seen, clothes staining a doll is quite common, and the most common practice to prevent it is using either a body suit or a body stocking. But are these the only option we have? Almost 5 years ago, I was really into Pullip dolls, and their clothes too would sometimes stain, but they had no body suits or stockings to prevent it, so people would wrap the dolls body parts that came in contact with the staining cloth in either plastic wrap or a light fabric. As the clothes would then go over the plastic wrap or fabric, it wouldn't be seen so it was all ok. What I am wondering is if these methods also work on DD dolls? I do not own a doll of my own yet, so I can't test it out and I don't have knowledge on how easily the vinyl skin of the dolls stain. So, if we take the DD Miku as an example, since I've heard her clothes can stain quite badly, if I were to wrap her legs in a plastic wrap or light fabric before putting her boots on, would it prevent them from staining? Might plastic wrap not be safe for the vinyl?

I'm not sure about how protective plastic wrap would be considering how thin it is-- but wrapping the doll body in light fabric would work just as well as using a body suit/stocking. 

Alternative methods you could use:
Beige masking/painters tape over dark threads that are on the inside of clothing or accessories. You could technically do this on the inside of any clothing... But I feel at that point it's  better to use a bodysuit/stocking.
Layer clothing. Like wear a light long sleeve shirt under a darker sweater/dress. If it is a dress, use a petticoat and/or bloomers with knee high socks. 

Volks sells protective tape in various colors to protect doll parts, but the US webstore is out of semiwhite and normal right now. I don't know if they ever made tan tape.

 

I tried using some of it on Miku, but it didn't work all that well because her boots and sleeves would shift around to areas I hadn't taped over. Now I just use bodysuits.

Edited December 31, 2020 by Mega Negi

My Dollfie has a bodysuit. She says she likes it particularly when wearing skimpier outfits in the winter. The downside is that if her legs/arms fall off then it's a hassle trying to push them back in again while she's wearing the bodysuit.

The bodysuit feels quite nice too.

I have also bought quite a few white outfits. I guess these won't stain much/if at all. I just bought a red ToHeart2 outfit and I'm pretty sure that would stain.

I got a few two piece body stockings from dollremi.hk that are effective, affordable, and not noticeable at all. I originally got one for my Miku since I heard her default outfit stains then got a few more for the rest of my girls since I liked them so much! I honestly forget they are wearing them lol

I second the volks bodysuits. They're made out of a kind of slippery material, so I can even get tight jeans over it with almost no difficulty. They just slip right on. My only complaint is that I bought a full bodysuit with a very noticeable collar, so I would recommend getting the full body suit and also the one that only comes up to the bust in case your girl is wearing a tank top or a v-neck or something.

They're not terribly pricey and they give me a lot of peace of mind. 

17 minutes ago, sunlightandtea said:

I second the volks bodysuits. They're made out of a kind of slippery material, so I can even get tight jeans over it with almost no difficulty. They just slip right on. My only complaint is that I bought a full bodysuit with a very noticeable collar, so I would recommend getting the full body suit and also the one that only comes up to the bust in case your girl is wearing a tank top or a v-neck or something.

They're not terribly pricey and they give me a lot of peace of mind. 

the updated bodysuits from Volks have longer necks and arms so you don't see the seam at the neck. The arms are so long, you're supposed to tuck them inside the forearm and the hand locks them in place so they don't ride up the arms any more.

21 minutes ago, Mega Negi said:

the updated bodysuits from Volks have longer necks and arms so you don't see the seam at the neck. The arms are so long, you're supposed to tuck them inside the forearm and the hand locks them in place so they don't ride up the arms any more.

Oh! I'll have to check that out then. I ordered mine earlier in 2020, didn't realize they had changed. Thanks for the heads up.

Fantastic quality though.

thank you a lot for this! I guess I'll be buying a bodysuit as soon as I can for my future doll

you might be able to glimpse the neckline of the bodysuit on the sides of the neck or just under the jawline, depending on your doll's hairstyle, but it isn't visible around the collar line like the older bodysuits.

It might just be me but I have no problems cleaning my dolls. I use to have them in full body suits (by CoolCats) but I gave up on that because even with the thin material, it would interfere with the outfits I have them on. I've had Alsty sitting on my camp chair in front of the campfire for probably a good 12 hours a day for 4 days. Sadly she'd smell like smoke afterward but i've never had any lasting residual odor after a good wash as she can rough it out wiht me (Every single part of Volk's doll are washable anyhow).

She's mostly covered but maybe her neck, hands, feets and at least now for me to take the photos I want I just allow her to bask in the glory of getting dirty in the dirt, water, mud, snow, rolling down a 45º slope with me. I've had nothing break yet, which I imagine most people would not normally do as I gotten into some very sticky situation getting to a good spot for photos 😛. But each to their own. I just feel like after so many dolls and with my photos, I can allow my favorite doll to get a bit dirty and the same goes for the clothes (a bit of Gain detergent works like wonder).

On 12/30/2020 at 9:30 PM, Mega Negi said:

Volks sells protective tape in various colors to protect doll parts, but the US webstore is out of semiwhite and normal right now. I don't know if they ever made tan tape.

 

I tried using some of it on Miku, but it didn't work all that well because her boots and sleeves would shift around to areas I hadn't taped over. Now I just use bodysuits.

I've never had lasting damages with the tapes even after like 4-5 months with them on. The only concern is that long term usage is that the dyes will transfer over to the tape and because the tape can only semi protect and isn't dye proof, the dye will bleed onto the tape and will bleed through onto your dolls vinyl skin. I was using the tape to protect Miku while she wearing the Adorable Maid Set (Navy) as the skirt is a terrible red and eventually stain if precautions are not made. Due to my carelessness, the dye stained through the tape and through to her thighs (i bought the cream to clean this issue and I haven't even used it yet...). The other concern is the tape will cause a slight webbing effect on the skin from prolong usage but it goes away after a few days.