Requesting help with cleaning / sanitizing Con purchases

[fare67t 243]

So, after returning from Ponyville Ciderfest 2019, I have kidnapped adopted some ponies from the Vendor hall in the form of plushies.

-Sunset Shimmer (rather firm and well built, the most expensive of them)

-Derpy (kind of a regret purchase, would gladly sell to someone if they want it)

-Caramel Malt (was given to me for free technically as I had the Changeling tier Patron badge)

-and finally / most importantly: A floppyish plush of Starlight Glimmer which I got Kelly Sheridan to personally sign.

So all in all, I got a lot of cute ponies to huggle...heres where the problem comes in though. While I'm not quite the highest form of it, after catching the Norovirus or whatever back in Jan 2017, I consider myself a bit of a Germaphobe. Sooo...I want to disinfect / kinda clean the plushies before I try to hug and cuddle them / release them from their temporary closet quarantine (lol)

Now: someone at one point told me that a diluted mixture of strong Vodka and water misted over the plushies will kill off any germs and such on them, but my folks at home seem to think that's stupid. Someone else said that they have some kind of Anti-bacterial Febreze or something, but idk if that would really work all that well. We don't really have any liquid detergent at the moment, only little gel packs that you throw in the washer, so not sure I could pull off the whole "use a towel and detergent / water mixture to clean" thing, and I've heard that simply throwing the plush in the washer is a rather dumb idea.

Any suggestions / feedback?

[fare67t 243]

5 minutes ago, fare67t said:

So, after returning from Ponyville Ciderfest 2019, I have kidnapped adopted some ponies from the Vendor hall in the form of plushies.

-Sunset Shimmer (rather firm and well built, the most expensive of them)

-Derpy (kind of a regret purchase, would gladly sell to someone if they want it)

-Caramel Malt (was given to me for free technically as I had the Changeling tier Patron badge)

-and finally / most importantly: A floppyish plush of Starlight Glimmer which I got Kelly Sheridan to personally sign.

So all in all, I got a lot of cute ponies to huggle...heres where the problem comes in though. While I'm not quite the highest form of it, after catching the Norovirus or whatever back in Jan 2017, I consider myself a bit of a Germaphobe. Sooo...I want to disinfect / kinda clean the plushies before I try to hug and cuddle them / release them from their temporary closet quarantine (lol)

Now: someone at one point told me that a diluted mixture of strong Vodka and water misted over the plushies will kill off any germs and such on them, but my folks at home seem to think that's stupid. Someone else said that they have some kind of Anti-bacterial Febreze or something, but idk if that would really work all that well. We don't really have any liquid detergent at the moment, only little gel packs that you throw in the washer, so not sure I could pull off the whole "use a towel and detergent / water mixture to clean" thing, and I've heard that simply throwing the plush in the washer is a rather dumb idea.

Any suggestions / feedback?

Also, i'd prefer a way to clean / sanitize the GlimGlam without erasing Kelly's signature.

[Fhaolan 4,483]

2 hours ago, fare67t said:

Now: someone at one point told me that a diluted mixture of strong Vodka and water misted over the plushies will kill off any germs and such on them, but my folks at home seem to think that's stupid.

Why do they think that's stupid? It's the standard way of sanitizing anything made of fur, fake fur, minky, or anything else that can't be put through a washing machine. Fursuits, plushies, etc. It's no good vs stains or the like though, it's purely a sanitizing thing. The normal dilution I use is half cheap vodka, half water in a spray bottle.

The alternatives I know of is using Persil Non-Bio detergent, but that tends to be difficult to find/expensive relative to the vodka method. Something even more difficult to find except in bulk is Orvus, as it's really meant to be a livestock shampoo, but it's really good on extremely delicate fiber art.

[fare67t 243]

5 minutes ago, Fhaolan said:

Why do they think that's stupid? It's the standard way of sanitizing anything made of fur, fake fur, minky, or anything else that can't be put through a washing machine. Fursuits, plushies, etc. It's no good vs stains or the like though, it's purely a sanitizing thing. The normal dilution I use is half cheap vodka, half water in a spray bottle.

The alternatives I know of is using Persil Non-Bio detergent, but that tends to be difficult to find/expensive relative to the vodka method. Something even more difficult to find except in bulk is Orvus, as it's really meant to be a livestock shampoo, but it's really good on extremely delicate fiber art.

I think the whole "this is stupid" thing stems more from the fact that they've never heard of it, and prob don't want me "wasting" liquor on something that THEY don't know works. But yeah, I don't need to clean out stains or anything, just sanitize~

[Denim&Venöm 18,782]

2 hours ago, fare67t said:

So, after returning from Ponyville Ciderfest 2019, I have kidnapped adopted some ponies from the Vendor hall in the form of plushies.

Hey, same here! Lucky, you got a Caramel Malt plush. I opted for Barley Tender  as part of my Changeling sponsorship and added Caramel to my order and they still sold out of her. 

So from what I'm reading so far, they're saying vacuum the plushies and/ or use a damp cloth and mild detergent to wash and scrub the coats. Another thing they recommend is putting the plushies in a vacuum sealed bag and then stashing them in the freezer for a day. Though that maybe specifically for dust mite treatment. Not sure how well it works for sanitation.

2 hours ago, fare67t said:

-Derpy (kind of a regret purchase, would gladly sell to someone if they want it)

What kind of Derpy plush? 

[fare67t 243]

13 minutes ago, Denim&Venom said:

I opted for Barley Tender  as part of my Changeling sponsorship and added Caramel to my order and they still sold out of her.  

Maybe extra orders are lower on the priority list then people saying they want it as part of their badge, dunno.

14 minutes ago, Denim&Venom said:

What kind of Derpy plush?

This kind of Derpy plush~

 

[Denim&Venöm 18,782]

13 minutes ago, fare67t said:

Maybe extra orders are lower on the priority list then people saying they want it as part of their badge, dunno.

This kind of Derpy plush~

 

Oh that's a nice one. Must not have been cheap. 

[fare67t 243]

3 hours ago, Denim&Venom said:

Oh that's a nice one. Must not have been cheap.

Eh, cheaper then the SunShim I also got which is about the same size, came in at around $250