Question about cleaning plushies

[Prixton]

I recently rescued a bunch of new MLP plushies from the side of the road. They appear to be in great shape, but they obviously came from a smoking household. I left them outside to air dry for two weeks and they're better but still smell a bit, especially if you sniff them directly. I'm afraid if I wash them in the machine their tinsel and sparkly wings will get ruined. I read online you can put them in a bag with baking soda but I'm also worried that may be bad for them. Any recommendations? Thanks!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Baking soda will be fine.  Put them standing up in it within a sealed container, it's not going to discolour them or anything.  You can smack any remaining powder off them later... 

If they don't have any fragile parts then they could probably survive being put in a pillowcase and AIR TOSS dried only if you needed to get them wet, then dry again.

I personally find that whenever I rescue smoking-household stuffies, I have to get new stuffing and soak the bodies in some type of Simple Green cleaner, then re-assemble.  Otherwise they always smell faintly...   

[Sapphire-Light]

I wash my plushies by hand and using a soft shampoo (for people) it cleans then well and helps taking a part of the bad smells , I get mush better results wit the  shampoo than using washing machine soap as that one has stained me some plushies

[Skeen]

Both these methods will work just fine.  In the rare times I hand wash a plush I dry it outside on a warm day and rotate it so all the sides get sunlight.  You can always also vacuum the baking soda off the ponies if smacking them doesn't quite cut it.  But smacking them is therapeutic, so... your call on that one.   

[Prixton]

Great; Thanks so much everyone for your help

[Galactica]

What an interesting find!

[lordalexander74]

http://buttercupbabyppg.deviantart.com/art/Minky-Plush-Washing-Guide-526558030

Don't know much about removing bad odors from plushies, but this guide is great for removing general stains. I got a streak of grease on a custom AJ plush at a convention last year, and took it out easily with a dilution of detergent and water, and some mild scrubbing. Soaking a plush isn't a good idea, I heard the stuffing clumps and it ends up a lot harder to dry.

[Aurora]

I had to wash a G3 plushie, and didn't really think about the bad that could happen if I just tossed it into the washing machine. The pony is fine, but the hair!!!! I don't think it will ever be ok. It wasn't an uncommon one, and I'm still going to try to save it, so I'm not heartbroken, but lesson learned.