Any Advice for Cleaning Baby Dolls?

I have a daughter who got a Madame Alexander doll and drew on the face with pen. I washed it as well as I could with soap and water. Then I left it out in the sun for several days. This bleached the stains out. They still show a little bit, but it is much better than it was. Try that and see if it works. Another daughter got a stuffed bunny with a music box inside. After a while it got dirty and smelly. I wondered for a long time what to do with it. I finally picked the stitching took out the music box, put in a little stuffing and sewed it back up. That worked really well. Now when it gets dirty, I just throw it in the laundry with everything else. Good luck P.

I put practically all of my daughter's toys (including stuffed animals and dolls) in the washing machine. It's fast and easy! Put them in a lingerie bag to keep them extra safe...

If it is a vintage doll, you may want to try hand scrubbing, a little chemical (no bleach if the body is part of the outfit like many were in the 1970's) maybe 7th generation or even a mildew remover. Other advice I've read is to use the sprayer on your sink and ONLY the spin cycle on your washer to remove the wet...

This was a great article
http://www.prillycharmin.com/restore/2mildew_remover.htm

Good luck, I am not relishing having to do these dolls by hand, but if something happened to them in the washer I'd be too sad!

I use "Midy Tidy" Toy cleaner... it is designed for "adult toys" and has a germicidal, and antibacterial companant to it and is designed not to break down plastics. I carry some in my purse and give the old public bath room a toilet a spritz as well. Hydrogen peroxide is awesome it is one of my favorite cleaning tools in the world but will eventually break down plastics so if this is a favorite doll that you may want to put away for awhile I would not use it... I would go with "Midy Tidy" IF you have any questions feel free to call me. ###-###-####
T. Joe

I use Clorox Wipes on everything, including babies or actually any toy. Whenever I buy something used, I always wipe it down with wipes and let it air dry.

I throw all my kids' toys in the washer and dryer. Even the ones that have a sound box inside. They have all come out fine--I have fully expected the ones with sound to be silent afterwards (in some cases, I have even hoped they wouldn't work when they came out!)but they still work! The only problems I have had with washing is an occasional animal will have painted eyes, and after the wash, they come out "blind"....I have used a sharpie marker to fix the eyes when needed.

If they are filled with stuffing you can probably throw them in the washing machine. I have done this with a few dolls and they turned out fine. Their faces can get pretty grimy so I will use a toothbrush and soap to scrub them out. It works pretty well.

I haven't found one that can't go in the washer on gentle....well not the electronic ones, the only thing I don't do is stick them in the dryer, well not normaly I have thrown in a few on just air and not had a problem.

K.,
First it's not a strange question for those of us who has girls. Hydrogyn Peroxide is a great cleaner / disinfectant. Also non-toxic. Just use a Q-tip and rub. If you have a more difficult stain use a Q-tip with rubbing alcohol and when your done wipe off with warm wash cloth. Then I would still use peroxide just because it's a great disinfectant. And neither are damaging to the doll (electronic or not).
Hope this helps
E.

We have the same problem! I finally found the website for the company that makes "baby" (as the sad little doll at our house is called) and contacted them about cleaning. They said to put it inside a pillowcase and run it through a gentle wash cycle.
I'd recommend googling the company to get their advice!

My sister swears by Mr. Clean sponge cleaners.
I like scrubbing bubbles.
My mom likes Ajax.
I'd try all three. Good luck!!!

I throw my daughters dolls and stuffed animals in the washer and dryer. I know they say surface clean, but I still do it and they come out just fine. The dolls are pretty loud while in the dryer, or don't do it at night or during nap time.

K. - I switched all my cleaning supplies over to Melaleuca products. You can clean, disinfect - everything. And it wont' hurt you or your children. I LOVE it. It doesn't cost much to sign up and, I can say from personal experience, I am very glad that I switched over. Sincerely, Debbie ____@____.com

I have been thinking and have you tried carpet cleaner. Resolve or Woolite and spray it with Scotch Guard to help repell dirt. My kids always had a something they were attached to. It gets really gross after a while.
C. B

Hi
Two suggestions depending on type of doll. If it is water tight, let her take a bath with it - they both get clean together! Or use disinfectant wipies. I use them in my classroom to clean items that are small with lots of sides like my manipulatives. What did we ever do without wipies? :)
R. Orth
Gooding

We have the fisher price little mommy doll and I just put it in the washer and it works fine. The body is cloth and the arms, legs, and head are plastic.

My daughters were both the same way and the tags also said surface wash, but they were just too dirty! I found that if I put them in a pillow case and tied the top into a knot I could wash them in the washing machine and then let them air dry.

My older daughter has dolls and stuffed animals that all say to surface clean. However, my 9 month old daughter has spent the last 9 months spitting up on everything (including my older daughter's dolls and animals). I have always run them through our washer on the "Hand wash" or "Delicate" cycle, then either let them air dry, or put them in the dryer on the rack that came with it (basically a quicker air dry). We have newer, High Efficiency set (not front loading washer) and I have never had any problems with the dolls heads getting scuffed, or the stuffed animals or softer, stuffed doll parts getting ripped or damaged. Good luck. If the dolls are terribly dirty, try pre-treating them with some kind of laundry pre-treatment solution. If your washer has a light or no spin cycle setting, it would be fine for the dolls.

I have tossed several in the washer that are palstic head types. Yarn hair will get 'nappy" Braid the hair. Put in laundry bag. Wash on habdwash cycle (front loader best). air dry. Un braid hair to dry if you don't want it 'kinked' but don't brush until dry.

Otherwise, get at it with a terry towel and a bit of soap and cold water. the plastic you can wsh sort of with those magic erasers.

I am sort of a wsh everything gal, and if it gets nappy toss it...there always seems to be other dols to replace it with.

I finally decided to try to wash my dd's baby doll- it s a hard head/hands/feet with a soft body- clothes don't come off, and a MUSIC box or something- it winds up in the front on the belly, and that also doesn't come off.

Well, it has been dirty for a while, but when her twin brother dumped dirt on t outside, I threw it in the washer! Didn't put it in the dryer, but it came out FINE- even still played it's music! And so nice and clean! Like brand new!

I suggest typing that into google. I would assume you'll find tons of ideas. Good luck!