My Little Wiki and My Little Pony Accessories are great places to find pictures of accessories and they have a lot of MIB photos. This can help you when you need to match colors or see what a broken accessory originally looked like.
Emery at the MLP Arena shows the process of whitening a baby buggy by painting it with hair bleaching cream containing hydrogen peroxide and letting it sit. These images show the progression over an eight day time period.
Playsets
Repair
Super glue or model glue will hold little pieces that have broken off your playsets in place. You can sculpt missing parts with Apoxie Sculpt or Milliput. This product looks promising for playset repairs: Sugru Mouldable Glue
Stickers
When stickers are dirty and yellowed with time, they can sometimes be brightened by painting them with hair bleaching cream. Paint the cream on with a paint brush, leave it for 10 seconds, then wipe it gently with soft paper towel. Repeat as necessary. Information and photos courtesy Christina R.
Perm Shoppe
Courtesy Chrissytree
courtesy me!
courtesy me!
Cleaning
Ribbons and cloth pony wear can be washed in a washing machine. Put them inside something like a zippable mesh laundry bag so they don't get lost. Use the gentle cycle and warm water as hot and cold water can set stains. Use any laundry detergent of your choice.
You can also hand wash them in the sink. For tougher stains, try any stain remover that you might use for your own clothes. Remember to test for color fastness first.
OxiClean can work miracles, but use caution as some fabric accessories such as the Pony Royal cape will bleed dye. Dissolve the OxiClean in warm water and allow them to soak. A few minutes is usually enough. I recommend cleaning them one at a time so if any color bleeds it won't ruin other objects in the pot.
Vinyl pony wear, such as shoes, can be cleaned using many of the techniques for washing pony bodies. Wash them with Dawn dish detergent and rub off stains with nail polish remover. If you try other methods, like an OxiClean bath, be cautious with the water temperature so that they maintain their shape. Stains can be removed using hydrogen peroxide.
Repair
A needle, thread, super glue, and fabric glues are your best friends when repairing the common wear and tear that is found with pony wear. You'll also need Velcro to replace the fasteners that often fall off, or you can sew on a new fastener, if you have the patience. You can find this at craft stores.
You can melt the ends of ribbons with a cigarette lighter to stop and prevent fraying. Kinks and wrinkles in ribbons can be straightened by running them through a straightening iron set on low.
Yellowing
Yellowed and discolored accessories, both white and colored, can be brightened using hydrogen peroxide. Small accessories can be placed inside a clear jar filled with liquid hydrogen peroxide found at pharmacies. Place a lid on the jar and set it in the sun until the accessory is fixed. Larger accessories can be painted with 40 volume creme developer which is used for hair bleaching. Paint this on with a brush and reapply daily until the item is back to it's original color. Leaving the item in the sun or under a UV bulb makes the process go faster and collectors have reported good results with the use of UV sanitizer boxes.
Sign holder photos courtesy Kristen B. Petite photos courtesy Cristina R.
Repainting
Acrylic paint works well for painting many accessories. You can use anything from craft paint to professional quality acrylic paint depending on your preference. An undercoat of Mod Podge can help the paint stick to the surface. To seal the dried paint, options include Testors Dullcote, Mr. Super Clear, or craft glazes come in a variety of sheens. You should be able to find one that comes close to the original look of the accessory you're repairing.
Photos courtesy Vampasaurus.
Perfume Puff Palace
Petite Ponies
courtesy Cezsaria Cezsaria
courtesy Cezsaria Cezsaria
Pretty Parlor
Back courtesy NovaPony
Show Stable
courtesy Anna-Lenna K.
courtesy Catherine B.
Need to remove stickers from a playset? Try applying heat with a hair dryer, this will sometimes loosen the glue and cause them to fall off.
Lighter fluid will loosen the glue on old stickers. Wiggle a needle between the sticker and wall of the playset. Drip the lighter fluid behind the sticker with an eye dropper. Massage the sticker to help spread the fluid and add more at the edges as needed. Let the lighter fluid evaporate and then use a flat object such as a credit card to pry the glue away from the playset. Information courtesy Hathorcat.
Stickers can be replaced using Rubber Cement, Elmer's Glue, gluesticks, or acid free double sided tape.
Painting playsets can also yield great results without the side effect of becoming brittle. I coat the playset with mod podge spray, let it dry, paint with craft acrylics and seal with another coat of mod podge spray and finally a coat of Testors Dullcote or Mr. Super Clear. It usually takes multiple coats of paint, but the finish ends up quite nice.
Repair
For minor repairs to accessories there are many options for glues. You can also sculpt small bits that have broken off using Apoxie Sculpt or Milliput.
A tip to strengthen your repairs when gluing accessories back together is to drill a small hole on both ends, then connect them with a wire insert. Courtesy Tiara546
To remove stains and marks from packaging, try using an art gum eraser. A document cleaning pad or Absorene may also work. Coated cardboard can be gently wiped with a moist cloth or very gently rubbed with a magic eraser.
The same products that brighten plastic accessories will work on playsets. Paint on a H2O2 hair cream with a brush and reapply daily until you get the desired results. Or, wrap the playset with Saran wrap and you won't need to continuously reapply. Wipe away with a moist soft cloth. Some collectors choose to wipe away the old application before applying a new layer. Exposure to the sun or a UV bulb isn't necessary, but quickens the process. This can make the playset brittle and they will sometimes discolor again with time. Breyer 600 reported that her playsets (pictured below) yellowed again after approximately a year. Photos courtesy Breyer600.
Here are stickers for various playsets. Several of them are the European versions. Print these off on sticker paper (available at most craft and office supply stores) and cut them out to use as replacements when your playsets are missing stickers, or they are beyond repair. You'll likely need to do some re-sizing and color adjustment to get them just right.
This is a product that looks promising for accessory repairs: Sugru Mouldable Glue
Need an accessory and don't want to/can't buy a replacement? If you can borrow one from someone else, you can try making your own using a casting kit. You can also sculpt them yourself using Apoxie Sculpt. 3D printers have also created a lot of options.
There are collectors that make and sell reproduction accessories. There are options listed under Resources to ask who currently has them available.
E-mail me if you have scans of stickers you would like to donate. Unless otherwise noted, sticker scans are courtesy The Playset Sticker Palace. More stickers are available at the My Little Pony Sticker Gallery.
Replacement
You can find a template at littleponyheaven for making replacement Dream Castle capes, banners, baby diapers, and baby brother bandannas.
You can make the pals from the Baby Pony Wear with Pocket Pals line using craft supplies like pom poms, googley eyes, and felt.
ValeofSpring created a really gorgeous (and colorful!) tutorial for identifying original G1 ribbons with leads on possible replacement ribbons: Let's Talk G1 Original Ribbons! Photo courtesy ValeofSpring.
Playsets
& Accessories
