AIBU to not understand how to make a Jellycat toy crusty?

[Stringervest]

My daughter had two Jellycat monkey soothers which were glued to her everywhere she went. They did shifts which meant they got regular washes and there was always a backup on hand if one had an accident. DD thought they were the same monkey. She sucks her thumb and holds them to her face. They both got really rough and crusty despite regular washes in soft water with fabric conditioner.

Disaster struck - one monkey went missing. Thankfully, Jellycat still make them so we spent another seventeen bloody quid on a new back up, but it's silky soft and she won't touch it. She knows it's a different monkey.

It's been through the wash 20 times without fabric conditioner and is still like new. I've spent hours trying to scratch it up with a pan scourer. Still silky soft.

Help me! How do I make this monkey as crusty as the other one?

Wet it, spill some juice or or something in it and leave it to dry.

Alternatively spit all over it and leave it to dry, it's the sucked bits on ours that are properly crusty!!

Stick it in the buttom of your handbag for a bit, soak in water rather than just through the washer, radiator dry rather than tumble?

Take it to the beach for a swim.

Give it to a toddler for the day?

Try some milk
Give it to a dog

I just washed DD's jellycat bunny today and she's come out all rough- no fabric conditioner used.

If anyone can give me some tips on how to make her a bit softer again it would be welcome!

Tuck it under her when she's sleeping (if she's not a light sleeper) so she drools on it and automatically sucks her thumb with it and to give it her smell?

Dab it with flour and water mix?

I would give it to a dog then rewash it
Either that or tread on it, drool on it, throw it around the garden and basically try to destroy it?

Are we the same person?

My DD is exactly the same with her Jellycat monkey and knows the difference between the two we have. She will have nothing to do with the ‘wrong’ one no matter how much I try to persuade her.

I thought I was being clever getting a back up but it seems like I’ve just wasted 17 quid instead.

Chew it thoroughly every night while watching tv for the next week. Cover your hands in yogurt and peanut butter, then wash them with a flannel - but don't bother to do in between your fingers. Run it through your fingers all evening.

Then throw in the wash on a delicate cycle - not really designed to get anything properly ingrained out - with no conditioner.

Take a mouthful of milk, take a bite of the toy, allow milk to infuse. Put into the sun to dry. Repeat over the course of a week, multiple times a day. Lie on top of it at night. Walk around holding it trapped between your shoulder, neck and head until the stuffing moves around so its floppy. Wash it. A month of dedication to this routine should suffice.

We washed our two together twice and they went rough at the same time

Have you tried starch spray? Or maybe a flour and water mixture to give the texture

The crustiness could be limescale buildup, try wetting it in water from a boiled kettle, then drying it, wetting it, drying it etc repeatedly. Salt water may help too.

It might be the smell too, kids can smell much better than adults.

For the poster above with the opposite problem try vinegar.

It’s really only a process that can be achieved by time, washing and the repeated application of saliva, but you could try rubbing the thing in jelly baby goo and then washing it with cheap shampoo?

I love how my child isn’t the only one to chew the poor Jellycat toy.

Sorry, but I think you need to read That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown...
...the missing ingredient is love

Watching with interest! DD has a similar obsessively adored and much mistreated bunny who is completely trashed and an embarrassment to be seen in public with. I did get a back-up once I realised that bunny was “the one” (at way too much time and expense I should point out as the bloody rabbit had been discontinued). Except the backup bunny is utterly unrecognisable as battered bunny. Backup bunny is pristine white, beautiful and plush and soft. Battered bunny is grey, feels like a well washed towel and smells grim. I feel your pain. Nothing I can do is going to be the equivalent of 2 years of toddler torture.

My DS has a jellycat dinosaur that he was bought as a newborn. I only recently put it in his crib, but he loves it and cuddles it all night. I Thought about the possible loss / damage situation, and felt really smug with myself that I'd bought a spare...

I hadn't even stopped to consider all of this 😱 I might get working on it now!

@sar302 the thing to do is rotate them now. I bought a back up cuddly for DD2 once it became clear she was attached to it. Every time I wash cuddly, I switch them.

Except she found the duplicate and now frequently insists on having both to go to bed 🤦‍♀️

Slobber all over it and leave it to dry 😄

@CrohnicallyEarly 😂 the best laid plans! But excellent advise, thank you!!

Haha! Some of these suggestions are brilliant. I recently bought a spare of my toddlers bear, and now I'm wondering if I should start to rough it up incase it's ever needed. My fear is them both being found in the same room and then him wanting to carry 2 everywhere. The spare is bigger and so pouffy in comparison.

Recently I dried DS's teddy with the hairdryer as I've done many times before when he's had something spilt on him or chucked it in the bath close to bedtims. Anyway, this time I accidentally burnt it a little and now it has a couple of crispy patches... Could be an option.

Also don't tumble dry, it seems to condition the soft fabrics.