How To Clean A Dirty Stuffed Animal

How to Clean Your Child's Blimp Toys

Some are more well-loved than others and may need special care.

Credit... Alex Kiesling

Apr 17, 2022

This story was originally published on Sept. 23, 2022 in NYT Parenting.

Stuffed animals — teddy bears and bunnies and Minions — aren't like usa: They cannot bathe abroad drool and dead peel and snot. Only your child's dear bear needs an occasional soak and scrub, likewise!

Washing a stuffed animate being is easy. Simply some costly toys are older, or more delicate, than others. Hand-laundering will be the right option for those well-worn toys, while auto-washing is fine for most blimp animals. Here we'll cover the best practices for both approaches, as well as tips for cleaning toys that cannot be submerged in water, such as dolls with electronic components.

But get-go, some unwelcome news, perhaps: Stuffed animals, along with bedsheets and towels, are high on the list of items that should be washed after your child has been sick. Otherwise, look to give Winnie the Pooh a washup merely when he appears visibly dirty or no longer passes the smell examination.

[Read Jolie's tips on how to proceed kids' art from cluttering upwardly your home.]

Machine washing costly toys

Stuffed toys like teddy bears or bunnies can be motorcar washed, which will be the easiest choice for most parents. Notwithstanding, you lot run the risk of dissentious some toys by throwing them in with the wash, especially when it comes to cleaning well-loved (and well-worn) stuffed animals. Be sure to await for the manufacturer'south washing instructions by checking the care tag when deciding if machine washing is the best option: You wouldn't want to mangle Mr. Buttons. If you lot cull the machine-washing road, hither's where to get-go:

Use the gentle cycle and common cold water, though if a child has been sick and the toy can tolerate it (for example, it does not have glued-in parts), warm or hot water can exist used.
A balmy detergent, similar a free and clear formula or Woolite, is ideal, just regular detergent is fine — no need to buy a separate detergent for washing stuffed animals. Follow the instructions on the bottle and don't use too much detergent, as soap residue left backside tin irritate sensitive skin.
If the size and shape of the stuffed animal allows for it, put the toy in a mesh washing bag to assistance protect parts like optics and hair. You can as well pad the load with towels to help protect toys.

Machine drying is O.K. for some toys, though it's not always the best option because many plush toys accept glued-in or plastic parts that might not survive the high heat of a dryer. If yous do choose to machine dry out a stuffed animal, utilize the no- or low-heat setting. A better choice, though, is to air dry out costly toys, because fur tin get burned in a hot dryer; place the toy near a fan or a dehumidifier to speed upwardly drying fourth dimension and ensure that the inner stuffing doesn't retain water. If the toy appears disordered subsequently its bath, using a pilus dryer on low or medium heat can help restore a furry friend's fluffiness.

Hand-washing plush toys

Not all stuffed animals are created every bit, and so when it comes to an especially beloved Teddy or Bunny or Squirrely, hand-washing is the meliorate fashion to go. Exercise not be daunted! If you can wash a kid, you tin can wash a stuffed animal (stuffed animals are easier … less squirmy).

To launder a blimp brute or doll by hand, you lot need three things:

A clean space that can hold plenty h2o to fully submerge the toy, like a kitchen or utility sink, or a large bucket.
A mild detergent. Wirecutter, a New York Times company that reviews and recommends products, likes Soak, which is a no-rinse formula, for manus-washing.
A clean, dry towel.

Beginning past filling the sink, or whatever space y'all're using, with plenty cold or warm h2o to fully submerge the blimp animal, so add a teaspoon to a tablespoon of detergent per gallon of h2o. Submerge the toy and apply a pumping motion — as if you were performing C.P.R. on Teddy — then that it's saturated with h2o and detergent. Allow the toy to soak in that solution for 15 minutes, or up to an hour, before rinsing; more delicate toys should soak for less fourth dimension to avoid dissentious their fibers. When it's time to rinse, yous tin either concord the toy under cool running water or drain and refill the sink with make clean water, repeating the pumping motion to get rid of lather balance. The latter method is more than gentle and volition be best for especially tattered toys. Regardless of the country of the stuffed creature, it's recommended that you not scrub vigorously or wring it out: Overhandling tin can lead to impairment.

To dry a plush toy afterward mitt-washing it, bleed the sink and press downward gently on the stuffed animal several times to push out equally much water as you can, then curl it up in a make clean dry towel, which volition pull out more water. Allow the toy to air dry, using the lowest heat setting on a hair dryer to fluff upwardly the animal if needed. A slicker castor, like those used to brush out dogs and cats, tin can also be pressed into service to groom Teddy's fur.

If a toy is specially grimy, or has a stain, you lot tin also include a laundry booster, such as OxiClean (for grime), or use a pretreatment product similar Zout (for protein stains such every bit blood or vomit) to the toy prior to washing. Nevertheless, before using any kind of stain treatment, it's important to spot test it kickoff, according to Beth Karpas, the owner of Realms of Golden, a doll hospital in Los Altos, Calif. "The fur can react to chemicals, and dissimilar furs react to different chemicals differently," she warned. "Sometimes the fur shrinks or changes colour, and you can't contrary that."

Cleaning toys with electronic components

Spot treating is the method of choice to clean toys that cannot be submerged considering they take electronic or musical components. Spot treating involves doing a surface-only cleaning of the toy, by wiping its outside using a damp cloth and a mild soap. Karpas recommends using a foaming hand or dish soap. "Information technology's less dense, and less full-bodied so it takes less effort and less moisture to remove a tiny bit of foaming lather than it does a tiny chip of regular soap," she said, "The point is to try to avert soaking that inner stuffing."

In that location are, of course, times when a professional is called for. Should you observe yourself in need of a trained doll surgeon, the Doll Doctor'due south Association offers a doll hospital locator on its website.

Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert, advice columnist and host of the podcast "Inquire a Clean Person."