There are two methods of matting Blythe; sanding or spraying.
Sanding Vs. Spraying
Spray matting involves removing Blythe’s face plate and spraying a fine mist of “matting spray” over her face. this technique will preserve stock makeup under the spray, but the downside is that in time, the sprayed finish is likely to become dirty with regular handling, and scratches easily. It is near-impossible to clean or patch up. If you ever decide to remove the matte spray, you will also have to remove the original makeup. Spray matting is best for display dolls. If you plan on spray-matting, invest in a bottle of Mr. Super Clear.
At PuchiCollective, we prefer sand-matting, because little smudges and scratches can just be re-sanded, making this the best option for dolls that are regularly played with.
Sand-Matting Tips
Sanding can be done on an unopened girl very carefully but it’s much easier to do if you have her taken apart, eye mechanism out, and can just hold the face piece by itself. If you do sand her unopened head, put two small triangles of plain paper into her eye sockets to protect her eye mechanism from dust and scratches.
You will need a pair of sanding sponges in fine and extra-fine (300-grit and up). We exclusively use Norton 3x Sanding sponges.
Cut the sponges into small rectangles so they are easy to hold.
Start sanding her face with the fine sanding sponge in circular motions. (grit-classifications vary from brand to brand. test your sponge on the back of her head first. if you see scratches or swirl marks, your sponge is too coarse.Continue in small circular motions all over her face, on her cheeks, forehead, chin. Be careful not to sand so hard and fast that she loses her features. you want her face contours to stay the same, but just lose the shiny layer. Pay attention to the nostrils and lip edges. cut your sponge into smaller peices to get into tight spaces. If you sand very carefully around the lips and eyeshadow you can matte her without losing that makeup. You will lose her blush though.- Don’t forget to sand the back of her head. Also, at the edges of the seam it can be a little resistant to losing the shine, so pay particular attention on those edges if you want to do a perfect job!
After finishing her head with your fine sponge, go over her whole head with the extra-fine sponge. This will give her a flawless, scratch-free finish.
you can make her semi-matte by following all the above steps, and then gently rubbing her face with a soft t-shirt to bring back a little shine- the sanded surface is the perfect base for pastel makeup
I still need to develope some confidence! I have wanted to do this for awile so I can then do some calk pastle make up, but I only have one blythe and I would die if I ruined her! I love just reading your posts their so useful! I also will ask a question, I am planing to trvel with my blythe later this week but I have herd about the plastic melting, and to aviod this wraapping your doll up? I would be extremally greatful if you could help me with this……
I must be doing something wrong. I got the Norton 320 grit sanding sponge at Home Depot with hopes of cleaning up some scratches on a previously sanded girl I adopted. She was not sprayed after her original sanding, as far as I can tell. I’ve applied the very lightest of pressure with the sanding sponge, but I just get scratches on the back of her head. Any thoughts?
is it the flat yellow pad like in the picture above? I noticed that my Home Depot no longer carries the nice flat pads, but has sanding bricks that are not as fine.
If you see scratches, don’t use the sponge on the front of her face!
Hi!
I need your help again!!
My question doesn`t really belong to this tutorial but since you don’t have one on carving I’m asking here if it’s ok.
¿How can I smooth the rough edges that appear around my blythe nostrils when I carved them? My sanding sponge doesn´t seem to fit the holes or to do anything to them
Thanks a lot!!
hi. i want to sand matte my doll, but the closest one i have for sand paper is 220. will that work if i do it REALLY light?
If I have a doll that has been sprayed (for matte appearance) over her original makeup, can I sand off the matting-spray and original makeup?
You can sand off the matte spray. the original makeup will come of as well.
I finally got the right sponges and they’re working much better. If someone wants to order them online as I had to, the full name of them is Norton 3x Contour Sanding Sponges. It’s the “contour” part that makes the difference, and that’s what I missed the first time around. I thought that they had redesigned them, but no – I had the wrong one originally. If I had looked more closely at the image I would have figured that out sooner.
I have just been on the hunt for these amazing (but seemingly nowhere to be found) sponges (I live in Australia) and after many hours of googling have come across this website which delivers world wide, I have just put a purchase in, hopefully they arrive…
http://www.ptreeusa.com/moldingsander.htm
no registration required, just straight to the checkout.
hope this is of help to all those who have had trouble locating this brand.
Another alternative to sand sponge like those featured in the Tutorial, you can use nail buffer (those that you can find in nail salons which is sponge like and is for evening out the ridges of your nails). I used that on my Blythe as I am based in China and sand sponges are also hard to get. The nail buffer is easy to cut, so you can cut into small pieces and sand areas which are difficult to reach (eg. around the nose area). Have fun sanding!
an update to my previous post re Norton sponges…
THEY ARE OUT OF STOCK
bugger… these things are rarer than diamonds
How come the photos of the Norton 3x sponges pictured above are 320 grit + 150 grit? I thought we had to use 300 grit and above?!
tried to order off that site lilly posted.. hopefully i have better luck… really need them. can’t find them anywhere!! needing to get this girls eye shadow off for the four or five years i’ve had her!! HAHA anyone else have any luck???
Hello, first of all Thanks so much for the directions–and I was just wondering if “3M™ Softback Sanding Sponge 2601Ultrafine” Is safe to use with blythe… Thanks…D
Hello, first of all Thanks so much for the directions–and I was just wondering if “3M™ Softback Sanding Sponge 2601Ultrafine” Is safe to use with blythe… Thanks…Does anyone know? I found it in ebay from coolcat—coolcat that sells eye chips and leggings… Thanks so much…
I have a problem with my blythe. I tried to sandmatt my blythe but i did it with the brown/strong sandpaper and now my blythe is all rough and i dont want it rough, So do u have any suggestions on how to change it back to the normal blank face. Need help fast so answer as quick as possible. thx for the help //Wilma