• NOTE: To make curly hair straight, place it between 2 layers of fabric an lightly press iron on med-low heat for a few seconds. Do sample before you try on finished pony or other hair.
• IF you have a doll from which you are taking the hair from that works best as the hair is already is small clumps and easier to use. I then take small clumps of hair I removed from the doll and tie a small knot at the centers of the hair (where it is folded over). If you don't have 'ready hair' you can use doll hair purchased from the store. It is sometimes in long strands with a desirable amount of hair in strands already clumped together. When cutting the hair you should cut it 3 times longer than your decided finished length (or longer, you can always cut it shorter). Fold the hair in half and knot as above like ready hair. I used both a curved and straight needle (which ever worked best at the point on the head) and thread the hair though the inside out, leaving the knots on the inside. By pushing on the head you can adjust the angle of the holes and therefore make it easier to still thread from the inside. At some point on the mane it my become very difficult to tread the hair from the inside at which point you have to work from the outside. I thread the clump of hair on the needle (before I knot the clumps together) and work from the outside in. Very carefully I pull the small clump through until I have a hold of enough hair to tie a small knot in and then I pull the hair back through until the knot sets firmly against the inside. NOTE: If you have longer hair than you will need and have to tread from the outside you may want to tie a knot in the finished end to keep the hair from completely pulling through when you try to tie the knot on the inside. Once you have the knot on the inside you can cut the knot off of the finished end on the outside. Then you will have to glue the hair on the inside to keep the knots from coming out.

• To detangle-Use Johnson's No More Tangles Spray on Detangler in the hair and work all the tangles and knots out and twist the hair around drinking straws, bobby pin it, and let it dry.
• To clean-Shampoo and conditioner.
• To curl- Comb it out the best you can and then washed it really well. Then brush it again w/ a fine tooth comb and separate the strands you want curled. Use moose in each one of those strands, making sure to comb out the frizzy ends. To set hair wrap the group of hair around a barrette (about a 1/4 inch wide barrette) and clipped it closed. Do this to each group of hair and leave the barrettes in overnight. Use a pick to make the hair nice and fluffy

• If you have not removed the head for altering the mane, it is best to do so now. Refer to above on removing the head. If the tail still has the washer on it, save it, if not that's okay. Here again I use my dental pick to pull the tail out from the inside.

• If you are discarding the hair in the tail, use a pliers and open the small clip that holds the hair of the tail. Remove the hair and save the clip. If you are using doll hair you will have to separate the small clumps and lay them out flat (a very long a tedious process). If you have store bought doll hair I wrapped the length of hair around a book, that gave the tail a suitable length. After I had enough hair I tied the ends together and the bunch of hair so it wouldn't come apart. Lay the bunch of hair in the tail clip and close the clip again. You will have to work with it a bit to get the little tines back in right. I try to only open one side and push the hair around inside, then I only have to force half the clip back together.

• You can push the tail back into the hole where it cam from and pull it into the body, then push the washer clip back over the end of the tail (hopefully it will still fit and stay properly). Pull the tail tautly out. If you don't have the washer and can't makeshift one, be sure the tail clip is sideways inside the body instead of perpendicular.

• Soap and water... and a toothbrush
• Non-whitening toothpaste
• 409 Surface cleaner
• All above methods work best with a toothbrush, scrubbing.
• For yellow marks, letting the pony sit in the sun.
• Lemon juice can also be used to remove yellowing, let sit in sun. Removes rust also.
• CLR (Calcium Lime Rust) removes rust also.
• For ingrained dirt, I here a solution (rather thick) of Comet, Bleach, and water. Let soak for 4 minutes, then scrape with finger nail or butter knife.
• Nail Polish remover and Acetone will work to remove paint and some types or stains. Note: this can possibly damage pony vinyl, SO BE CAREFUL! I have had success in lighting ponies bodies when the head and body color is different (lemon drop with darkened body). ALSO NOTE: This will remove paint (symbols, blush, and eye paint) and discolor dark bodies.
• Nail Polish remover and baking soda- I've heard is good on blue marks, scrub away...
• Wine?
• For Mildew- Hot Water and Bleach. Rinse Well!
• Woolite-cleaning so soft ponies, scrub lightly with a toothbrush.
• For So-Softs are supposed to be white so a light bleaching wont hurt their fur, rinse well. Also shampoo works well.
• GOO-GONE is also supposed to work for cleaning tuff ponies, works best with black spots, other colors, just changes them.
• Hasbro softies or other plush, put in pillow case a wash in washing machine, gentle cycle. air dry...

• Clearasil- I hear this can do damage, some of which wont be seen right away.
• Neutrogena cleaning pads-will fade out blue marks, but blisters the vinyl.

• RIT dye- This works well to dye a ponies body, will dye lighter colors of hair. Mix double Strength and let soak, checking occasionally, until desired color is reached. Wont wash out, don't know what paint thinners will do to finish...

• I've used a few different paints myself with varied results... Hopefully this will help. I like to use small brushes as opposed to anything bigger than say a #2 or #3... my favorite is a #1 with long white plastic hairs. I also use a #000 for small details. ( I can't remember the names) You can buy these as well as the paints at crafts stores and hobby shops. I don't recommend using the cheap craft brushes, but that doesn't mean they will not work.

• Model paints, such as Testors, are typically enamel-based paint that can only be thinned with various solvents. They smell because of their volatile base, and can take a very long time to dry, depending on color, thickness, humidity, and the surface to which they are applied. Dry time is seldom more than a couple of days, however, or model artists would not use them -- they want to get back to their projects ASAP.

Acrylic paints ARE water based, that is why they are acrylic, which refers to the suspension of pigment in a water-based acrylic (plastic) mixture. Acrylic paints, depending on gloss, dry very quickly, from a few minutes (very matte, often 'cheap' paints) to a few hours (typically very glossy, high-quality tube acrylics). I use acrylics preferentially because of their quick dry-time and non-toxic nature -- they don't have a smell, or (usually) contain nasty chemicals.

Mistakenly thinning enamel paints with water would result either in runny paint that separated (like ketchup in a bottle) or even in paints that . . . took a very long time to dry.

Now, I don't use Testors -- rather, I haven't in a very long time. Maybe their labeling is inaccurate. Do they label themselves as acrylic, enamel, or oil? There are hybrids as well, acrylic/enamel (sometimes called water-based enamel) which is a different animal than either acrylic or enamel, as it shares properties of both and cleans up with water -- theoretically?

I recall that Testors are primarily enamel paints, and would indeed be good for detailing on plastic -- that's why they're model paints, after all. Water-based paints (acrylics) typically have very poor adhesion to smooth plastic surfaces. I'm sure that Testors are available in water-based formulas as well (and mixing the two would also result in 'sticky' paint that refused to dry), but enamel and water-based acrylic paint are two different things, as are enamel and water-based enamel.Nail Polish- This is very fast drying and hard... big draw back is that it wont fuse to pony body like other paints, will peel off, especially over larger areas. Gives large variety of colors though and should work very well for detail work. (Basic Paint Information courtesy of Amanda).

Vinyl jig lure finish-Dries very fast and appears to work well except that it wants to build up a thick layer and doesn't thin out when dries.