After removing the eyeballs soak them in HOT (not boiling), soapy water for 15-30 mins. Refresh the hot water and soak for an additional 5 minutes.Attach a strip of exterior-grade foam mounting tape to your smooth countertop (glass, ceramic tile, natural stone).Quickly dry off the warm eyeball and press one chip firmly into the tape. Hold for 5 seconds and quickly pull straight up. The chip should be left behind on the tape strip. if not, try another chip or return the eyeball to the hot water to soak longer.
Eye Chip Removal – SBL + RBL Blythes
36 responses to “Eye Chip Removal – SBL + RBL Blythes”
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Hi – I am new to customizing and I’ve bought an ADG as a test doll to practice with. The first redhead. I’ve managed to scalp her, open the head and I’ve soaked the eyeballs as it says in both this and the other tutorial for SBLs. (Thanks so much for putting these online by the way) Soooo, I’ve tried the prying (ala EBL tutorial)- not working to get the chips out – should I try the foam tape method or do you have any other tips to get ADG chips out? Maybe I’m just being a big weenie and should be pushing harder, but I don’t want to break the chips if I don’t have to?
Thanks for any help!
jamie – ADG eyes are notoriously hard to get out, especially the first redhead. I had major problems with mine – one of her eyeballs popped in half at the seams before the chip came out!
before you take the drastic measures I will describe below, you can also try the hot-glue stick method: take a high-temp glue gun stick (the fat kind, not the skinny craft kind) and melt the end with a lighter, while it is still mushy, press it into a chip and then let it cool thoroughly. pull on the stick and the chip should come with it.
what many have done is a bit drastic, but if you are planning on changing the eyechips, it works: take a handheld power-drill and with the eyeball securely clamped to your work surface, drill down into the pupil of the chip that won’t come out. you can then break the chip out without damagnig the eyeball.
please use extreme caution when handling power tools – wear eye protection as little bits of hot plastic may fly out of the chip.
good luck!
Wow! You’re not kiddin! Two weeks later and she’s still insisting on keeping the chips she has! I tried the tape, the glue stick, I even froze the eye to the glue stick thinking that might help but no luck, so all hail power tools!!
Well – all hail thinking about it at least. I guess the good news is it will only get easier after this right?
Meanwhile – she has a lovely sand matted face and doing her lips next.
Thanks for the ideas!!
You are bringing back memories of that ADG I worked on! I tried everything to get them out. heat, cold, glue, tape, even roughing up the surface so the glue would have more “tooth” to grab. When I finally resorted to powertools, It was obvious that they just used a ton of glue on her chips!
good luck!
Hi, Would you please be able to tell me if there is a way of correcting ‘crossed over’, out of alignment eyelashes on my ADG love n lace ‘04? Being plastic, they won’t brush out & on receiving her, a few were caught up in her eyesocket. Really annoying.If not too much to ask, she also has a scuff on her forehead from no protection in transit, and I do not want to change her ‘finish’. ot any ideas please, I’d really appreciate it.
many thanks T
how deep is the scuff? if it’s just a surface mark, try buffing it with a clean tshirt. if that’s not strong enough, put a little white toothpaste on it and rub it again.
about the lashes – you can try just letting them out of the eyesocket, then give them a few days to “rest”. they may relax back into position.
if not, try training them by putting a strip of scotch tape on her lashes and lining them up correctly on the tape with a toothpick. let her sit for a few days.
Many thanks Melissa. The toothpaste worked, though as a word of caution… all I had to hand was a’whitening’ one, which I went easy with, got rid of the scuff from transit(head rubbing on plastic box front), but I buffed her up ever so slightly, however, doesn’t bother me-the scuff was more annoying. Just a tip for anyone else, I suppose I should have used regular toothpaste!Am trying the sticky tape eyelash cure-they really are bad- will let you know.
kind regards
T
ooh, this worked so well! huzzah for exterior mounting tape!
hey i am planning on getting a RBL after i sell my boy blythe and i was wondering if the eyechip method is the same as SBL??
Hi Sammy,
Yes, the method is the same for SBLs and RBLs. Good luck!
I was wondering if there are any other methods of removing SBL eyechips.
Lucy, yes, you can also try the hot-glue stick method: take a high-temp glue gun stick (the fat kind, not the skinny craft kind) and melt the end with a lighter, while it is still mushy, press it into a chip and then let it cool thoroughly. pull on the stick and the chip should come with it.
Can the hot-glue stick method be used on RBLs to? I want to keep some of the stock chips, so I don’t want to do the soaking method if I don’t have to.
candace – I believe they are still using the same glue on the eyechips, so yes!
