Kids love to bring their stuffed animals with them wherever they go, but when you bring them out often they get dirty and need to be cleaned.  My daughter has a handful of animals that she likes to sleep with and bring around with her.  I regularly wash these animals at least once every 2 weeks to keep them clean.  Here are my tips for cleaning the animals.

1.     Get a lingerie bag.  This works great for the small bean bag stuffed animals and you then can throw a whole bunch of them in the machine at the same time.  A pillowcase will work too, but you must tie it in a knot, and sometimes the knot will come out and then you have animals all over the machine.

2.     Read the label on the tag. Often it will tell you if it can be washed or not.  I have found that most say only surface clean, but I still have thrown them in the machine and washed them anyway and have not had a problem.  It is really a judgment call.

3.     Make sure if there are any loose parts that you sew them up first.

4.     Add your favorite detergent to the washing machine.  While woolite is best for this any detergent can be used (except bleach) just make sure that it does not have fabric softener as this can be a problem for some plush.

5.     The washing machine should be set to the cool setting on the gentle cycle.  Now if you are trying to sanitize the animal because your child was sick and want to use hot water, hot water may make certain dyes run so if the animal has multiple colors on it, it is not advisable to do this, but if the animal is one single color you can do it but the animal may fade.

6.     You can either air dry or use the dryer for some plush.  I have noticed that when I use the dryer on the animals that have the longer hairier plush that the plush tends to clump together, which doesn’t bother me, but may bother some other people or children.  If in doubt air dry.

7.     You can also use a hair dryer and a stiff bristle brush to “fluff” up the animals hair.  It works for some of the shorter pile fur, but is not recommended for longer furs or very loose pile.

8.     To kill dust mites a steamer is highly effective.  You can also vacuum stuffed animals to remove dust mites.  A   hair dryer is also an effective way of removing surface dust from stuffed animals.

9. Having a handy book like Restoring Teddy Bears and Stuffed Animals is a great resource to have to get additional professional advice on how to care for your animals.

DO NOT WASH OR DRY MOHAIR, WOOL, RAYON, ALPACA, SHEARLING, OR REAL ANIMAL FUR STUFFED ANIMALS.  ALSO NEVER WASH STUFFED ANIMALS THAT HAVE BUILT IN SOUND EFFECTS IN THEM EVEN IF YOU REMOVE THE BATTERIES.