The Big Guide to Sunfading Ponies: Remove Pen, Marker & Stains Safely (& bonus)

Sunfading!
It's what you'll need when you have a pony that has un-remove-able ink, marker, pen or toy stains on their skin. It does NOT work for regrind, centerpoint (cancer), toymark (actual other toy paint left behind on pony), or pindot (ground in dirt in the pores). It also doesn't work on ferrous (iron based) or metal-origin stains. Ponies stain up like this because they are slightly porous. Even hard/shiny G4 brushables/zillas are porous to take stains unlike lots of hard plastic or shiny horses. It does work on ANY generation of pony. So, bring out your stained up or scribbled ponies & get ready to see if they can be cured with this post.

What is Toymark?
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Here it is on  a Moonstone. You can tell that this 'stuff' (paint or plastic) from another toy is on her surface. This needs to be removed with scouring powder & a toothbrush. Soaking then toothbrushing also helps.

Things you will need:
Damaged pony
Patience
A sunny spot
Paper towel with no designs/markings (like a plain white one)
Tin Foil
Tape
Patience

Yes patience is on there twice because you will need twice as much of that as other pony fixes because sunfading isn't fast at all and there's no real good way to rush it safely.

Ready to start your fade?
Before anything, make sure pony is super clean & dry. Fading or heating a pony may aggravate dirt or marks. First get your paper towel and wrap up EVERY part of the pony that has NO stain on it. The paper towel will protect the pony from the tin foil that you will soon apply. Tin foil CAN yellow SOME colors of pony so it is better to keep her safe with the paper towel. Tape the towel pieces in place so it doesn't shift as you wrap her in the foil later.
It is time to fade this Glory

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You can see how the purple marker is stained into her skin.

Once she's in the paper towel, wrap the whole pony except the stained part with the tin foil. Make sure there are no gaps for the sun to sneak in. Tin foil is good because it is 100% light proof. Tape the foil in place. Now, you should have a crinkly foil covered item with a hole / s where the stains actually are. You are ready to fade.

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There are 2 kinds of un-assisted fades:

Careful Fade:
This is a slow way to fade. It's best for your first fade, a color you think may be delicate, an un-tested pony, a high-value pony, or a pony who has notoriously weak color*. Find a sunny sill inside your home & just set pony down there. Check back each week or so to see what the mark is doing. Fading like this can take MONTHS or even longer for very tough ink.

Power Fade:
For yellow ponies, white ones for the most part, orange G3s, or ones you've already tried fading. Put the pony in your car on whatever surface gets the most sun all day where you park. The sun in the car gets really intense & will accelerate fading because cars are generally in the sun all day, rather than a part through a house window.

Assisted Fade:
This is a chemical assisted fade. To do it you use Benzoyl Peroxide which is zit cream/acne cream from the beauty or pharmacy aisle. It carries a hazard of permanently yellowing the spot you're trying to fade. You have to watch over this one very carefully & check every couple of days or so to see if the mark is coming up so you can remove the cream as soon as it is. You can also start a fade with this, then finish it with a power or careful fade. NEVER USE on: Green, blue, purple, lavender, aqua, baby-blue or dark colored ponies. It will pull their color out. Generally ok for: white, yellow, pink, or orange ponies. Simply put the cream ONLY on the mark & leave her in the sun.

*Color strength:
What is color strength? Some colors are stronger than others. This is their resistance to the sun's power of fading.
Badguys:
Pink, Red, orange & some greens can be really strong. Blacks & blues are a little weaker in most cases & can fade faster.
Goodguys:
Ponies who are yellow & orange are very stable to fades. They're generally very safe. White is a risk only for yellowing.
Weak goodguys:
Purples, blues, lavenders, & greens are all weak to the sun & chemicals. They are more delicate & harder to fade. BUT if your goal is to erase the pony's own color, this is easily done for them with a chemical fade.

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Poor Sunlight! Someone pink markered her, then tried to do the chemical fade. It took away her color before it took up the marker so now she's ruined. There's no way to match her original color...and it's the worst of a shame because her symbol & hair are just so perfect. I have literally no idea what to do with this pony because she's so perfect other than that. But, this clearly shows the hazard. (I bought her like this as a bait--couldn't bear to customize her though)

Sun-Disease Whizzer is Over-Faded
What happens to some ponies who don't fade well? They can get 'sun disease', and Whizzer is prone to that. She had orange marker scribble, no hair & scuffed up TEs. In trying to get rid of the orange, I power-faded her & look what happened. Her pink lifted out & the permanent brown spots appeared. She's a total ruin now, except for the symbol. (So, only a candidate for total-customization--a full body repaint will take care of everything & metal leaf over the TE's will turn the jewels to chrome)

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The invincible stain:
Some pen & stains are invincible to sun fading or chemical fading. No one ever found out how or why. I have had ponies in the intense fade sun for YEARS in a tropical area all to no effect. It is a mystery. But it's also uncommon, so give fading a shot!

NEVER fade a dream beauty, these all turn awful yellow in the sun.

Detail Care:
Got marker around an eye? Near a symbol? Make a paper-towel cut out & a tin foil topper in the shape of the eye and tape it down to leave the stain exposed but keep the eye from fading.

Fading seasons:
Obviously summer/spring are more sun & more intense sun so fading will go faster during these and slower in winter/fall. But you don't have to wait to fade--any sun helps.

Odd Use:
Remember when it said it'll pull pony's color out? Well, Pristina finds this out & becomes a variant (who I kept) She'd started out as a 'destroyed by black marker on the feet/ankles' pony who someone used the Benzoyl to fade so I just faded the rest of her. *More examples will follow...

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Do note that "Pale Pristina" was created over the course of about a year, with the benzoyl indoors. She is a lucky one who has a very even tone once it is finished. That is as light as she will be able to become. But it is interesting to see.


Once the stain is gone, simply unwrap her & display!

Great thread! Thank you for posting this. But poor Whizzer .

Such a thorough thread! Thanks for the tips!