Undies (retired)

I recently purchased Addy's undies set off ebay. It was a set I had wanted for some time and was disappointed when I recieved it to find that the wires had separated and were slightly bent from the mailing. I figured I could bend them back and gently slide them into place. To my dismay as I tried to reshape the skirt I ran into a red waxy substance that began to ooze out of the fabric. An email and 2 calls to American Girl left me with no answers. They had no idea what the stuff was. As it was already a mess, and I sew a little, I decided to go ahead and dismantle the garment and see if it could be salvaged. The goo turns out to be an adhesive used to attach paper (or tape?) to the wires to hold them together (why red?). The sticky stuff came off of the wires with a damp cloth and baking soda, but I am still trying to get rid of the red stains. I used a little baking soda on the garment and it got rid of the "sticky" feeling. A stain stick has faded the red somewhat (I am treating it for a second time). My advice is, store this garment CAREFULLY! If the wires should bend and become separated DO NOT try to slide or rebend them. Find someone who sews and can take the garment apart. If I had, I don't think I would have had as big of a mess. I can't believe that this was suppose to hold up to a child playing with it.