How to hot glue suede your BJD

One of the great things about BJDs is that they can pose in different ways thanks to their ball joints. However, when you are posing them do they ever snap back to a different position, or maybe the arm starts to droop down? Well I have a solution for you that is easy and safe!

Hot glue sueding!!!

Now, there are some people that use different things in the joints like silicone disks or mole skin, but today I want to show you how easy you can fix the joints with some good ol’ hot glue.

Materials you need

The good thing about hot glue sueding is that it really only takes a few items and very little time to do.

• low temp hot glue gun
• glue gun sticks
• piece of paper
• X-ACTO knife

Wam-bam that’s it! It is very important to have a low temp glue gun because if you do anything hotter than that you do risk damaging your doll. The great thing about using low temp glue guns is that if you make a mistake you can easily peel off the glue and try again.

Prepping your doll

To start you will need to take your doll apart in order to get to the area where the ball and sockets are. Put all pieces out on a clean surface and make sure you keep them in order so you don’t confuse them when re-assembling your doll.

You will then want to make sure that your doll is clean, especially in the socket area so you don’t seal in anything dirty with the hot glue. You can use a Mr.Clean eraser to do a spot clean and then get ready to turn on that glue gun!

While the glue gun heats up…

You can start prepping your paper strips for spreading the glue into the joints. I have read some people actually do this with their finger but personally I think that even though the glue is low temp it is crazy hot to touch. Spreading it with a paper also helps make a smooth even layer.

Cut or tear your paper into strips. Then fold them in half 2 times to give it thickness. It should look something like the picture below.

You want your paper strips to have some thickness so it can act almost as a butter knife and also protect your fingers from the heat.

Let’s get ready to glue!

This can seem really scary. Every inch of your being might be telling you that you are going to mess this up and ruin your doll. Don’t stress! The good thing about hot glue sueding is that the glue will literally peel off if you mess up. The temp is also so low that it won’t cause damage to your dolly either.

Put a small glob into the socket and have your paper strip at the ready. As soon as you put down the glob pick up your paper and with a sweeping motion, curve it around the socket. Try your best not to go over the edge or have too much in one area. You want a really even smooth layer to coat the inside of the socket. If you don’t put an even coat you might notice the ball and socket may not match up nicely when dried. Again, don’t stress if you didn’t get it right the first time, just peel and try again once the glue dries.

If you did a great layer on the inside but went a bit over the edge just grab an X-ACTO knife and shave off that tiny bit that went over. Do be very careful with your dolly so you don’t accidentally cut them with the knife (or yourself for that matter).

Once you have glued your socket let it dry and harden. DO NOT put your doll back together right away. Give it about 5 minutes to set. The glue needs to harden. You do not want to put it back together right away because your pieces might stick together.

Once the glue has had time to dry fully then re-assemble your doll and check to see if your layers are even and the parts are resting nicely in the glued sockets.

Great suede spots!

So there are a couple of key spots that I like to suede to help with posing. Feel free to suede in these areas or suede in other areas your dolly might have that needs help.

• Neck socket
• Arm socket to the shoulder
• Hip socket
• Wrist socket

The main thing you want is for your dolly to be more stable and hold poses better. Any area you feel that is too snappy or moves too much would be a good place to suede. Again, if you try it and don’t like it just simply peel the glue out.

Troubleshooting

Sometimes accidents happen right? Well maybe you are having a hard time taking out the glue. Here are a couple of things to try.

• Before peeling off a mistake give it some time. If you make a mistake don’t try to peel it off right away. Let it harden first so it is easier to peel off.
• For stubborn glue that refuses to come off put the part in a plastic Ziplock bag. Then place the part in the bag in your freezer for about 5 min. Take it out and then try taking the glue off again. Keep doing so until you get your glue off the stubborn area.

Durability of hot glue sueding

Does this last forever? Well does anything last forever? No. I have had dolls with hot glue suede last for about a year.

The hot glue eventually will start to lose it’s magic. You will notice that the limbs that were once able to hold up nicely with the hot glue will start to slide around again. You might even notice some of the hot glue starting to come off on it’s own. As the dollies wear different clothes or even just keeping them in the same clothes, the sockets will gather lint/dust/etc on the hot glue which also lessens the effect it has on the joints.

The great thing is that you now know how easy it is to hot glue suede and you can do it again! (Just make sure to clean the area first)

Enjoy your dolls new ability to hold poses!

And that’s it! I hope that you will have fun and enjoy your dolls even more after you hot glue suede them. It is a nifty trick to do to help dollies maintain poses and also do poses they couldn’t hold on their own before.

Have you hot glue sueded your dolls before? Do you have some tips? Tell me in the comments section down below!