Hi All,

I've had a cute little stuffed unicorn toy for about 22 years now. ;D  I always wanted to wash him but I was afraid he would fall apart.  Well the other day I buckled down and put him in the washer in a pillow case and then in the dryer.  He came out nice and white!  Problem is his long mane and tail are all matted and even if I brush it it will not go straight. :-[  I really love the little guy and was wondering if anyone had any idea on how to get the mats out.

Thanks! ::)

I've washed stuffed animals before and had the same thing happen! They come out with crazy matted hair.  I am not sure what can be done about it. Did you dry your unicorn? Thats the mistake I made. I fried the poor animals hair!  Sorry I am not any help. :)

AtlantisAllure,

Yeah I think putting him in the dryer is what did it. :-[

Jojoba oil?  Works for my hair??
Just kidding.

More seriously, thinking off the top of my head:
What about a (very)diluted fabric softener, just dampening the mane and tail to see if it will settle things. -- *disclaimer* I've never done it, but since it withstood the washing I don't think this would do any more harm *crosses fingers*

I was thinking of putting a CO in the toys mane and tail and then try to comb it out.  Hmmm.. the fabric soften sounds interesting.  I'll give this all a try this weekend.

Wish me luck :-/

Personaly I would have handwashed it, but good luck with trying to fix it!

I share my toys with my dogs so they get drooled and therefore washed and dryed  ;D, nevertheless, same problem, I think maybe I would try silicon, a spray on maybe?  Those slicker brushes they make for dogs and cats are helpful.

Be sure to let us know ...g

One time when I was walking my dog I found a cute little teddy bear in the street so of course I rescued the poor little thing. It was dirty so I washed it in the machine then hung it up to dry but it was drying so slowly that decided to I put it in the dryer. Yup, it came out curly.  :-/ He's still really cute  :-* just a curly little bear so I put a fresh ribbon on him and have him sitting in a chair in my room.   :D

It was the dryer that did it because he was fine after coming out of the washing machine.

And now the up date!!

Okay last night I wetted the toys mane and tail then worked in some VO5 CO then rinsed and combed it out twice.  It worked okay I let him dry over night and this morning he looks great and smells really nice!!   :)  Mind, he did loose some hair in the combing but not too much  ::)

I'm sure your Unicorn greatly appreciates the special treatment.  ;D

HURRAY!!! I'm glad the conditioner got him 'straightened' out and back to his old self! ;D

I've been following the happenings in this thread :)
Great to hear your unicorn likes CO. My, what a princess. And I'm sure we're all going to CO our frizzled stuffed creatures now. Happy stuffed animal restoration everybody ;)

Blessings
Anais

Thank all!  :D

Glad to hear you're unicorn is okay. It reminds me though, my stuffed chicken needs to be washed. I hope his legs don't come off. :-/

Hehe, Uni goes to the Spa!!!  How lucky.  Maybe we need to start a Stuffed Animal Salon forum.

Thanks for sharing, especially if I ever need to wash my Stuffs and they get tangled.  ;-)

Cynde

Why not? They've comforted us many a time, share the special treatment, beauty for all I say. ;D

Heheh! ;D  I have since washed even more of my stuff toys and they're looking great!  

Good to hear!
I'll probably get a few of mine prettied up as I'm already under the task of washing every material thing possible in the house before the power goes out from a storm we're expecting. This house will smell nice for as long as possible!