In the last article we addressed cleaning soft fired greenware, or greenware fired to a cone 018, so let’s talk a bit about dry cleaning unfired greenware using the T.I.B.s brushes. T.I.B.s stands for Tisha’s Incredible Brushes. These great little brushes were developed by Tisha Ritter for just this purpose and allow doll makers to clean their greenware much more quickly then ever before, and also eliminate the dust problem that concerns us all.
Once you have opened up the eyes, the pour hole area on the arms and legs, and removed the crown of the head and any extra portions of the shoulder plate, set them aside to dry. Some people are able to do their final cleaning in the leather hard stage, but until you become really proficient with these brushes you may do better letting your pieces dry completely.
When your porcelain is ready, set up your work area with a bowl of clean water, an absorbent cloth, a feather knife, a finger tool, and a set of T.I.B.s brushes. The first step is the same as it has always been … use your feather knife to remove as much of the seams as you can without cutting into the piece. Use the finger tool to get at the tight spots between fingers and toes.
Now it’s time to give the brushes a try. Dip your brush in the water and blot out any excess on the absorbent fabric. Too much water will remove details or dissolve areas of porcelain. Hold your brush so the narrow edge of the bristles is down and rub it along the seams to remove remaining seam lines. When I first tried this method, I wasn’t holding my brush correctly and had a heck of a time trying to get the desired results. It wasn’t until I had given up and gone back to cleaning my pieces soft fired that someone pointed out my problem, so remember to use the side of the brush for this step.
Smooth the edges where pieces were removed while you are at it and don’t forget to smooth and bevel the eyes! Try a piece of wet and blotted nylon over your eye beveler and use a light touch. Open the nostrils if your doll is going to be a breather, and make holes for earrings if appropriate. If there are any scrapes, nicks, or pin holes, you can use the side of the brush to correct them. Move the edge of the bristles across the problem area several times, then use the wider side, or flat of the bristles, to lightly smooth the area. This should remove these blemishes completely.
When all rough areas have been removed, clean your brush thoroughly in the water by pressing and tapping it against the side of the bowl to get rid of the stubborn porcelain accumulation. Blot your brush, then starting at the top of the piece and using the wider flat side of the brush, wipe the tips of the bristles gentle across the piece. You can work up and down or sideways, but it seems to work best if you follow the contours of the features when working on the face. Clean and blot your brush at least after every second stroke. Continue your stroke pattern until each piece is finished. They should be very smooth when finished. It sounds very simple, doesn’t? Don’t be discouraged if it takes you several tries to get the hang of it. But once you do, I think you’ll be glad you made the effort. I’m certainly glad I tried again after getting encouragement from a couple of friends.
Much of what we spend time trying to correct when we’re cleaning a piece are blemishes we put there in the first place. It’s easy to make scratches with the tip of the feather knife when removing seams, or scrub a seam line too flat with our scrubby, and while we’re trying to work these blemishes out, we might end up leaving small marks with our fingernails. Have you ever ended up with flat finger tips or a cut between the fingers where the edge of your scrubby or piece of nylon dug in while you were trying to smooth those hard to get at seams? Once you get used to using the brushes, a lot of these self made problems will be eliminated altogether.
Remember, you can always practice this method, then soft fire your piece and look it over to see if you are satisfied with the outcome. It’s not too late at that point to do a final polish if needed.
We kind of skimmed over cutting the eyes this time, but we’ll address it in depth next time.
