The right soft toy can become your child's best friend and transition object for years to come. However, if you want to make sure that the cuddly toy survives as long as possible, you need the right items. Here's what you need to keep your child's favourite soft toy in great condition:
1. Lingerie Bag
A lingerie bag is a soft, dense mesh bag designed to hold lingerie in a washing machine and protect it from the other clothes. It can also help protect your child's cuddly toy. Simply place the soft toy in the bag whilst washing. It will protect its eyes from getting snagged on other buttons and keep its fur from being agitated against hard fabrics like denim and rubbing off.
2. Stain Remover
In some cases, a simple run through the washing machine can reinvigorate a favourite soft toy, but in other cases, you need to soak the toy in stain remover. Childhood can be full of blood, sweat and tears, and invariably some of those things may get on your child's soft toy.
So that you are prepared when the toy absorbs a bit of a bloody nose or some of the blood from a skinned knee, you need stain remover on hand to remove blood. You can use your favourite enzymatic stain remover or an alternative such as meat tenderizer that is known for breaking down the proteins in blood stains.
3. Seam Repair Kit
Years of receiving love and cuddles from a child can take a toll on a soft toy, and in some cases, the seams may come undone on the toy. You can easily stitch most broken seams with a needle and some thread. If possible, buy your thread in the same colour as the soft toy.
If you are not a seamstress, you can forgo the needles. Instead, invest in some fabric adhesive. This glue comes in a small bottle with a pointed tip. You just place a bead of the glue on the fabric and press it together to fix a worn out seam.
4. Extra Stuffing
When the seams break on soft toys, the stuffing typically falls out. In many cases, you can scoop it up and push it back into the toy, but if it's eaten by the dog, smeared with ketchup or lost, you should have some replacement stuffing on hand. Most craft stores sell this under the name cotton wadding. In lieu of buying new wadding, you can always restuff your child's cuddly toy with old wadding from worn out toys or blankets.
5. New Eyes
If your child's cuddly toy has hard eyes, they are typically sewn in, and unfortunately, they may pop off in rough conditions. If your child loves their toy so much that they would be heartbroken if any piece of it ever fell off, you should have some extra eyes on hand.
For more information and tips, talk with a soft toys distributor.
