It was about 7:45 p.m., I had just given my toddler daughter her bath, put her pajamas on and placed her into her crib next to her favorite stuffed friends. I kissed her goodnight said, “I love you” and turned to dim the lights. At that exact moment I heard a wretched gagging noise. I immediately spun around to see my little girl sitting in a sea of vomit. UGH!
Long story short, she got another bath, fresh pajamas and is recovering on the couch with Elmo. Elmo luckily wasn’t in the crib when she was throwing up chicken and potatoes. (Pardon the detail, but we’re all parents here, right? And even if you aren’t a parent, surely you have suffered the un-pleasantries that accompany the stomach flu.) Like I said, Elmo lucked out. His friends, however, were not as fortunate. Monkey, Piggy, Whoofers, Quackers, Sushi, and Sampson got the brunt of the puke. I looked at their tags which all read: “Spot Clean Only.” Spot clean only! There wasn’t a spot on them that wasn’t saturated with throw-up. There was no way surface cleaning was going to cut it so I got two pillow cases and placed three animals in each one. (I did wipe them down with a wet cloth before putting them into the pillowcase.) I secured each pillowcase with a hair band and placed them into the washing machine. Instead of Dreft, I used Woolite. I set the washer on “delicate” and when it was done I threw both pillow cases in the dryer on medium and less than a hour later… PRESTO! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was expecting that most of them wouldn’t make it out in one piece. I had even prepped my sewing area, thinking some would need “surgery” when they got out of their “bath.” But, surprisingly they came out fluffy and warm, much to the delight of my daughter, who even managed a smile when she was reunited with all of her furry friends.
In the hours since, I have spoken to both my mom and best friend who provided these other tips:
· Before placing a stuffed animal in the washing machine examine it for loose seams where stuffing can escape.
· Do NOT put a firmly stuffed animal into the washing machine. My friend says she washed her son’s over-stuffed giraffe in the washing machine; the stuffing shifted and caused the animal to lose its shape.
· If the stuffed animal is lightly soiled, use your vacuum cleaner’s brush attachment and glide it gently over the toy.
· You can give stuffed animals a dry bath by sprinkling it with baking soda. Allow it to sit for about 20 minutes, then brush or shake it off.
· Do NOT machine wash animals that have sound boxes in them.
In our case, machine washing was really the only solution. It was one of those rare occasions when I benefited from NOT following the washing instructions.