Teflon tape is one of the more important tools in a doll collectors arsenal, it’s a tape that won’t melt plastic or degrade and that can be pulled into a very fine string to fit around floppy joints, around necks that need re-inforcing and for holding glued things tightly together while they dry (snapped barbie necks for example). It costs about a $1 at any hardware store or off ebay. It’s the playline version of sueding a BJD and the knowledge was passed down from japanese obitsu/volks articulated doll collectors and action figure kitbashers.
Since I had the tape out, I did Curvy Made to Move Barbie’s feet that are notoriously floppy under the weight of her heavy plastic body: tuck in the end of the tape with a blunt needle or tweezer then wrap, pulling tightly as you go, tuck the last bit and ta da!
She can stand on her own, even barefoot! The only drawback is that it’s not transparent, as you can see from the photos above, you can see a small white bit where a joint has been wrapped.
Here are some monster high knees fixed with teflon tape: