How to Clean Plush Baby Toys

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If you want to know how to clean plush baby toys the first thing you should know is to NOT use any detergents or harsh fabric cleaners applied directly to your baby’s plush toy.

Apart from the fact that some of these detergents might be harmful for your baby, you also stand a good chance of ruining the fabric of your baby’s toy.

Can Soft Toys Be Washed In the Washing Machine?

That depends on whether the washing instructions on the label permit you to put this toy into the washing machine. Check first.
Many fabric toys might not allow it and might prefer you to do a hand wash instead.

However, for some plush toys such as the My Pillow Pets toys, the manufacturer actually advises that you place these toys in the washing machine on a soft cycle. They also suggest that you DO NOT place their toys into the dryer. This is because you will ruin the super-soft chenille material that these toys are made from. However, hanging these toys out to dry is easy enough to do.

Therefore, if you want to know how to clean a baby cuddly toy, provided that the instructions on the label advise that you can wash this toy in the washing machine, we recommend that you place it inside an empty (preferably white or light-colored) pillow case, tied the end so it is closed and pop the pillow case (with plush toy inside it) into the washing machine.

Wash on the gentlest cycle possible.

The pillow-case further protects the fabric of the cuddly toy from bobbling up. It should still come out super furry and soft and a whole lot cleaner!

What If You Can’t Clean Soft Baby Toys In The Washing Machine?

If the washing instructions advise you not to put the cuddly toy into the washing machine, we still recommend that you put the cuddly toy into a pillow case and wash by hand. Just gently rub the toy and if there are known patches and stains in certain areas, be sure to give these a little bit more of a scrub with your hands. Hopefully, the dirt and ingrained food/drink/mud or whatever else baby has managed to soil it with will dislodge easily and should come off.

One more tip, don’t wait for weeks after a cuddly toy has become visibly stained. Wash it straight away, at least on the same day if possible. Otherwise, for generally keeping baby toys clean, and if you know your baby is prone to chew on bits of her plush toys, you should give them a wash every 2-3 months.

Remember, these are just guidelines and not rules set on stone and you should know when your baby’s toys are dirty enough to need a good clean.

Also, you should periodically check your baby’s toys to check whether the baby toys are safe or not.