Riot (Assistant)
CREATOR
1 day ago
Project Update: FULFILLMENT BEGINS TODAY + Care Guide
Hi everyone!
Good news: Fulfillment of AuDHD Creatures begins today! A huge thank you to our fulfillment provider, White Squirrel, for helping us. We can not stress this enough: due to the number of pledges: it may take up to 2 months (Late April 2025 to beginning of May 2025) to pack and ship every order. Please be patient.
PLUSHIE CARE GUIDE
Here is a guide to give you all the tips and tricks to caring for your new friend. This guide includes restoring your plushie to its full glory, preventative care, and washing/cleaning!
WHEN YOUR PLUSHIE ARRIVES
Right out of the package, your plushie may look a little wonky (I do too usually after a long travel adventure!). Here are a few things you can do to make your plushie look fresh, happy, and rejuvenated.
Right out of the package, your plushie may look a little wonky (I do too usually after a long travel adventure!). Here are a few things you can do to make your plushie look fresh, happy, and rejuvenated.
- Re-fluffing the Plush: During shipping, the stuffing inside the plush may shift around, leaving some areas overstuffed and others under-stuffed. The best way to remedy this quickly is to shake that little guy (and I really mean shake it!) !!Smaller plushies or plushies with smaller details or more specific shapes may need to have their stuffing massaged back into place more intentionally. As mentioned before, once the plushie is out of their packaging, the stuffing will naturally start to expand and fill out a little more so they'll look better as time goes by!
- Wrinkles: Wrinkles in fabric will smooth out after a few days! Cuddling them can speed up this process, but if it is really bothering you, you can steam them on a very low heat setting to get wrinkles out faster.
- Brushing + Trimming: Longer furred plush may need a little brushing of their fur to get it laying how you like. Using a nylon brush, you can style their fur so it's out of their eyes or other embroidered parts. Brush it so it's all flowing in the same direction. You can also take a small pair of cosmetic scissors and lightly trim some of the fur around embroidered parts if it is obscuring smaller details.
NOTES ON PLUSHIE CREATION + UNIQUENESS:
No matter who makes a plushie, whether it be an individual person or a manufacturer making over 1000 plushies at once, ALL plushies are assembled BY HAND!! Due to the nature of how they are made, there is simply no way for each plushie to be exactly the same, and each one is going to have their own little handmade quirks. If your plushie does not look 100% thread for thread like the product photo, well, that means that it's your very own unique plushie! There are obviously errors that I count as B grade, but some variation of shape and detail placement are expected when making plush.
Your plushie may come with a thread sticking out or some embroidery stabilizer in the corner of their eye like a little sleeper. These are removable! You can usually pick out stabilizer with your fingers or with tweezers, and threads can be trimmed away with a small pair of cosmetic scissors.
PREVENTATIVE CARE / MAINTENANCE
Taking care of your plushies is important if you'd like to keep them in the best condition possible! How you care for your plush depends on the specific details of the plush shape, fabric, and design.
- Brushing: For plushies with shorter fur (anything below 8mm) usually brushing isn't required. For plushies with longer fur, brushing them with a nylon brush once every few weeks helps their fur stay nice and soft!! The more you come into contact with the fur, the more often you should brush it.
- Dusting: Getting dust out of a plushie is a little harder than just using a feather duster or wiping them down with a rag because plushies have fur. However, dust removal doesn't have to be complicated! You can use a vacuum hose and cover it with a panty hose or other sheer fabric, then go over the surface of your plushie with the vacuum. This helps remove dust and dirt and keep them clean! Doing this regularly will prevent you from having to wash them often.
CLEANING YOUR PLUSHIE
How you clean your plushie depends a lot on what you're trying to fix and what the plush is made of and how they're shaped, but I will go over some details with you so you can decide which cleaning method works best for your situation!
!!IMPORTANT: PLUSH FABRICS ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO HEAT!! If you use too much heat on your plushie, you could ruin the texture of the fabric use extra caution when using heat to clean.
