How to Wash Stuffed Animals

My little girl takes a stuffed animal with her just about everywhere. It's not always the same one but I do admit, her favorite is a dalmatian. As I'm sure you realize, dalmatians are white and show dirt quite quickly. She is also in the phase where she pretends to feed her stuffed animals, but sometimes this results in them getting food on their faces. Because of this (and because kids will always be dirty and make messes), there comes a time that their stuffed animals need to be washed.

For the ones that are washing machine safe, I always assumed this was the easiest method. You put them in cold water, gentle or hand wash cycle, and just put in a dab of detergent (if any). I've been told to NEVER put stuffed animals in the dryer. NO setting seems to be safe for them, even the "fluff" with the no heat. It apparently makes them crunchy. Enough angry parents had commented on the washing machine post (on a different blog) saying the animals come back crunchy and just not right that I got scared off of doing it and always hang dry them. (They hang by their ears in the laundry room on the clothesline until it's sunny enough to put them on the back deck. The sun works much faster than the clothesline).

The problem with that method is that I only have to wash about 3 animals. The rest aren't safe. 3 animals doesn't come close to equaling a load and my washing machine doesn't have a small load cycle (this actually really bothers me but what can you do?). So it's a big waste of water and time in my book.

Last night, it finally came to me (per my mom's suggestion). I was taking a bubble bath (my due date is tomorrow and bathes are definitely the way I feel most comfortable. They solve everything from itchy, stretched out skin to restless feet to sore, aching muscles!) and my little girl wanted a bath too. She came in with me (for the first time ever. She normally bathes by herself but who can deny such a cutie a bath??) It was then suggested, knowing how dirty Doggie (her favorite) was, that Doggie takes a bath too. Little Girl LOVED this idea, especially because she got to help with the washing. Long story short (sorry this post is already so long), Doggie took a bubble bath with us. Then we laid him out in the sun to dry and he not only got clean (minimal scrubbing required. I just used my hands) but he also smells like a delicious bubble bath! I don't think I'll ever put another stuffed animal in the washing machine again!

Of course, you have to be willing to share your bathwater with a dirty animal but at least you aren't wasting any water in the process. I guess I might not do it if he was muddy or something like that but he was just regular wear-n-tear dirty.