HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR FURSUIT
It is vital for the life of your fursuit that you know how to properly take care of it so that it can stay clean and looking nice for years to come! Below you will find instructions on how to upkeep your fursuit before, during, and after use!
DISCLAIMER: Although Sunny Side Up fursuits are fully machine washable, doing more delicate washing such as handwashing or using a BISSELL Little Green Machine will extend the life of your fursuit. As with any piece of clothing, doing these more gentle cleaning methods is easier on the costume and therefore allows it to stay pristine even longer
BEFORE
☼ Shower & apply deodorant to prevent your fursuit from getting stinky because you WILL be sweating in it. That's what happens when you wear that much fur!
☼ Give the suit a good brushing so it looks nice and neat at the beginning of your fursuit outing, but be gentle as faux fur does not grow back!
DURING
☼ Wear sweat wicking gear underneath your fursuit, such as:
→ Balaclava for your head
→ Under Armour HeatGear (long sleeve shirt & pants) under your bodysuit
☼ Use a necklace fan to keep yourself cool
AFTER
After SHORT USE (ex: short furry meetup, recording videos, taking photos, etc;)
☼ Disinfect your fursuit with Fursuit Spray (this spray is made of water and isopropyl alcohol). Lightly spray on both the inside and outside of your suit. Especially spray in areas where sweat gathers the most such as armpits, groin, and feet! Pop the eyes out of the head when you disinfect it to protect them from any harm that could come from the spray. Do NOT use cleaners like Febreze or anything containing oils that will leave residue in your head and damage the foam
☼ Carefully brush suit so the fur is detangled
☼ Wait for the suit to completely dry before storing. For faster drying have a fan going in front of your suit
After LONG USE (ex: long furry conventions, multiple hours of wearing)
☼ Deep clean your suit by putting it in the washing machine or wash by hand. Sunny Side Up fursuits are FULLY machine washable. HOWEVER you must follow all instructions carefully or else you run the risk of harming your suit. Read instructions and follow them strictly. Please feel free to message me if you ever have any questions on washing your suit !
STORAGE
☼ Brush your fursuit before storing it
☼ NEVER store your fursuit away if it has ANY moisture in it. This can lead to mold
☼ Any storage container 30 gallons or above should hold your fursuit comfortably. Choose something with an airtight lid. I recommend storage containers from Home Depot
☼ Store in a cool, dry place
THINGS TO AVOID
☼ NEVER leave your fursuit in a hot car or near things like heating vents. Basically, keep it away from all heat! This is because the faux fur that is used to make fursuits is made out of very thin plastic, and will melt if coming into contact with excessive heat.
☼ Try to avoid things like mud, sticky beverages, food and other things that could potentially spill on your fursuit
☼ Finally, Sunny Side Up fursuits are built to last, but they are not indestructible. This means it is important to be gentle with your fursuit and take care of it. Just like any article of clothing, fursuits will wear out over time. But the more careful you are with your fursuit, the longer it will stay pristine
WASHING MACHINE INSTRUCTIONS
If you prefer to watch a video rather than read the instructions below, you can follow this link: HOW TO WASH YOUR SUNNY SIDE UP FURSUIT WITH A WASHING MACHINE (coming soon)
HEAD
WASHING
DISCLAIMER: I recommend only putting your head in a washing machine if it does NOT have an agitator. If your machine has an agitator, hand wash your fursuit head in a tub or with a BISSELL Little Green Machine
☼ Remove eyes and ALL other pieces of your fursuit that are detachable, such as antlers, jewelry, etc;
☼ Place head in laundry bag by itself
☼ Place laundry bag containing head into the washing machine
☼ Fill the machine with liquid detergent. Many people suggest using detergent that is specifically made to be gentle such as Woolite. You can do that, but I use regular Tide and it has worked just fine. Avoid using detergent pods like Tide Pods as they can leave unwanted residue. Place the detergent in the area specified by your washing machine. If you pour the detergent directly into the tub, that is OK but you must pour the detergent FIRST at the bottom and not on top of the fursuit
☼ Some folks like to use scent crystals when washing their fursuits. This is completely acceptable, just make sure you are getting the crystals and not the little waxy beads as those can leave unwanted residue
☼ Run the machine on these specific settings:
☼ COLD
☼ EXTRA RINSE (and/or EXTRA SPIN)
☼ DELICATE/GENTLE CYCLE
☼ SPIN SPEED MEDIUM or FAST
☼ SOIL LEVEL NORMAL
DRYING
☼ There are TWO options for drying. You can put your fursuit in the dryer or you can air dry. Dryer will dry things faster, air dry will increase longevity
☼ DRYER: Keep head in laundry bag and place in dryer on NO HEAT/AIR FLUFF setting. This is VERY VERY important! You absolutely can NOT put your fursuit head into the dryer if there is any heat coming from it. This will RUIN your head. I always suggest doing a test run before putting your head in the dryer. Take some clothes, pillow cases, etc; and throw them in the dryer, then run it on the no heat/air fluff setting. After a few minutes, open the dryer and see how the clothes did. If they are cold, great! You are good to go on putting your head in the dryer. If they come out warm this means the machine may have a defect and you should NOT put your head inside! I do this test every time I want to throw my fursuit parts in the dryer. Additionally, the dryer is only going to get you so far. You are still going to have to air dry your suit for a little while, especially the inside. Follow the air dry instructions for this step.
☼ AIR DRY: Have your head sitting on top of a fan as well as having fans blowing on the outside of it. You want to have fans blowing both inside and outside to really dry everything. I suggest setting your head on top of this fan: VORNADO FAN. It is SUPER important to immediately brush out your fursuit head so that the fur dries in the correct position and doesn't end up looking all mangled. Check in every 15 to 30 minutes on your head to give it another brush.
