A lot of modern dolls experience a not-so-great phenomenon called “glue seepage.” Some doll brands are more susceptible to undergo this than others (looking at you, Monster High), but this is helpful to know to improve the overall appearance of your doll’s hair.

What is “Glue Seepage?”

Glue seepage is essentially what it sounds like— it is the gradual accumulation of glue that has seeped through the head of the doll onto its hair.

Almost all modern dolls with synthetic (plastic) hair have some type of glue on the inside lining of their heads to better secure the hair. This helps prevent dolls from facing hair loss. However, the glue will naturally cascade down through the hair over time.

Are there risks to removing glue seepage from your doll’s hair?

In short, not really.

As the glue lining the inside of the doll’s head helps keep the hair intact, you may notice very minor hair loss when removing glue seepage. However, this isn’t due to the process of removing glue seepage. The hair loss technically occurred when the glue seeped out, not when you removed the glue.

For clarity, it’s similar to the hair loss you might face when you wash your own hair in the shower. A few strands may fall off when your rinse your hair off, but it’s a negligible amount.

I’ve never had a doll gain bald spots using this method. So long as you aren’t actively ripping out the doll’s hair, all will be fine.

How to tell if a doll has glue seepage in its hair

Doll Hair with Glue Seepage

Glue seepage is visible to the naked eye, however, the best way to tell if your doll has glue seepage is to physically touch the doll’s hair.

In the above example of the Monster High Freaky Fusion Frankie Stein doll, you can notice that the doll hair is sticking together. It doesn’t have the “healthy” shine that synthetic doll hair normally has.

If you were to touch this Frankie’s hair, you would immediately notice that the texture is off-putting. Its texture reminds me of my own hair the day before my shampoo day. Gross, I know.

Doll Hair without Glue Seepage

In contrast, this Monster High Picture Day Spectra Vondergeist doll has the hair texture that is more desirable.

The hair of this doll shines like how plastic hair is intended to do. It is almost the same as it was in-box.

If you were to touch this Spectra’s hair, you would notice that it feels soft and smooth. You wouldn’t have the icky residue left on your fingers like you would with the aforementioned Frankie doll.

Removing Glue Seepage From Doll Hair

Now that you have determined whether your doll requires treatment for glue seepage, let’s fix the problem!

Essentially, your doll needs a heavy-duty shampooing.

My preferred “shampoos” for glue seepage are Goo Gone and Dawn dish soap.

Note: alternatives for these products should work well, but I’ve always seen success using these hence my recommendation.

Steps on How to Remove Glue Seepage from Doll Hair:

1. Ready your supplies by a sink and put on gloves.
   While these “shampoos” are relatively gentle, I recommend wearing gloves just in case. It will prevent your skin from drying out, anyway.
2. Rub in a generous amount of Goo Gone directly to the doll’s hair.
   In extreme cases, you can leave the Goo Gone in the doll’s hair for a couple of hours to really let it soak in. I would keep it out of direct sunlight just in case.
3. Rinse out the Goo Gone with water.
   Do a preliminary rinse to remove the vast majority of Goo Gone (and hopefully the glue seepage) from the doll’s hair.
4. Thoroughly wash the doll’s hair with Dawn dish soap.
   This step is primarily to ensure that the Goo Gone is fully removed from the doll’s hair.
5. Brush and air dry the doll’s hair.
   If you would like, you could also style the doll’s hair while it is still wet if you want your doll to have waves or curls, for instance. Refrain from using any heat as you could melt the plastic.

Feel free to repeat these steps as needed, but usually one time through does the trick for me.

I hope this helps you on your doll restoration journey!