CLEANING YOUR CHILD'S STUFFED ANIMALS

Your child probably has many ‘well-loved’ stuffed animals These stuffed animals that your child plays and learns with should be clean and well maintained. Because children often like to sleep with or cuddle with stuffed toys it is important that they should be kept clean. When a stuffed doggy or bear gets grimy perk it up with some clever cleaning techniques.

• Give a sponge bath. You will need delicate laundry detergent and a new sponge or a clean white washcloth. Put the laundry detergent in a basin with lukewarm water and stir it up to create lots of bubbles. Then, with the damp sponge or washcloth, use the suds to gently dab the toy clean. Rinse the sponge or washcloth after every few pats, be careful not to let the animal get too wet. Allow it to air dry for at least a day. After the animal is clean, you can let children gently fluff up its coat using a soft baby brush.

• Dry clean a crowd. What you will need is a large plastic bag, one half cup baking soda, and a soft brush. Place two or three stuffed animals in the plastic bag, then dump in the baking soda. Close up the bag and shake vigorously for about a minute. Retrieve the stuffed animals and over a sink, brush the fur to remove the dust, dirt, and baking soda. For larger animal you can use a hand vacuum.

• Toys labeled “machine Washable” can be cleaned on the gentle cycle and dried on a low-heat setting.

• Often it may be hard for your child to let go of their favorite stuffed animal. You can make wash day special by allowing your child to join you in giving ‘teddy’ a bath. Let them help you get ‘teddy clean’.

• Keep all laundry cleaning products out of reach of your child.