tips for cleaning stuffed toys...

sad5781

that have been puked on??? 

ds apparantly threw up in the middle of the night last night but just kept on sleeping.  he was covered as were his animals when DH went to get him this morning.  

DH cleaned everything and thought he'd gotten the stuffed animals all clean but DS's favorite giraffe still smells.  Its a wind up stuffed animal that plays music so i'm scared the washing machine could cause rust?

what do you think? 

CareBear01

We wash DS's "lamby" (which is his regular lovey) in the washing machine in a lingere bag.  It has (or should I say had?) a music box in the head (it's one of those string pull animals).  It has since stopped working - I am not sure if it is rusting or not.  Pieces are rattling around in his head by now.  :-/  I have considered opening it up and removing the mechanics, but I am afriad it would just fall apart if I couldn't get it sewn back properly, so I just leave it!  (Of course, it has been discontinued, so no replacement can be found.  )

lilycat

I put them in a pillow case and then put them in the washing machine.

Dry cleaner for the wind-up giraffe? Or, try using white vinegar to clean it; this will take out the smell.

White vinegar for all the items would probably help with smell.

Good luck; it is yucky. Oh - if they have painted on eyes, wrap them in something or they rub off - the pillow case protects most eyes from scratches.

And, don't put in dryer. They dry overnight. 

melrrr

I speak from experience that washers are bad for music stuffed animals. *MY* Teddy played "this old man" until high school when he accidentally got washed with my comforter. 

I've machined washed all sorts of other "surface wash only" toys with good results.  

sad5781

Well, i washed him once and he was fine.  Then DS puked 3 nights later.  So I washed him again and he died.  Poor Giraffe.  Luckily we bought 2 extra's when we realized how attached he was to it.  So I had a replacement... this time.