How To Clean A Dirty Mohair Bear
"Y'all make clean up pretty nicely" is something y'all might jokingly say to a friend who'southward getting gear up for a night on the boondocks. It as well applies to Steiff and other collectible bears and animals made from wool (from sheep) or mohair (from goats) plush also!
Keeping your fine plush collection make clean is really important, only oft disregarded. Here are four key reasons why you should start with a "clean slate" when welcoming a new vintage treasure made from wool or mohair plush into your collection.
· The first is appearance. Muddy items expect neglected, and dirt and dust unattractively "mats" downward dimensional fabrics, especially fine plush.
· The 2d is structural integrity and longevity. Dirt and dust are not practiced for fine costly or its cotton backing and can dehydrate and destabilize the materials over time. This tin result in what's known every bit "dry mohair" or "dry rot." If a piece of fine costly textile gets dry rot, whatsoever moisture on it tin can causes information technology to crumble and atomize.
· The third is infestation. Muddy items attract moths and other pests, and anybody knows the havoc and sometimes irreversible harm this can create, including balding.
· The forth is history. When you bring a vintage detail into your drove, you really don't know well-nigh of the time the conditions in which it was loved, kept, or displayed in any of its previous lives – or what might be subconscious in its materials.
As a collector and dealer of Steiff for many years, I encourage you to clean a vintage item made from wool or mohair plush before introducing it to your Steiff hug.It is as well a expert idea to gently clean fine plush items in your collection – even if they are displayed backside drinking glass – every yr or 2.
Of class, if you come across an exceptionally quondam, damaged, stale out, or otherwise fragile item, or have 1 in your collection, I highly recommend that you have it evaluated by a professional restorer with expertise in fragile items before doing anything virtually cleaning it. They can tell you if an particular has underlying condition bug that would make it a poor candidate for cleaning. As always, use common sense, and handle frail items, even ones that y'all doubtable may be frail, very conservatively.
In that location are many ways to clean vintage fine costly items effectively. I've tried several and this one I will share with you seems to piece of work well on vintage bears and animals made from wool or mohair plush fabrics. It besides works for items made from Dralon, a pop synthetic cloth used on Steiff play toys from the 1960's and 1970's.
However, please don't utilise this process on items made from felt, velvet, or bogus silk plush fabrics. These specialty materials are less resilient, can stain or bleed, and must be handled by professionals.
It is also important that you don't clean wool or mohair plush collectibles that take extensive balding and/or brittle surface fibers; either could indicate dry out mohair, dry rot, or other very serious condition issues. I made this mistake once – only once – and watched a Steiff dog from 1928 literally disintegrate in front of me later on a calorie-free surface cleaning. Again, always bank check with a professional if you accept doubts on the structural integrity of whatsoever fine vintage costly item. For example, this charming 19-teens Steiff mohair Dachshund on wheels could certainly benefit from a cleaning, just his material is too worn and frail for this procedure.
So, now would exist the perfect fourth dimension to "clean up our human action." To demonstrate, I will make clean a c. 1950's Steiff Molly puppy. I've had her in my collection for a really long time. She'south displayed behind drinking glass, simply even protected things get dusty over time.
To showtime, assemble together:
· the fine vintage costly particular(due south) yous wish to clean
· soft WHITE cloths made from terrycloth or rags
· warm tap h2o
· Woolite hand washing gentle detergent
· OxiClean Laundry Stain Remover
· a spray bottle
· a make clean brush with flexible beard
· (optional) a vacuum cleaner
step 1: Commencement eliminate as much surface dirt and dust as possible by "dry" measures.
If it is appropriate, shake the particular gently yet vigorously. Yous don't want to damage the item, and so use common sense here. You will be surprised how much dust floats off of most items; fifty-fifty more tends to come off of long haired ones. In the retail world, this is really done with some toy items on brandish and is chosen "refreshing the product." Truth!
If information technology is possible and practical on larger or life-sized items, vacuum them very gently and at a distance. You may want to secure a piece of old stocking with a rubber band over the vacuum's hose nozzle to add an extra layer of protection between the suction and your item.
Utilise a lint brush or the sticky surface of wide tape wrapped around your manus to VERY GENTLY "ringlet make clean" whatsoever felt or velvet detailing on a fine plush animal or bear. This could include areas like hand pads, the backs or linings of ears, and/or an open mouth. Keep these non-plush areas as dry equally possible because these fabrics can discolor or change surface texture with fifty-fifty a piddling moisture. This Molly does not have felt or velvet details, so it is not necessary in this case.
