Question About vintage Barbies with green ears from earrings
by Ann
(Tulsa, OK)
I have searched your site and cannot find this question. Is it possible to remove the green stain caused by earrings. I have a blonde bubble cut Barbie with pearl earrings. Both ears are really discolored.
Thank you for your help. I just recently got my Barbies from my mother's basement and am having fun identifying the dolls, clothes and accessories.
Hi Ann - It is sometimes possible to remove green ear. I have had great success with a product called Remove-Zit from Twin Pines of Maine. Some people use Benzoyl Peroxide (found in acne treatment creams). This is a bleach & it can also bleach the skin - so you are left with white instead of green and sometimes it also bleaches out the facial paint. There are also professional Restorationists who will remove green ear. (If there are any reading this - please feel free to post your url in the comments.) The first thing you should do is remover the earrings, of course. Then remove the head and thoroughly clean the earring hole. I recommend passing a threaded needle through the hole to make sure you remove anything that is causing the green. Suzanne
Comments for
Question About vintage Barbies with green ears from earrings
I have had success with CLR (calcium/lime/rust)on my 1961 bubblecut barbie- hers was spread almost to the hairline, and within a few weeks of applying it every day (inside & out) she is almost completely green-free! And it has not caused any damage either. I also had success on her body with acne med (10% benzoyl peroxide cream) on her legs for dark stains from either clothes or her stand- in ONE day the stains were totally gone! I applied and put outside (warmer) and let dry, then wash off next day. Mod barbie heads have not been so lucky- they have been through CLR and acne treatments and have barely faded at all. Don't bother. I am going to try some "mad-scientist" experiments to see if anything will work- I don't recommend mixing chemicals- don't try this at home! I will write again if I have any luck to share my results, otherwise you should assume nothing has worked for those poor mod girls. I could always market them as "Martian" Barbies if all else fails! Thanks for reading!
