How do you clean your Sylvanian Families?
A Summary of important Cleaning Tips:
- Use a mild, gentle cleaning detergent
- Only use lukewarm water
- Don't rub your figures, but pat dry in a towel
- Plenty of air drying after a clean
Here are what other Sylvanian Families fans have to say....
Alyssa: I always clean my Sylvanian figures with a soft-bristled toothbrush. It does good job of cleaning off the lint without damaging the flocking. If they need to be washed, use a gentle detergent (or even a baby wash) and rinse off with cold water.
Sharon: I gently pat/wipe the figures with a damp cloth, careful not to rub them as that can ruin the soft flocking
Julie: Soak in warm water briefly and use a soft toothbrush and gentle soap. Pat excess water and allow to sit out to dry. I’ve done this many times and it works.
Fiona: Gently rinsing won’t hurt your Sylvanians “fur”, but rubbing can remove their flocking, so avoid doing this. I gently wrap in a soft towel to soak up most of the water and then leave the figure to air dry. It’s really important to leave it for a day at least until completely dry, otherwise putting figures away when damp could cause them to mould.
Removing Lint from Figures
Damaris: I use pieces of cellotape to remove fluff off my figures.
Patricia: Sometimes I use a lint roller on my daughters critters. It’s great for getting off the lint that sticks to them and any surface dirt off.
Sue: I press blue tack on the figures where they are a bit dirty and it helps to remove quite a bit of dirt and fluff and bring them back to a nice condition.
Cleaning Sylvanian Families Clothing
Carly: Always remove the clothing from figures as you never know if colour may run from the fabric into the figures fur.
Sandra: Gently hand-wash the clothes separately in warm, slightly soapy water. Make sure your soap has no bleach in it. Reshape the clothes while still wet and hang on the line to air dry. Usually half a day in the sun will help to whiten any older clothes that have yellowed a bit.
Tanya: I handwash the clothing individually. Afterwards I iron them. The clothing is generally well made of quality fabric, so I treat it like I would with my own washing.
And a few DON'TS
*Don’t use a harsh detergent or anything strong such as Orange oil, etc. This is because the soft flocking fur is attached by glue. Anything too strong can affect the glue and flocking will come off leaving a bald patch on the figure.
*Don’t use any alcohol based cleaner
*Don’t use hot water. This also can cause the flocking to come off the figure
*Don’t soak for too long
*Don’t rub the fur or use a hard-bristled brush as this can rub off the flocking.
*Don’t use a hair dryer or any kind of heat source to dry. Figures are best left to air dry for a time.
Thankyou to everyone for their contributions.
A Word of Caution
We hope you enjoy these tried and tested tips from Sylvanian Fans around Australia and hopefully it helps your figures to clean up nicely. Remember to exercise caution when cleaning vintage or rare figures and if in doubt, it is best to clean a small part of a figure (perhaps underneath their feet first) as a precaution, as using any washing method is at your own risk.
Thanks for reading this article
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