Smart Doll is made of synthetic polymers which are commonly known as “plastics.” Just like all polymers that range from natural ones such as DNA, hair and proteins - through to woman made ones such as polyester and polypropylene - polymer degradation will occur under environmental factors such as heat, UV light, moisture etc.
Polymer degradation is a change in the properties of the polymer such as color, shape and tensile strength. For example, just like human skin, plastic properties can change under prolonged exposure to UV light.
Mileage will vary and there are no definitive rules as to how much discoloration or warping you may or may not encounter in your lifetime with a Smart Doll. I know some customers who live in humid environments that have encountered a yellowing of the Smart Doll body while others in the exact same regions have not - not even after six years since we launched the product.
Fabrics that come in contact with the Smart Doll body could potentially cause discoloration due to the close proximity to the skin surface - even for white fabrics. Fabrics may accumulate moisture or odors in the atmosphere that could speed up polymer degradation. I know of a customer who left a white t-shirt on their Smart Doll for 6 months which left what appears to be discoloration of the skin surface. Even shoes that have white or cream colored lining has been known to leave what seems to be either a residue of dirt that has seeped into the skin surface or dark discoloration.
While we choose light color fabrics for the wig cap, wigs in particular have a chance of causing discoloration to the top of the head due to the fact that the cap is wrapped around the head. This is not an issue for me as my girls like to keep their wigs on but may be an issue for you. A customer notified me that after leaving their Smart Doll on a shelf for a year, the area below the fringe had some discoloration. I cant say for sure that you will encounter the same sort of discoloration but as long as a customer has experienced it then it is my obligation to inform you that there is a possibility.
The darker the skin tone, the less noticeable the color discoloration - if any. As mentioned above, there are folks who bought milk skin tone Smart Dolls 6 years ago when we started up with no noticeable discoloration reported.
We understand that Smart Doll is a hefty investment to make and that some folks want their dolls to be in pristine condition forever - if this matches your description then none our of products would be suitable for you.
Folks who are considering purchasing our products will have to accept that our products will age overtime - just like humans. While we do provide aftercare (see warranty page on the Smart Doll website for details) for any breakages, we do not provide any warranty for discoloration through aging/polymer degradation.
Our recommendations to reduce the speed of polymer degradation (for both your human body and your Smart Doll) is to avoid UV light exposure for prolonged periods, avoid high levels of moisture and strong odors. If you do smell a bad odor from your Smart Doll then it could be because they made an air biscuit for you - it’s a sign of love.
Change the apparel of your Smart Doll regularly and make sure they get a fair dose of fresh air - these recommendations should be easy to follow as this is the type of up keeping that you should be doing for your own human body too. But while you don’t need to change the apparel of your Smart Doll everyday - you should be changing your own clothing regularly - especially underwear every 4 days at least - front, back, inside out, front, back.
Now that I’ve covered polymer degradation, I can talk about our new Smart Doll Stain Rating which will apply to apparel and accessories. We will be updating products on the Smart Doll site to inform potential customers the risk of staining through the rating which will be Low, Medium and High.
While I have been doing this in the description for our products, the new rating will provide a better “at-a-glance” so you don’t need to wade through my blurb ;-)
Even if I know that a product has very little to no chance of staining, I will still rate it as Low - even if that means it will deter a customer from buying.
Apparel that has been given a worn-in look with pigment dye will have a “Medium” rating. This is because these items only seem to stain when the fabric rubs against the surface of the skin - this may (or may not) occur when dressing or handling the Smart Doll.
Most pigment dye stains on the body are in the form of powder and can be removed using paint thinner if discovered early. Apparel items with a rating of “High” will most very likely stain and this includes black lace. Stains from the black lace that we use is usually removable with paint thinner if discovered early.
Just because a fabric is black does not mean that it will stain - our Black Nice Tee, Black Bikini and Black Zip Sports Bra have not caused any stains for us nor our consumers since their release - just ask any owner - you can find owner photos at the bottom of our product detail pages which link directly to the owners Instagram or Twitter account.
Given that any fabric (even white) has the potential to discolor the skin of a Smart Doll, we do not provide warranties for any of our apparel, wigs or accessories that may stain. We do sell stain prevention leggings and soon a body suit but even then - leaving these items on the body for prolonged periods still has a potential to discolor the skin surface.
We still do lengthy stain tests that span weeks to months - you know this because some of the apparel items I announce take ages to be released and the stain testing period is one of the factors affecting release time.
But why bother making items that have a Medium to High stain rating? Choosing only Low rating fabrics is extremely limiting in how creative we can be with our apparel design. We love the used look and feel but for softer fabrics this means using pigment dyes.
The girls that I take on trips around the world tend to wear the black lace shorts that peek out from under the short jeans.
I know many of you have been asking about them for the past half year but I needed to do my testing and prepare this writeup to set expectations. Folks who like the same look can opt for using a spare body that they don’t mind getting stains on, using a Cortex body which is more resilient (but not invincible) to staining or using the body suits that will be out in the next couple of months - the stockings (also to be released) may help in preventing stains but I need to do more testing before I give you the definitive answer.
We want to set expectations of what Smart Doll is before a potential customer makes a purchase - even if it means that person ends up going for other brands. It is in both your and our interest that you make the right decision and I will continue to set expectations by being transparent about our products. Please share this post with others so that they too are also informed.
I will also link to this post from the terms that a customer has to agree to before they proceed to the checkout.
Read what folks have to say about this on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8n_J1bh9tG/