☼ Your fursuit head should be dry within 48 hours
HANDPAWS, FEETPAWS, TAILS
WASHING
☼ Handpaws, feetpaws, and tails can all be washed together. If your machine is large enough, they can also be washed with armsleeves and bodysuits. Be sure to not overfill your washing machine!
☼ Remove ALL pieces of your fursuit that are detachable, such as jewelry, accesories, etc;
☼ Place fursuit parts in laundry bag together
☼ Place laundry bag into the washing machine
☼ Fill the machine with liquid detergent. Many people suggest using detergent that is specifically made to be gentle such as Woolite. You can do that, but I use regular Tide and it has worked just fine. Avoid using detergent pods like Tide Pods as they can leave unwanted residue. Place the detergent in the area specified by your washing machine. If you pour the detergent directly into the tub, that is OK but you must pour the detergent FIRST at the bottom and not on top of the fursuit
☼ Some folks like to use scent crystals when washing their fursuits. This is completely acceptable, just make sure you are getting the crystals and not the little waxy beads as those can leave unwanted residue
☼ Run the machine on these specific settings:
☼ COLD
☼ EXTRA RINSE (and/or EXTRA SPIN)
☼ DELICATE/GENTLE CYCLE
☼ SPIN SPEED FAST
☼ SOIL LEVEL NORMAL
DRYING
☼ There are TWO options for drying. You can put your fursuit in the dryer or you can air dry. Dryer will dry things faster, air dry will increase longevity
☼ DRYER: Keep everything in laundry bag and place in dryer on NO HEAT/AIR FLUFF setting. This is VERY VERY important! You absolutely can NOT put your fursuit parts into the dryer if there is any heat coming from it. This will RUIN your fursuit. I always suggest doing a test run before putting your fursuit parts in the dryer. Take some clothes, pillow cases, etc; and throw them in the dryer, then run it on the no heat/air fluff setting. After a few minutes, open the dryer and see how the clothes did. If they are cold, great! You are good to go on putting your fursuit parts in the dryer. If they come out warm this means the machine may have a defect and you should NOT put your fursuit parts inside! I do this test every time I want to throw my fursuit parts in the dryer. Additionally, the dryer is only going to get you so far. You are still going to have to air dry your fursuit parts for a little while, especially the inside of the feet and hands. Follow the air dry instructions for this step.
☼ AIR DRY: Have your fursuit parts sitting with fans blowing both inside and outside to really dry everything. It is SUPER important to immediately brush out your fursuit parts so that the fur dries in the correct position and doesn't end up looking all mangled. FOR FOAM TAILS, you must squeeze squeeze squeeze your tails to get any remaining water out of the foam base. Check in every 15 to 30 minutes on your tail and squeeze all parts again, and also give everything another brush. You will want to be able to feel that water getting squeezed out of the foam. This is important to prevent the foam from procuring mold/mildew.
☼ Your fursuit parts should be dry within 48 hours
BODYSUITS & ARMSLEEVES
WASHING
☼ Bodysuits and armsleeves can be washed with handpaws, feetpaws, and tails. Be sure to not overfill your washing machine!
☼ Remove ALL pieces of your fursuit that are detachable, such as jewelry, magnets, accesories, etc;
☼ REMOVE all digitigrade stuffing from your bodysuit
☼ Turn bodysuit and armsleeves inside out
☼ Place everything in laundry bag together
☼ Place laundry bag into the washing machine
☼ Fill the machine with liquid detergent. Many people suggest using detergent that is specifically made to be gentle such as Woolite. You can do that, but I use regular Tide and it has worked just fine. Avoid using detergent pods like Tide Pods as they can leave unwanted residue. Place the detergent in the area specified by your washing machine. If you pour the detergent directly into the tub, that is OK but you must pour the detergent FIRST at the bottom and not on top of the fursuit
☼ Some folks like to use scent crystals when washing their fursuits. This is completely acceptable, just make sure you are getting the crystals and not the little waxy beads as those can leave unwanted residue
☼ Run the machine on these specific settings:
☼ COLD
☼ EXTRA RINSE (and/or EXTRA SPIN)
☼ DELICATE/GENTLE CYCLE
☼ SPIN SPEED FAST
☼ SOIL LEVEL NORMAL
DRYING
☼ There are TWO options for drying. You can put your fursuit in the dryer or you can air dry. Dryer will dry things faster, air dry will increase longevity
☼ DRYER: Keep everything in laundry bag and place in dryer on NO HEAT/AIR FLUFF setting. This is VERY VERY important! You absolutely can NOT put your fursuit into the dryer if there is any heat coming from it. This will RUIN your fursuit. I always suggest doing a test run before putting your fursuit in the dryer. Take some clothes, pillow cases, etc; and throw them in the dryer, then run it on the no heat/air fluff setting. After a few minutes, open the dryer and see how the clothes did. If they are cold, great! You are good to go on putting your fursuit in the dryer. If they come out warm this means the machine may have a defect and you should NOT put your fursuit inside! I do this test every time I want to throw my fursuit in the dryer. Additionally, the dryer is only going to get you so far. You are still going to have to air dry your fursuit for a little while. Follow the air dry instructions for this step.
☼ AIR DRY: Turn the bodysuit back out and hang it, having fans blowing on the outside. I also suggest using this hanger made for wetsuits that dries the inside of the suit: UNDERWATER KINETICS HANGAIR HANGER. Also turn your armsleeves back out and hang them. It is SUPER important to immediately brush out your bodysuit & armsleeves so that the fur dries in the correct position and doesn't end up looking all mangled. Check in on the suit every 30 minutes or so and see if it needs to be brushed again.
☼ Your fursuit should be dry within 48 hours