If you or your child have allergies, stuffed animals can be a bit of a problem. But only if you don’t clean them properly. Happily there are ways to deal with stuffed animals and allergies.
Due to their fluffy nature, stuffed animals can be a favorite place for allergens to accumulate. That also goes for carpets, bedding and soft furniture. Usually though stuffed animals get the most of the blame since they are the thing a child plays with the most.
The problem can be more serious if you have a big stuffed animals collection that you keep out in the open. Stuffies are magnets for dust so you would have to be cleaning them often. Happily you can simply use a vacuum cleaner and suck the dust from the toys. If you do this at least twice a month (or more if your home is more dusty), then you should be fine from most allergens.
But there are some that are not so easy to remove. Thus if you or your child has allergies, it is best to keep the playable stuffed animals to a lower number. The rest can be kept away or they should be cleaned before play.
A simpla wash in the washing machine will be enough, but sometimes the stuffed animal can’t be cleaned like that. Maybe it is too big, or has electronics inside it. You can try baking soda as a great surface cleaner.
Putting the toy in a plastic bag and then in the freezer overnight will also eliminate allergens. There are also easy ways to remove possible lice and dust mites from a stuffed animal.
It is good to know that when properly maintained, stuffed animals carry little to no bacteria on them which is great news.
These are the ways to deal with stuffed animals and allergies. After you’ve given the toy a good cleaning you can simply maintain it with the occasional vacuuming. Depening on how often the toys are played with and in what conditions, you can do a full clean on them once every month or so or more often if needed.