Spot washing: This is my most recommended form of washing your plushie! It is unlikely to damage your plush and is the most effective at removing specific stains and dirt. To spot wash your plush, take a wet rag or cloth and gently rub the surface of the plush where you'd like to clean. Do this until the spot or stain has gone away! If it's stubborn, you can use a gentle soap like hand soap or clothing detergent to help get it out, but try to use a minimal amount! If you do use soap, go over the area with a clean wet rag after the spot is clean to remove the extra soap, as soap residue will affect the texture of your plushie's fur. Leave your plushie out to dry in a warm, sunny spot, and a few hours later they should be good as new!
Using the Washing Machine: I ONLY recommend this if you are trying to sanitize or deodorize a plushie - it will not help to get stains out!
If you are going to put your plushie in the washer, here are a few things you should consider first:
Does it have wire or magnet details?
These may be displaced in the washer, so it is better to spot wash them.
Does it have airbrushed details?
These will wash away in the washer, so if you want to preserve them, stick to a spot wash.
Is your plushie really really large?
Large plushies will take a long time to dry and may develop mildew if they are wet for too long.
Before you put your plushie in the washing machine, put it inside a dedicated bag or pillowcase to protect it! If you use a pillowcase, tie off the end or secure it with a rubber band to prevent the plushie from popping out during the wash. Use a minimal amount of detergent. Make sure you are washing the plushie with COLD water, and on a gentle or delicate cycle! I also highly recommend an extra spin cycle if your washing machine allows, as this will help the plushie dry faster! Once the wash cycle is done, remove your friend from the bag and let them air dry in a warm sunny spot. I always recommend air drying over using the dryer as plushies are VERY sensitive to heat!
Using a Dryer: Only use the dryer if it has an air dry/tumble only setting, where no heat whatsoever is being applied to the plushie. If you are air drying your plush and they are still wet after 24 hours, try using the dryer on air tumble or the lowest heat setting, as if your plushie is wet for too long, they may grow mildew, and it would be better for them to be dried than to be covered in mildew.
The exception here would be mochi minky plush, as those can go in the dryer ON LOW HEAT ONLY
If you are going to put your plushie in the washer, here are a few things you should consider first:
Does it have wire or magnet details?
These may be displaced in the washer, so it is better to spot wash them.
Does it have airbrushed details?
These will wash away in the washer, so if you want to preserve them, stick to a spot wash.
Is your plushie really really large?
Large plushies will take a long time to dry and may develop mildew if they are wet for too long.
Before you put your plushie in the washing machine, put it inside a dedicated bag or pillowcase to protect it! If you use a pillowcase, tie off the end or secure it with a rubber band to prevent the plushie from popping out during the wash. Use a minimal amount of detergent. Make sure you are washing the plushie with COLD water, and on a gentle or delicate cycle! I also highly recommend an extra spin cycle if your washing machine allows, as this will help the plushie dry faster! Once the wash cycle is done, remove your friend from the bag and let them air dry in a warm sunny spot. I always recommend air drying over using the dryer as plushies are VERY sensitive to heat!
Using a Dryer: Only use the dryer if it has an air dry/tumble only setting, where no heat whatsoever is being applied to the plushie. If you are air drying your plush and they are still wet after 24 hours, try using the dryer on air tumble or the lowest heat setting, as if your plushie is wet for too long, they may grow mildew, and it would be better for them to be dried than to be covered in mildew.
The exception here would be mochi minky plush, as those can go in the dryer ON LOW HEAT ONLY
Deep Cleaning: If your plushie needs to be cleaned beyond a spot wash or put through the washing machine, you may need to consider deep cleaning them. This is a laborious process as you will need to un-stuff your plushie before washing their fur. (Disclaimer: I don't have much experience with this, so I would recommend checking out some videos on youtube about refurbishing/deep cleaning plush.)
The most important things to note when cleaning plushies are that if you submerge the whole plushie, stuffing inside, it will take too long to dry and get gross. Even if it's a small little guy, it still takes too long to dry usually. The spin cycle on the washing machine assists with this, so if you can do a spin only cycle you can try this (be sure to put them in a protective bag!) but overall I just do not recommend submerging your plushie if you are not going to remove the stuffing.
The most important things to note when cleaning plushies are that if you submerge the whole plushie, stuffing inside, it will take too long to dry and get gross. Even if it's a small little guy, it still takes too long to dry usually. The spin cycle on the washing machine assists with this, so if you can do a spin only cycle you can try this (be sure to put them in a protective bag!) but overall I just do not recommend submerging your plushie if you are not going to remove the stuffing.
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