Sorry, been asking a lot of these lately. I'm just super paranoid about damaging anything in the process -- because the whole point is to make the costume look newer and extend its life! Recently, I had a friend give me her partial to clean and tidy up (I noticed some seams both sewn and glued coming apart on the head) and while I'm not -super- experienced, I feel confident enough in my knowledge to tackle the project, but it never hurts to double check on a few things!
Now, if I have to I'm prepared with Folex if it's not a good idea to do anything other than spot clean some items. For instance, I'm probably going to use this sparingly and carefully on her head, which isn't in very good condition and has airbrushing I'd like to avoid. Any tips on washing a head with airbrushing? I was just going to use Folex and avoid the airbrushed areas.
I recently hand washed my own hand paws in a sink with cool water and some detergent and air dried them and was pleased with the results so I'll probably do that with her hand paws as well. I'm curious, I've seen several tutorials which show people doing something similar with feet paws, and frankly I'd love to be able to wash both hers and my own feet paws this way, but I'll admit I'm paranoid about submerging foam. We both have white paws though, and I -do- think they'd benefit from a good hand washing, but yeah...I'm afraid they'll either fall apart, or not dry quickly enough. Opinions on this? If I have to I can spot clean with Folex, but I'd like to get them -really- clean if I can.
Lastly, she has a tail I'd like to be able to wash in the tub as well, and just wondering if that would be a good or bad idea. It's a simple tail, but long enough that it's frequent contact with the ground has left it stained and dirty. To my knowledge it's got your standard stuffing, and does not have any wire or armature or anything of that nature. Would it be okay to wash it this way or is spot cleaning the way to go as well? My biggest concern again is getting everything dry in time and not having the glue freak out on me. My hand paws have their paw pads glued on though, and while the pads look worn out (and maybe could use a touch of glue here and there) seemed to hold up okay being washed.
One more question. I know dryers and heat of any kind are like...the biggest no-no practically in the universe as far as fake fur fibers are concerned, but would it be okay/better to put any of these items (save the head) in the dryer maybe in a pillow case or something, under the air fluff cycle? To my knowledge this doesn't use heat, and I'm wondering if it would do a better job than my crappy fan?
Any tips would be great! I've read several tutorials and comments in regards to said tutorials, and it seems these are things people have different preferences on, so I'm kind of confused/wary. If worst comes to worst I can just Folex everything, but just looking for options!
Now, if I have to I'm prepared with Folex if it's not a good idea to do anything other than spot clean some items. For instance, I'm probably going to use this sparingly and carefully on her head, which isn't in very good condition and has airbrushing I'd like to avoid. Any tips on washing a head with airbrushing? I was just going to use Folex and avoid the airbrushed areas.
I recently hand washed my own hand paws in a sink with cool water and some detergent and air dried them and was pleased with the results so I'll probably do that with her hand paws as well. I'm curious, I've seen several tutorials which show people doing something similar with feet paws, and frankly I'd love to be able to wash both hers and my own feet paws this way, but I'll admit I'm paranoid about submerging foam. We both have white paws though, and I -do- think they'd benefit from a good hand washing, but yeah...I'm afraid they'll either fall apart, or not dry quickly enough. Opinions on this? If I have to I can spot clean with Folex, but I'd like to get them -really- clean if I can.
Lastly, she has a tail I'd like to be able to wash in the tub as well, and just wondering if that would be a good or bad idea. It's a simple tail, but long enough that it's frequent contact with the ground has left it stained and dirty. To my knowledge it's got your standard stuffing, and does not have any wire or armature or anything of that nature. Would it be okay to wash it this way or is spot cleaning the way to go as well? My biggest concern again is getting everything dry in time and not having the glue freak out on me. My hand paws have their paw pads glued on though, and while the pads look worn out (and maybe could use a touch of glue here and there) seemed to hold up okay being washed.
One more question. I know dryers and heat of any kind are like...the biggest no-no practically in the universe as far as fake fur fibers are concerned, but would it be okay/better to put any of these items (save the head) in the dryer maybe in a pillow case or something, under the air fluff cycle? To my knowledge this doesn't use heat, and I'm wondering if it would do a better job than my crappy fan?
Any tips would be great! I've read several tutorials and comments in regards to said tutorials, and it seems these are things people have different preferences on, so I'm kind of confused/wary. If worst comes to worst I can just Folex everything, but just looking for options!