On the topic of the hot-glue stick method, can you do that without taking apart the head? I would like to try different chips (at least with changing the front facing eyes) but I don’t want to take apart the head. Thanks! ^_^
Yes you can do the hot glue method without taking the head apart. The side facing eyes, that I don’t know about.
Can you use the hot glue gun method on EBL’s? I really want to change all of my LM’s eyechips but I really dont wanna open her up! Thanks for any advice :]
Hi there, I know this is off topic but i was just wondering is there any other way to whiten sbl eyeballs apart from painting them?
Thanks =)
I recently customized my asian butterfly encore, and as I was reluctant to cut her head(murdering dollies!) or soak it, since I had already replaced her eyelashes. to take out the orange chips, I simply heated up the glue stick enough so that when I pushed against her eye, it covered most of the chip. I let it dry for maybe five minutes, and both of the chips came out with only one yank. why was this? was it because the glue only seemed to be applied to the pupil of the chip on the backside?
Hi! The arc in the eye-mech on my SBL broke in half! Any suggestions? So far the only place I’ve seen that sells repair parts is CoolCat, and they don’t sell the part I need! What should I do!??!?! Hope to hear back from someone soon! I’m completely heartbroken!!
Cat
if you go to youtube and type in blythe there is a girl doing an example of the glue stick method of removing the eyeballs so if you want to see it in action go there its made me not as scared to try that on my adg pow wow poncho
) (actually still slightly scared after reading other ppls horror stories of trying to get them out)
You can use the glue stick method with the side facing eyes as well. It works well, you just might have to try a few times before the chip comes out.
I’ve removed eye chips using glue sticks. Now they’ve a sticky film over them and I can’t remove it. I’ve tried soap and water but what else is safe to use on the eye chip – nail varnish remover?
Dolldaft – keep varnish remover AWAY from all plastics. it will cloud the eye chips.
I usually wait for the hot glue to cool completely , then scrape off as much as you can with your fingernail or a softer plastic, like the edge of a credit card. also try freezing the chips. hot glue becomes hard and flaky when you freeze it.
a good polishing with Novus or another plastic polish helps afterwards.
Awesome that you put all these tutorials up! I have just managed to do my 1st however I was wondering how do I remove or change lashes??? should you soak them as well?
Tracey – yep, they are held in with water-soluble glue. Soak her eyes in warm water and pull the lashes out with tweezers.
wipe off any excess white glue with a q-tip.
Hey Melissa these tutorials are great! you suggest a lot of cleaning/buffing tips here in the comments section, I’d love to see some tutorials about how to buff away small scratches, and fix the kinds of marks you see on Kenners and ‘heavily loved’ Neos
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone knew…do ADG Blythes take the same eyechips as Takaras? I’m (hopefully) getting an ADG Pleasant Peasant and I want to change her chips. Would the ones I could buy on eBay or from Brainworm, etc., work for her? The Brainworm and CoolCat websites only list chips for Takara Blythes.
Hi,
I’ve just purchased ADG Blythe and want to change the eyechips I’ve seen the eyechips on eBay but no mention of what type is suitable for an ADG. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Helly
I guess I’ll reply to my own question…Helly, I’ve seen ADGs with Brainworm (the most common brand) eyechips on Flickr. So I guess the answer is that any eyechips designed for Blythe will work with ADGs. If I hear differently I’ll let you know…
Thanks so much Bohemian I’ve ordered some Brainworm chips see how I go!
I’m pretty certain that understand how to remove my Blythe ADG eye chips but what glue should I be using when I put in new one. The tutorial I watched on Youtube never mentioned this.
HELLO! Great tutorials, thanks so much for all the help! I am awaiting the arrival of my first Blythe, an ADG and wondered if the glue stick eye chip removal is possible to do without taking her head apart? I’m a lil hesitant to disect her pretty lil head on my first doll. Any tips would be greatly appresiated! Thanks again!!! ^_^
Hi Melissa, I am getting my first blythe (Cloud 9 Bowl) and I was just wondering, is there a way to change my girl’s eyechips without scalping her? I’m not the best around tools, and I don’t want to break her. I’ve seen some people where they replace the eyechips using a hot glue stick with the body still intact.
hi Sammy, Amity, Zanaiee,
i think your questions are actually answered on the top of the post
try to scroll up and you will see them
i might be attempting the eye soon (fingers crossed)
Does anyone knows where can i buy extra eyeball for Blythe??? mine melted…. water was too hot… screwed… sad…