Uh-Oh! Your beloved Matryoshka isn’t perfect? Is it a bit too tight or a bit too loose? Perhaps it has a dreadful crack in the wood? Don’t worry, here is information on repairing a nesting doll…
How to Fix a Nesting Doll
Here at The Russian Store, we do everything we can to send out perfect nesting dolls (with a quality check right before shipping). But maybe you acquired a not-so-perfect stacking doll somewhere else, and you need some information about how to make it better?
Is your nesting doll is a bit too tight, and you have trouble taking it apart?
(Sometimes the wood of the nesting doll expands with too much humidity in the air, and it makes it hard to open it)
First thing to try is to place your Matryoshka in a freezer for overnight. If this trick did not help, you can sand down the inside edge of the top half of your doll. To do that, take a small piece of course sandpaper (about 2″ x 2″), fold it in half, and holding it between your thumb and forefinger start sanding on the inside of the top part of the doll, making sure not to sand too much off and not to scratch the painted part of the doll.
You cannot open your nesting doll at all?
(One of the reasons the nesting doll would not open up is because the lacquer used to glaze the doll seeps into the seam of the doll fusing two halves together)
Spread a towel on the floor and place your doll on the towel. Put your hands on the top of each other and lean on the center seam of the doll. Pressing down on the seam, roll the doll back and forth. Once you’ll hear a slight cracking sound, you can try to open the doll. If needed, repeat this technique again. Be careful not to apply too much weight in this process and braking the wood walls of the doll.
Is your nesting doll is too loose and will not stay together?
Use school glue ( like Elmer’s) on the inside edge of the top part of the doll, making sure to spread it thinly. Then, allow it to dry thoroughly overnight, and then put the doll back together.
Does your nesting doll have a small crack?
Sometimes a crack is unfix-able, but if it’s small and on the inside only, you could fill it with wood filler!
Is your stacking doll missing a doll?
It will most likely be impossible to replace. Each stacking doll set is made from one piece of wood; thus in the event that you do find a similar "replacement" doll, it will most likely not fit correctly, or look exactly the same.