If your detail has delicate tags or ribbons like this Molly, you lot can gently comprehend them with a Ziploc bag or plastic wrap to ensure that they stay dry. Even so, if you are careful, yous can easily work effectually them in your cleaning procedure.
step 2: Next make up the cleaning solution. Mix upward most one and half cups of warm tap water and 1 teaspoon of Woolite detergent and 4 or five sprays of OxiClean. The water volition turn slightly grey-cloudy. Transfer this solution in a manus spray canteen.
step 3: Test the solution on the detail to be cleaned. Very lightly moisten the white cloths with a few sprays of the cleaning solution. Practice NOT soak the cloth or the item, this is a surface cleaning only! Detect a small-scale identify on the underside or other non-visible place on your item. In the case of this Molly, a proficient test surface area is her underside, in the crotch area. Very carefully, and very gently, start rubbing this area down with the moist white textile. Check very advisedly to brand sure that dirt is coming off, and that goose egg is happening (color bleeding, fabric dissolving, weird discoloration, etc.) to the hidden textile testing expanse. Cease immediately if you meet or sense a trouble. Chances are, everything will exist fine. If that is the instance, motion to footstep iv.
step 4: Proceed with the beginning "wash cycle." Moisten the textile, not the bear or animal, as you clean. This is a ameliorate way to control how much solution touches your item. You can always add more than solution to cleaning procedure if y'all need information technology, but you tin't accept it abroad if you've added too much!
Start at the bottom of your item and brainstorm rubbing it gently down with the damp cloth. Y'all'll be surprised what comes off, so keep changing the place on the washcloth where you are rubbing, or yous volition be grinding old dirt into new places on your item. (One of the reasons to apply WHITE washcloths is so you tin run into the dirt that comes off your item, and tin adjust the cleaning surface appropriately.) Here you lot tin can see here the rag I am using to clean this Molly and how important it is to keep finding a fresh identify on the cloth for cleaning.
Strategically piece of work your way upward or forward (depending on the design of your item), so yous tin can keep rails of what you take done, and what'south left to be done. Also, very gently wash your item'due south eyes with the cloth and solution. It's amazing how this unproblematic act can really burnish up a Teddy bear or beast's confront! Hither you tin see Molly immediately after her wash bicycle. Notice her fur is slightly moist only non wet, and how much better she looks even simply partway through the process.
step 5: Now information technology's time for the "rinse" cycle. Once you have given the item a complete head to toe cleaning with solution, take another dry white cloth and gently rub the item downwardly once more than, to remove any backlog water, cleaning solution, or lingering dirt. Do not add any solution to the white cloth during this "rinse' phase. The white cloth should but have a trace of dirt, if any, on it after this rub down.
Depending on how muddy the item was to start with, you may need to give it another "wash" bike. If dirt is still coming off the particular later you lot have dry rubbed information technology in the "rinse" stride, repeat step 4 in a higher place, simply employ virtually half as much solution as you lot did on the cloths in the kickoff round. Make sure you are non over-wetting the item! Then repeat step 5. In this case, only a very light touch of dust came off of Molly later on her rinse wheel, and so she can move right along to footstep vi.
stride 6: Next, just air out. Let the item naturally dry out, away from direct sun and heat sources on a make clean white towel. On larger items, in humid conditions, this could take a few days. If your item has alot of surface areas, move it around over fourth dimension then all sides and angles can dry. Be 100% certain your item is fully dry earlier moving onto step 7.
step 7: And finally, it's time to put the "fluff factor" into action. Accept a soft, flexibly toothed brush and very gently fluff up the item, beingness sure not to actually "pluck out" the wool or mohair covering. Information technology is amazing what a difference this last touch can make, particularly on items with longer "fur!"
Now that wasn't difficult, right? And now your vintage friend, similar this Molly, is in fine form and ready to confront the future in the most beautiful, and "healthy" way possible!
Store Steiff and Fine Plush Animals on Ruby Lane
Most the Writer
Rebekah Kaufman is a tertiary generation lifelong Steiff enthusiast. Her personal collection of vintage Steiff treasures numbers north of 1,600. Rebekah'south German grandmother kindled her love for the make over five decades agone, and today Rebekah is the proud steward of many of her Oma's Steiff treasures.
Rebekah's passion became her vocation when she became the Steiff Club Manager for the North American division of Margarete Steiff GmbH in 2003. A few years later, in 2008, she inverse jobs and was appointed to the position of Steiff's North American archivist, a job she held through the end of 2022. In that office, she led collector'south events around the country, authored nigh of the vintage related articles in the biannual Steiff Society Mag, and authenticated and valued vintage Steiff treasures on behalf of the visitor. In 2022, at James D. Julia Auctioneers in Fairfield, ME, she appraised and cataloged the largest and nearly important vintage Steiff collection to come up to market e'er in North America; the auction realized over half a 1000000 dollars. Since 2022, she has consulted with a number of well-known sale houses as a Steiff and Fine Plush Skilful. She also runs her own total-service public relations and social media marketing agency for organizations in the antiques and auctions industries who wish to outsource these primal communication functions.
Rebekah owns and merchandises Steiffgal'southward Vintage Museum Market place on Scarlet Lane, the largest online vintage Steiff shop worldwide.
Rebekah's blog, My Steiff Life, focuses on vintage Steiff finds, Steiff antiquing and travel adventures, international Steiff happenings, and the legacy and history of the Steiff visitor. It has been updated weekly since 2009 and can exist found at http://mysteifflife.blogspot.com. Her book, Sassafrass Jones and Her Forever Friends ABCs, features vintage Steiff as an integral part of the storyline. It was co-authored by Cathleen Smith-Bresciani, a fellow Steiff enthusiast. The book, ISBN #978-0-578-15002-4, is available for purchase on Amazon.com. Rebekah truly leads "The Steiff Life."
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