Cleaning a Giant Frilly Frocks?

[brighteyes]

I made a five hour round trip to get her, but I finally have Frilly Frocks!!!    I got her from a craiglist posting for only 40$ (60$ if we count gas  ).  Not bad I think.

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Anyway, she was a child's pony so she has been played with but she's in good condition aside from a few issues which I hope I may get some advice on fixing here:

• As you can see from the pictures, her poor legs are broken.  I've read elsewhere that her legs were originally made stiff by dowels or chopsticks taped together?  Has anyone fixed a giant plush's legs before?  I'm not sure if I will fix her legs or not.  I think she looks pretty cute laying down, but I would like to restore her as much as possible so if it isn't too invasive I may go ahead and fix her legs.
• She's not dirty exactly and there are no permanent stains on her, but she's not perfectly white either.  She also has a spot (shown below) of something sticky in her fur.  I'd like to clean and whiten her but I have no idea how to do this.  Is there a powder or something that anyone can recommend for cleaning plushes?  Should I try to sun-whiten her?  If so should I protect her pink parts with paper or foil or something?  I'm really at a loss here so any suggestions you have will be greatly appreciated!

   

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My husband helpfully suggested that I give her a bath in the tub  But I'm pretty sure there are more sensible ways of cleaning her LOL

[Emfen]

I cleaned my fiancées TY cat plush before of a similar material, I soaked the dirty areas and then rubbed with soap. This of course can lead to the plush's fur being a bit messy, adding a bit of conditioner to the fur and brushing gently white rinsing did it for me but I am not sure of it may work in your pretty pony. It's worth pointing out that a blow dryer on a low setting may help in fixing the fur, but it depends on the materials sensitivity.

[partypony566]

I think that's a pretty awesome price! Congrats!

[Lady Starflower]

Sorry I can't help with cleaning ideas (maybe wet the spot a bit with soapy water?)
But she's so awesome!! Congrats on getting her and for such a fantastic price!! I hope to add one to my herd one day

[silk-locket]

I used to sell old plush stuffs at a local flea market, you should be able to just use a soap cloth and a soft brush to clean that spot. I cleaned many with this method and got them looking new. As for the legs I usually make a small incision somewhere where it's easy to fix when reinserting pipes or rods.

[sailorstitch]

This is what I use to clean my stuffed animals.

http://www.gund.com/products/Cleaning.php?CFID=29d33854-b889-46da-b9a5-031673f2b5cc&CFTOKEN=0

BABW also has a similar product, but I haven't tried theirs yet.

http://www.buildabear.com/shopping/store/Bear-Stuff-Cleaner-/productId=prod80039

Both of these will take care of the general dirt, but I don't know about the sticky spot. I have a stiffed animal with a sticky spot myself. The Gund cleaner didn't seem to do much and I haven't tried anything else yet.

To fix the legs you're going to need to do surgery. Her legs have cardboard tubes in them that make her stand up. They can give out over time even without rough play. I've heard that some even arrived damaged. Some people have opened Frilly up and replaced the cardboard with plastic pipes.

Congrats on the awesome deal!!! I bought a Frilly at the Fair this past summer and paid a LOT more than you did.

sailorstitch

[brighteyes]

Thanks everyone!  I have been wanting a Frilly since they were offered in the Pony Points program and I'm so excited to have finally found her. 

Thanks for all the cleaning ideas.  Emfen and Silk-locket, thanks for the spot cleaning recommendations.  I'll have to try that with her sticky spot and see if I can clean it.

Sailorstitch, awesome!  Thanks for the recommendation. I will see if I can find the Gund Teddy Bath and if not I'll pick up some BABW cleaner. 

I'm still not sure if I will replace the leg supports just yet.  She's so cuddly and cute laying down.  At least now I know how to fix her though, should the mood strike.  Thanks again everyone!

[Moony]

Glad I am not the only one who likes them laying down xD Both my Minty and Sweetberry lack the supports in them (on purpose) and they just look so cute! You got some awesome suggestions for making her look bright and new Congrats on the awesome find!

[Water_Fire]

She is super cute lying down, but if you wanted to fix her supports you'd have to open her up :s. I have Wysteria ad I actually sent her to a teddy bear hospital, as I wasn't confident in doing it myself!

[Foxtale]

She is super cute! Congrats. Most people have better ideas than I do about how to clean her. One more method to get the sticky stuff out would be a soft brush (like a toothbrush) and some woolite or similar product to spot clean.

Good luck!

[hathorcat]

She looks amazing! Congratulations on adding her to your collection.

For her legs I would recommend plastic pipes - the kind you would normally find in a plumbing store/hardware store. Cut down to size they are really robust and will hold her up right. Assuming you want to do that.

For cleaning stains from large plush I have used carpet cleaner I know it sounds odd but carpet mousse is really good at shifting stains - you simply treat the section of the plush with the same directions as if you were cleaning a carpet. The only thing I would warn is that if it works too well you may have to do the whole body as sometimes it brings the original colour back in the one section treated which then makes the rest of the toy look very dirty

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I would recommend renting a carpet cleaner to see if you can get that sticky spot out!

[elish2]

Glad to see someone got her! Congrats! She is pretty!