Last Updated on September 21, 2026 by Umar Farooq
Check the label, take off anything removable, put the toy in a mesh bag or pillowcase, run a cold gentle cycle with the lowest spin your machine offers, and air dry it completely. Use a mild detergent and skip the dryer entirely.
Then the part almost nobody mentions: do not wash one on its own. A single soaked plush toy is the exact load a washing machine cannot balance, and the machine will either refuse to spin or bang its way through the attempt. Wash two or three together, or add a couple of towels.
First: does it go in the machine at all?
Five minutes here saves a toy. Work down the list, and the first “yes” stops you.
The foam-bead one is worth spelling out, because it damages the machine as well as the toy. Those pellets are small enough to pass through a split seam, small enough to get past the drum holes, and they collect in the pump housing. You will be clearing them out of the filter for months.
How to wash stuffed animals in the machine, step by step
- Strip it. Remove clothes, ribbons, bows, collars and anything clipped on. Wash those separately or not at all — a ribbon is the thing that snags.
- Bag it. A mesh laundry bag, or a pillowcase knotted shut. This is not only about the toy: Samsung recommends a mesh bag or pillowcase for exactly this kind of item “to prevent them from causing damage to the washing machine tub” (wash sneakers in your washer).
- Add company. Two or three toys, or one toy plus a couple of towels. Samsung’s own advice for washing trainers is to add “a few towels or other soft items”, and the reason is the same here — balance, and less hammering.
- Cold, gentle, lowest spin. Cold protects glue and colour. Gentle protects seams. And the spin speed is the setting that actually matters, which is the next section.
- Mild detergent, and use less than you think. A small toy in a big drum needs very little. There is no benefit to a full dose and there is a real cost — residue left inside stuffing you cannot rinse.
The spin is the risk, not the wash
Plush fabric copes with being tumbled in cold water perfectly well. What tears seams, mats fur and pulls stuffing out of shape is the extraction at the end.
Two things follow, and they point the same way. Use the lowest spin the cycle offers, even though it means a much wetter toy and a longer dry. And do not fight the machine if it refuses to spin at all.
That refusal is worth understanding rather than working around. Samsung’s guidance is explicit: the machine “will display a UE / UB code when it detects an unbalanced load and stops the spin for safety reasons,” and the fix is to “redistribute the load” (how to fix UE / UB error). A soaked bear on one side of an empty drum is the textbook unbalanced load. Adding towels is not a nicety — it is what lets the spin happen at all. More on that code in Samsung washer UE or Ub error, and the same bagging-and-towels logic is why washing shoes in a machine works the way it does.
Drying, which is where toys are actually ruined
Never put a stuffed animal in the dryer. Heat melts plastic eyes and noses, softens glue, and turns brushed fur into a permanent mat. This is the one instruction every source agrees on, and it is the one people break.
Air drying properly takes longer than it looks, because the stuffing holds water long after the outside feels dry.
- Press it between two towels first. Roll and squeeze rather than wring — wringing is what distorts the shape permanently.
- Reshape it while it is wet. Push the stuffing back where it belongs. It sets as it dries.
- Dry it with airflow, not heat. A fan does more than a radiator, and a radiator risks the glue.
- Check the densest part before you call it done. Squeeze the belly and the base of the head. A toy that feels dry outside and damp in the middle will go musty from the inside, and there is no fixing that.
- Brush the fur once dry, with a soft brush, in the direction of the pile.
The bleach question, honestly
You will find “add colour-safe bleach” on one ranking page and “never use bleach” on another. Both positions are defensible and they are answering different questions.
For a child’s toy, skip it. The residue sits inside stuffing that cannot be rinsed properly, and the toy goes back in a mouth. If the toy needs disinfecting rather than cleaning — after illness, for instance — heat is the safer lever, and that means checking whether the label allows a warmer wash rather than adding chemistry you cannot rinse out. For very delicate items the answer is a hand wash instead: see what cycle for delicates.
How to wash stuffed animals by hand, when the machine is out
For anything that failed the checklist:
- Fill a basin with cool water and a small amount of mild detergent.
- Submerge and squeeze gently, repeatedly. Do not scrub or twist.
- Drain, refill with clean water, and squeeze again until no suds appear.
- Press between towels, reshape, and air dry as above.
For a toy that must not get wet at all — electronics, or an antique — surface clean only: a barely damp cloth with a little detergent, wiped over the fur, then a second pass with a clean damp cloth.
FAQ
Can you put stuffed animals in the washing machine?
Most, yes — bagged, on a cold gentle cycle with the lowest spin. Not ones with electronics, foam beads, glued features or split seams.
Can you put stuffed animals in the dryer?
No. Heat melts plastic parts and mats the fur permanently. Air dry with airflow instead.
Why won’t my washer spin the toy?
Because it cannot balance it. One wet plush toy in an otherwise empty drum is the classic unbalanced load. Add towels and run it again.
How do you clean a stuffed animal that can’t get wet?
Surface clean it: a barely damp cloth with a drop of mild detergent, then a clean damp cloth. Let it air dry fully before it goes back to a bed.
How often should stuffed animals be washed?
A favourite that goes everywhere and is slept with, roughly monthly. One that sits on a shelf, when it looks like it needs it.
Will washing ruin a stuffed animal?
The wash rarely does. The dryer often does, and so does a high spin. Get those two right and the risk is small.
