Sanding w/h Head Opening
You need a »fine sanding sponge, a crochet hook, tussue paper and love
Please note: This tutorial is also available »in portugues at blythe.com.br – Thanks to Ana and Samara ♥
1. Get her hair out of her face, undress her, cover her body, if you want to, it is not really necessary
2. Unlock the spring with a tiny crochet needle (I use 1,5 mm)
3. Close her eyes with a click (They won’t reopen as you already unlocked the spring), then put her lashes into her eyeholes with the help of the crochet needle or something else. Take care of the eyeshadow if you want to keep it 
4. Protect her eyelids and lashes with tissue paper. I use a needle to help getting it into the slit between the eyehole and the lid. Again… be careful about her makeup!
5. Start sanding with very fine grain sanding sponges. To be sure about the grain, first sand a part of her backplate to see the result. If the sanding sponge leave visible scratches, you definitely need a finer grain! The surface should only look velvety and not scratched at all! You won’t see a scratch when using the right grain!!!!
I always begin with her forehead and go on in circles all over her face. Kindly increase the pressure if you can’t see a result.
6. If you want to keep her eyeshadow and blush (see pic below), just sand gently with low pressure up to the corners of her makeup and leave the colour like it is. On her eyeshadow you can try to reduce the shine sanding with no pressure (be CAREFUL) until the shine is gone.
I don’t recommend this method for her blush… sometimes it works (it worked on most of my RBLs but never on SBLs), sometimes not. So you need to decide to keep the blush a bit shiny or reattach it with chalk pastels later. Me for one I prefer the chalk pastel blush. It looks ace and you can decide how much blush you want.
Go on like this until the shine is gone! Be careful at the ends of her lippainting and don’t get bored by sanding her nose. It is the trickiest part and needs attention.
Oh… and don’t forget to sand the backplate, it looks kind of silly when it is still shiny 
7. Your dolly should look like this when you are done (remember, I sanded away the blush but kept the eyeshadow and lips). Enjoy her velvet skin!
You may see the difference between the first picture and the last. On the first you still see the light I used to photograph her. I still use the same light in the last piccie but her face doesn’t reflect it anymore. That’s the most wanted effect of sanding a Blythe – she takes much better photos afterwards! I tell you, you will be hooked on sanding!!! heehee…
Have fun,
Jasmin
P.S. Even if I wrote this tutorial, I am not responsible for any damage you cause sanding your Blythe! This is a recommendation only and it works fine when done with love.
Wonderful tutorial. Thank you. I had one question about the spring. Do you just re-lock the spring with the crochet needle when you are finished sanding? Or does it automatically re-lock when you press the eyes back open?
Oh right… I need to add this! You must relock the spring with the crochet needle. Needs a bit patience at the first time but you can do it! YAY
Have fun, Jasz
i need a bit more understanding on dealing with the spring and backplate? So confused! What kind of sponge do you get? grain?
Thanks so much. This is my 1st time fooling with them. I worry about the spring, eye mech- messing it up!
Heather
Hi Heather,
it’s not easy to explain the spring thing from far away so I would say if you are unsure leave the spring where it is and just cover her eyeballs carefully and watch out for her lashes while sanding. That’s okay
About the sponge… Get one of these (the finest) from »Cool Cat on ebay or similar (Hobby and Craft shop) – really really fine fine fine grain to work on plastic.
Have fun
Jasz
็Hi Dr.Jasz, I really love your site!!! I have a question about ‘unlocking’ the spring with the crochet needle. Is it the same method as pulling it out when making sleep eyes? Or you leave the needle with the spring?
Unlocking the spring means you pull it gently with a crochet needle until it looses hold around the little bar in the back hole and leave it inside her head. You must relock it afterwards.
WOW, thanks, now I got it.
One question, this means we leave the crochet needle with the spring (like putting the whole needle in the head) ? Actually, I think this is a silly question — haha– as it seems the needle can’t fit in the hole. However, can’t see how to find the loose spring inside the head to relock afterwards???
hmmm… I think it would be better you ask someone who could do it for you as you are too unsure about the whole process. Anyway I answer your questions: Infact you put the spring with the help of the needle inside her head (just to be sure: you need to take the needle out afterwards. Don’t leave the needle inside her head – hahhahhahaaa)
And for sure you need a small needle (1mm) that fits into the little hole. To relock the spring, there is no other way than trying.
But as I said, if you are unsure better don’t do it yourself.
Hey Dr.Jazz, Thankyou so much for sharing your wisdom, just finished sanding my first custom blythe, thanks to you generous help. keep up the good work.
Lis
It’s hard to get sand sponge from where I am based so I tested at the back of my doll’s head using a nail buffer (those that are spongy that is in a block which is suppose to even out your nail). It doesn’t cause scratches easily as it has a smoother grain and is easy to get to hard to reach places as it is soft enough and you can cut them into smaller pieces. However, I notice that when sanding the blush area, the original color tends to turn yellowish (reckon better to sand it off and then airbrush the cheeks!)
My two cents worth!
That’s a fine idea with the nail buffer! You should try coolcat on ebay for the sanding sponges though as they are even finer and easier to work with. Or can’t you view ebay in Shanghai? I heard something like that!????
I am so looking forward!
BTW… I am in Shanghai by the end of April
Hard to buy stuff here from foreign sites (imagine your mails just don’t arrive if they are written in English OR they are few months late!). Ebay Shanghai .. good idea, I should check it out there
YOU ARE COMING TO SHANGHAI??? Wow! I am sure you will love the place! But be prepared for the big culture clash as I am (big time!). Also, we can’t access Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. here as it is blocked here (can you imagine?). So, how long are you going to be in Shanghai for? I would love to meet up with you in person and buy you a nice coffee here in Shanghai!!
Also, you have to visit the Fabric Market here, they have all types of cloth and they are so …… cheap!
thank you for your tutorials!this is my first blythe dollie and all you tutoials have made her even more beautiful!
could you post the link to the coolcat store on ebay that sells the sponges? I can’t seem to find it in search.
thanks for your posts.
I posted the link in an earlier reply, now added it to the tutorial and here you go again
http://shop.ebay.com/coolcat-coolcat/m.html?_nkw=sponge&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3911.m270.l1313&_odkw=&_osacat=0
Have fun sanding!!
oh, so you did, thanks again though