✨ Rare Starcatcher Plush Backpack (2006) ✨

[NameIsChurch]

My beautiful Starcatcher Plush backpack has arrived all the way from the UK, and I am very happy to have her! Her hair needs some major tending to, and she's got a couple marks on the face; so I'm really excited to restore her to glory. If anyone has any specific tips on how to remove the dirt marks without ruining her, I'd appreciate it! I always wanna try and save her original curls, but I'm not sure how I would go about doing that.

 

[ponyville]

How wonderful!! She is adorable From my experience, I had a white Starshine softie and she was pretty dirty. I was worried about putting her in the washer because of her hair, so I opted to hand wash her, which made a huge difference. Her fur is bright and white like it should be! As for the hair, using conditioner and cold water (warm/hot may remove the curls) should help improve the state of it. Using a comb (wire is best because plastic against plastic causes friction or so I've heard, but use what you have), condition the hair and slowly brush through it to detangle. Start with the bottom and work your way up. This tutorial helped me, and it may help you too. If you are nervous about using certain products, you can always spot test a hidden area and wait a bit to see what happens. At least, this is what I would do. I hope this helps a bit!!

 

[NameIsChurch]

How wonderful!! She is adorable From my experience, I had a white Starshine softie and she was pretty dirty. I was worried about putting her in the washer because of her hair, so I opted to hand wash her, which made a huge difference. Her fur is bright and white like it should be! As for the hair, using conditioner and cold water (warm/hot may remove the curls) should help improve the state of it. Using a comb (wire is best because plastic against plastic causes friction or so I've heard, but use what you have), condition the hair and slowly brush through it to detangle. Start with the bottom and work your way up. This tutorial helped me, and it may help you too. If you are nervous about using certain products, you can always spot test a hidden area and wait a bit to see what happens. At least, this is what I would do. I hope this helps a bit!!

Thank you so much for the tips, and a link to a tutorial. Did you have any issues with the fur quality changing after hand washing her? I'm worried if she doesn't dry right, her fur will be ruined. Did you use soap or detergent to wash you plush? I was thinking about washing the hair, a long with conditioning it; would actually washing be a bad idea?

 

[ponyville]

@NameIsChurch The softies have a different fur texture than Starcatcher does, but I believe that hand washing is gentle enough where the fur quality changing wouldn't be an issue. Just don't put her in the dryer, as that could cause issues. After air drying her (which I would do by hanging the backpack off of a hanger), you could brush out the fur a bit even with just your hand to make it more fluffy again! I used laundry detergent from my local grocery store, but a drop or two of dish soap may help get some of the tougher dirt out. Washing the hair wouldn't be a bad idea at all! I would stick on the cooler side in terms of water temperature for this, and I would personally use dish soap, or just wash the hair along with the rest of the pony when hand washing.

Washing something that is hard-to-find can definitely be a bit daunting, but I find products like this are not super fragile. Backpacks are meant to go outside and are expected to get a bit dirty. As I said, you can always do a spot test, or try washing a small section of hair first before you do the whole thing if you're nervous, but I don't think you'll mess up! The hardest part would be maintaining the factory curls, but with cooler water and conditioner this shouldn't be a problem. I have one more link for you- this is an American Girl doll video, but I think some of the things xCanadensis has to say about washing curly hair might be helpful. You got this!