general Plush toy cleaning?

[ManaMinori 4,145]

Does anyone clean their plush toys? Do you have tips to offer?

Should I throw mine in the washer anyway, even though the tag says surface wash only? (No visible signs of bedbugs, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, and I heard washing kills the little suckers)

 

How do you guys care for your plushies?

[PiratePony 8,475]

If you want to be extra caution and kill potential bedbugs without washing it...you could wrap it in a plastic airtight bag and park it outside in the cold for a week, then brush it off very very carefully with a lint remover. Also vacuum it with a hose extension and fabric brush attachment. 

Edited February 28, 2016 by PiratePony

[cuteycindyhoney 13,303]

If the plush is small, it's better to actually put them in the freezer. Two hours at less than −17 °C (1 °F) kills them. You can also use heat. An hour at a temperature of 45 °C (113 °F) or over kills bed bugs. Exposure to temps higher than 50 °C (122 °F) kills them in about two minutes. Clothes dryers reach 125 °F when set on low-delicate. A half hour of that does the trick.

 

I bought a hat at a thrift store once, put it in a Ziploc bag, and kept it in the freezer for a week before I put it on my head!

Edited February 28, 2016 by cuteycindyhoney

[ManaMinori 4,145]

If the plush is small, it's better to actually put them in the freezer. Two hours at less than −17 °C (1 °F) kills them. You can also use heat. An hour at a temperature of 45 °C (113 °F) or over kills bed bugs. Exposure to temps higher than 50 °C (122 °F) kills them in about two minutes. Clothes dryers reach 125 °F when set on low-delicate. A half hour of that does the trick.

 

I bought a hat at a thrift store once, put it in a Ziploc bag, and kept it in the freezer for a week before I put it on my head!

laundromat dryers will work, too? And I can pop the plush in, tag and all, without worrying about the tags or plush catching fire or the plastic connectors to the tags melting or something?

[PiratePony 8,475]

laundromat dryers will work, too? And I can pop the plush in, tag and all, without worrying about the tags or plush catching fire or the plastic connectors to the tags melting or something?

 

If the plush is machine washable according to the tag, I would put the setting of the dryer on delicate, after a hot water wash.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,303]

laundromat dryers will work, too? And I can pop the plush in, tag and all, without worrying about the tags or plush catching fire or the plastic connectors to the tags melting or something?

I wouldn't put plastic tags of any kind in a dryer. As for Laundromats, my experience with them says that their dryers tend to be hotter than home units. If you just want to kill bedbugs, if the item looks clean, you can skip the washing. It's the heat of the dryer that kills them. Not the soapy water.  

[ManaMinori 4,145]

I wouldn't put plastic tags of any kind in a dryer. As for Laundromats, my experience with them says that their dryers tend to be hotter than home units. If you just want to kill bedbugs, if the item looks clean, you can skip the washing. It's the heat of the dryer that kills them. Not the soapy water.

was hoping i could leave the ear tag on, to preserve its look as much as possible, but ok. I'd rather be without the tag than with a potential bedbug infestation. Freezer is too small and full to throw it in there, unfortunately

[Ponies4Bronies 394]

Does your plush have embroidered eyes? If so then a dryer would be ok bet if not then the eyes might chip.

[Simon 4,557]

 

 

laundromat dryers will work, too? And I can pop the plush in, tag and all, without worrying about the tags or plush catching fire or the plastic connectors to the tags melting or something?

 

 

If the plush has tags you want to keep in tact, I'd highly recommend the freezing method that was previously described... the bed bugs will need to be exposed to below 0 (F) temperatures for a few hours, which means at least a few days in the freezer for a plush to insure the temperatures deep inside the plush are sufficiently cold... because a plush's filling is an insulating material it will be very difficult to get the plush this cold... make sure your freezer is well below the 0 F temperature to make sure the deepest portions of the plush are sufficiently frozen.

 

If you go the dryer route which is going to likely be more successful for a plush, you'll need to remove any paper or plastic tags as those will probably melt onto the plush and damage it. You may be able to remove the tag in a way that preserves both the tag and the plastic connector by carefully threading the end through the existing hole so that you can re-attach the tag after running it through the dryer. You don't actually have to wash the plush, just running it through the dryer on high will kill any bed bugs that might be inside of it... it's the heat, not the water and soap that will kill them. Also be sure to turn the tumble off on the dryer if your dryer has the option... since you're just trying to heat up the plush, not get it dry, there's no reason for tumble to be on and this will be a bit more gentle on the plush.

 

Regardless which route you go, make sure to immediately put the plush in a sealed plastic bag and keep it there until you're sure the entire house has been rid of bed bugs (and that goes for any other small goods you treat for bed bugs too like sheets, pillows, etc). That way you won't run the risk of re-infesting the items or the house.

 

Good luck

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,241]

I don't seem to bother with cleaning mine, mostly because there isn't much point with mine as they are all on display and I haven't had any issues with that. However, if I do decide to extensively clean them up one day, this thread could help with that, some interesting tips here.

[simba86 1,541]

if you bought it at a regular second hand store they are legally SUPPOSED to spray those with commercial sanitizer before they sale them

[EverEverOn 346]

Just do what the tags say. If you're willing to risk the material getting ruined, then go ahead and machine wash it to get rid of bugs. But like others said, just stick it in the freezer.