Oh God, what have I done?!

[Nutjob]

My ds is 5 and he absolutely loves his teddy, who he has had since birth. He takes it to bed with him every night, takes him with us on days out, basically he is part of the family.

The trouble is because of excessive cuddling over the years he has begun to get really smelly, sort of musty and yuck. I have squirted him with Febreze a few times but it doesn't seem to have worked, so in a moment of madness I shoved him in the washing machine (on hand-wash mode I hasten to add), he is in there now, and I am starting to panic, have I done the right thing?!! Ds will be inconsolable if anything happens to him. HELP!!! Is he going ot be OK?

[M2T]

Hand wash cycle? He should be just fine.... if not a wee bit mis-shapen.

[doormat]

He should be fine. I wash ds's teddies on the quick wash and they come out lovely.

[wiltshirelass]

nutjob, there is nothing you can do now except sit and wait. it could be fine - it could be a lumpy, terminal mess. there is no way of knowing...
but if it helps, my ds has for the last 2 years been chewing the ear of his teddy (instead of thumb sucking) who consequently has been washed on hot in the machine every 2 - 3 days (as soon as that smell of ripe stilton mixed with off yoghurt comes wafting towards us). And he is fine!

good luck. report back. we'll be here for support and advice on "how to tell your son you have killed his bear" if you need it...

[M2T]

LOL Wiltshirelass...... you are cruel.

[Jaybee]

I have washed ds' numerous times even though it states that it should be surface washed only - you really don't have a choice if it has been sicked on - the pile goes flatter but otherwise he looks ok after a day sitting in the airing cupboard. Ds is 9 and even though he comes across as grown up for his age - he still loves his Ted (don't tell his mates though )

[Nutjob]

Thanks girls - except maybe you Wiltshirelass !! I will let you know how it goes. I have just realised I will probably have a job getting him dry before bedtime - blimey I'm not looking forward to that!! Hmmmm, maybe I could put him in the tumble dryer............

[badjelly]

if you tumble him make sure it's on a cool heat - i have a habit of melting dd's things!

[wiltshirelass]

tumble drying makes them nice and fluffy. if you put him in there with a tennis ball (pay attention ladies, I'm being absolutely serious) he will be buffeted around a bit which will make his stuffing less lumpy. really works.

you may get some nose-damage, though - ds's bear's nose has half sheared off. Mind you that is after about 200 washes and some serious friction. poor bear!

[Molecule]

I've washed and tumbled lots of toys, and the drying seems to fluff up their pile and stuffing much better than line drying (and mine get upset seeing their beloved animals pegged out by their ears). I'm sure he'll be OK.

[SoupDragon]

Oooh - that reminds me. DS1's Red Ted needs washing. She got dipped in yoghurt at the weekend...

She's been washed a few times after sick episodes and has survived well. She is a washable bear though, according to the label.

[SoupDragon]

How long til the bear re-emerges? Nutjob??

[easy]

PLEASE PLEASE make sure you let us know the result. I shall worry all day now.

[Nutjob]

Well, phase 1 is over successfully!!!! Thank God. I took him out after the hand-wash cycle and he was fine but absolutely wringing wet, as it doesn't spin off on hand wash. So, feeling a bit cocky I put him back in again on slow spin, which he also survived intact!!! I have now put him in the tumble dryer on low heat for 40 minutes so fingers crossed chaps!!

BTW, whilst all this was going on, dd (3) peered into the washing machine, saw who was in there, put her hands over her mouth and gasped 'Oh Mummy, you're in trouble!!!' Which didn't help ease the tension

[GeorginaA]

I wash ds' stuffed toys on a regular basis. I think the hand wash cycle is a godsend.

Am I horrid though? I show ds that teddy is having a bath (he thinks it's funny watching teddy go round in circles in the washing machine - but then he's only 2 - do they start thinking it's cruel when they're older?) and that way he seems more accepting if they don't quite get dry in time.

Mind you, he has 6 or so different soft toys he takes to bed - so as long as I don't wash all 6 at once he's fairly accepting.

[Nutjob]

GeorginaA - ds's teddy fell in the bath once just before bedtime and was sopping wet. Ds was in tears as he couldn't take teddy to bed, so I suggested we put him in the tumble dryer and he went berserk. You would have thought I had told him I was going to pull his arms and legs off. And there would be absolutely no way I could put him in the washing machine with him about he would be hysterical. Thank the lord for school!!!

[Mo2]

Don't think I've ever quite recovered from the horror of seeing 'Patsy Panda' (my fav toy when 2+...) literally 'hanging' by the neck from the washing line when my Mum had undertaken a similar wash.... cried so much Mum had to construct a 'harness' for under her arms, and keep reassuring me she wasn't dead.....

[SoupDragon]

Hmmm... I think DS1 (4) may be unique here then. When I try to attribute life like qualities to Red Ted, he looks at me scathingly and says "She's just a toy, mummy."

[codswallop]

wash our cuddlies every fortnight as they HONK

[Mocha]

My brother had a sookie blanket until he was about 9. THe only way we could get rid of it was by my cousin telling him that it had got chewed up in the washing machine

[meanmum]

I remember when my mum through my blanket onto the bonfire down the back. I don't think she made any reason up just told me that because it was so tattered it was being burnt. She let me watch and I think I was more excited about having a big fire than actually losing my blanket. Luckily enough there's no mental scaring or so I say anyway.

[janh]

We have a very funny photo of our DDs aged 8 and 5, kneeling in front of the washing machine, totally engrossed in watching a whole load of cuddlies going round and round and round and round and...

DH shows it to people and says, pofaced, we didn't have a telly so we used to entertain them like this.

Incidentally, someone mentioned putting a tennis ball in with them, if you ever wash pillows put a towel or 2 in with them, it has a similar effect - batters them much cleaner.

[wiltshirelass]

lol soupdragon. dd has a toy caterpillar that she is very fond of. I'm always saying "isn't it about time that caterpillar turned into a butterfly and flew away? Why is she still here?" This morning on the way to school she was asking where it was and I said "she has turned into a butterfly and flown to the south of france" and she said (in a voice like she was breaking bad news to me) "mummy, I'm sorry, but she isn't ever going to turn into a butterfly. That is because she is a toy. You're confusing her with a real one".
I've probably been irritating the crap out of her for months speculating on when she was going to turn into a butterfly, and she has decided that she can't take it any more, she has to tell me the truth!

[Nutjob]

He's out, he's clean and dry and most importantly he doesn't stink anymore!!!! What's great is ds doesn't even have to know, although dh thinks he will spot it straight away. We shall see.

[wiltshirelass]

hurrah! phew, a few tense hours there for all of us.
tell him that ted had a bath, played with all his toys and made a dreadful mess in the bathroom splashing everywhere, while ds was at school. He'll love it.