Stain prevention?

Would black nylon stain the dolls? I'm talking about the sort of semi-transparent stockings you'd see on volk's or coolcat's bunny suits, they might not be nylon, since I don't own these. If so, would you keep another set of nylon stockings underneath them to avoid staining, or would you just generally not keep your dolls in them for a long period of time?

I have three sets of black stockings that absolutely do not stain, and one set that does. The difference is that the ones that don't stain are pantyhose material, and the other one is more like bathing suit material. Pantyhose get their color not from dyeing after the fact, but from adding color while the material is being made, much like the synthetic fiber hair material. The synthetic material itself doesn't stain, just the head cap. So you can have black things that absolutely won't stain, but only if they are a synthetic material that is colored rather than dyed. When it's dyed there's always a bit if a risk.

I work in the clothing industry and I have seen color migration first hand. I have seen nylon fabrics that are colorfast, that you can put bleach on without the color running, transfer their color onto an adjacent nylon fabric without it ever seeing water or anything else. It's been explained to me as a chemical reaction between the two materials. I believe that's what is happening with the vinyl, the fabric's dye is being sucked in by the vinyl, so no amount of vinegar soaking will help that. No vivid color fabric is ever going to be truly safe in contact with the doll.

 

Staining is my big concern as I wait for my first girl's arrival, specially since she is going to be white skin. I'm going to be making many bodystockings for this girl, but I do believe the occasional stain will be inevitable.

 

I have always protected my BJDs against staining by lining all the clothes I made for them especially the waistbands with white lining. My dolls all have white outfits and pale wigs they can lounge around in, or they are naked and wigless in their box.

I do eventually want to get a DD, but I am super paranoid about staining, especially after hearing about white clothes staining my friend's DD.

 

Thanks for all the tips. I know I will be getting a body stocking, but it seems Coolcat is oos of a lot of them. Do they ever restock?

They do but they're pretty busy right now with their office move.

They probably will be focusing on that for the next few months, unfortunately.

Honestly, my policy is to never wash most Volks clothing for fear of ruining the finish or making it super wrinkly. And I don't buy into the vinegar rinsing.

 

While I understand PlasticFantastics concerns, I can at least share my experiences with washing Volks clothing. I have washed the Sailor Uniform Set (Black), Noir Maid set, and the Alice Maid set in my regular washer on light cycle in cold water with Dreft soap in a lingerie bag. I then set them out to flat dry. None of the outfits have fallen apart, stained or had problems. The Alice Maid apron needed a tiny touch of ironing, but all the rest were fine.

 

I have left my girl in all of these sets for multiple days and had no staining. I also have the black and white striped Volks socks on my girl for a few weeks straight (they were washed too), and had no staining there. I don't like the body stockings, so I just check my girl every few days to make sure she's fine. No problems yet. *crosses fingers*

Coolcat has always restocked items for me if I email them and tell them that I want to buy it.

I know this is kind of silly, but I plan on making a lot of lingerie for my girl when she comes in. She's a white doll, and I'm thinking that if I make dark underwear or clothing for her, maybe lining the inside with white fabric would protect her. I'm just hoping that's something that would work, since it might look funny if she wears a body stocking while she's wearing more revealing clothing.

 

Is that something that would help prevent stains?

I know this is kind of silly, but I plan on making a lot of lingerie for my girl when she comes in. She's a white doll, and I'm thinking that if I make dark underwear or clothing for her, maybe lining the inside with white fabric would protect her. I'm just hoping that's something that would work, since it might look funny if she wears a body stocking while she's wearing more revealing clothing.

 

Is that something that would help prevent stains?

Not all black fabrics will stain. If you choose your lingerie fabric carefully you shouldn't need stain prevention. I have multiple pairs of nylon stockings in black (one's even from Volks!) that don't leave any marks no matter how long they're on. It's usually synthetic fiber like that that doesn't stain since it isn't dyed that color- the color is part of the fiber. Something those of us that sew do is wrap a new fabric around a spare part like a hand or extra bust to see if it makes marks. Then you can make stuff without worrying so much.

Thanks! I've actually been really agonizing over black stockings because I saw an adorable bunny suit on Coolcat that had them (the outfit itself was too expensive, but I'm going to try to replicate it) and I love black socks/stockings. The thought actually came across my mind that if I made her a Shiro lolita, I wouldn't have this problem >3< But I'm glad I can stick with the original plan.

Oh, and be careful what kind of thread you use too. Black cotton thread is dyed and will stain. I use Gutermann 100% polyester thread, and I haven't had a problem with it.

 

Some stockings from Coolcat are completely fine and others aren't. I have two pairs that are really similar, but one's thigh high and one's knee high. The thigh high one's thread (but not fabric) stain, and the knee high ones don't. I also have black netty material thigh highs that don't stain. It's sometimes a gamble, and it's important to remember thread as well as fabric.

 

In case you can't tell, I love black stockings. I have probably 10 pairs.

Yeah, I noticed some people mentioning earlier in this thread that sometimes, even when the fabric itself didn't stain, the thread used left lots of little dots and stains all over. I do still plan to line most things that I make, especially if it's something that covers her more, but I feel like I've got a better idea of how to prevent most stains.