This is a guide how to clean
a plush (Plushlife)
After some time, a plush gets a bit dirty with all the handling and cuddling and needs to be cleaned. There is no need to do a full wash every time it gets sticky with fat from your hands and body. This guide can be used on fursuits as well, but be careful when handling alcohol and airbrused paint! You might end up wiping off paint!
When I clean a plush, I do it in two stages, Anti bacterial treatment and fat removal.
For anti bacterial treatment, I use ethanol based cleaning products meant to cleaning surfaces. Can be found in any store for professional cleaning products. You must not use any products like hand gel, it must be liquid, like water.
Apply with a spray bottle so the whole plush gets wet to the touch. Let it soak for 10-15 minutes. Use a bathtub - if possible - or any other clean area that will not be harmed by the products.
After 10-15 minutes, most of the alcohol has evaporated and there will be some sticky residue left - fat and water. Wipe the whole plush with a microfiber cloth until it is dry.
If you are cleaning a fursuit (or a plush) with airbrushed paint, be careful when wiping! try on small areas first! The alcohol can dissolve the paint and it will be wiped off while wet!
The plush will feel much cleaner after this wipe down.
Stage two in the cleaning process is applying dry shampoo, can be found in any store that sells hair care products. It is meant for spraying on hair to refresh it (de-grease) between washes. This product works really well on synthetic fibers as well as hair.
It comes in two forms, spray cans (most common) and boxes with powder (better environmental value - can be harder to find though) Find any thats suits your preferences, scented or unscented. I go for scented sprays that will give the cleaned plush a pleasant fruity smell.
Apply until there is a fine, white dust on the plush (with spray, it will need to dry up a bit - wait 30 seconds or so.) Rub it in with a brush, brush in all directions until the powder is worked into the fur.
The plush will now look (and smell) fresh. You can also wipe it down with a micro fiber cloth now as well, if there are residual dust left in the fur.
Hopefully you now have a clean and fresh plush ready for cuddles again. If it still smells bad after this treatment, it is probably the stuffing that has absorbed fat and bacteria (the most common source of bad smell)
In that case, replace the stuffing, or wash it.