The Truth About Silicone Vinyl
Spoiler
There is no silicone vinyl!
In Detail
Fake Reborns are often advertised as silicone vinyl babies. This implies the promise of an especially soft vinyl. However, this is absolute nonsense. There is actually no silicone vinyl. There is silicone and there is vinyl, but no mixture of the two.
Both silicone and vinyl come in different hardness levels.
Let’s first deal with the vinyl. In the past, the dolls were made from significantly harder vinyl than is the case today. Nowadays, most reborn kits are made from so-called Real Touch vinyl. This is very soft and actually feels skin-like. This vinyl has a very special quality. When I compare my first "reborn", which was a fake, with my blanks for Ilea and Elias, there are worlds apart, even though Melina, the fake baby, was already very soft.
Silicone is a completely different material that cannot be compared to vinyl. Unfortunately, I have never held a silicone baby in my hands. But from videos, I know that they are really very flexible and apparently feel very realistic. Silicone kits are significantly more expensive than vinyl kits, and they also require a different type of colouring. You cannot dye these with vinyl paints. I thought for a long time about whether to create a vinyl or silicone baby, but I ended up sticking with vinyl. There are two main reasons for this:
- The price: As already mentioned, silicone kits are significantly more expensive
- Sensitivity: Obviously, silicone babies are significantly more sensitive and must be handled very carefully. They also tend to attract dust quickly and need to be dusted regularly if you do not want to pack them dust-proof. Since I maintain a close relationship with my babies and like to dress them daily, the decision against a silicone baby was very easy for me.