How To Clean & Care For Your Alpaca Fur Product
If you’ve ever bought an alpaca fur product, you can be certain of one thing: it is soft. It’s also cozy, warm, and fuzzy. Alpaca fur is used to create plush stuffed animals, blankets, pillows, throws, gloves, clothes, and more. If you just bought an alpaca fur stuffed animal or alpaca fur pillow, you’re probably extremely happy with your purchase. However, you may also be wondering one thing: how on Earth do I clean this? In this tutorial, we’re going to guide you through the cleaning process for different alpaca fur products.
Alpaca fur is “stronger, softer, lighter, and warmer than either merino wool or cashmere.” It’s also luxuriously soft, which means it won’t scratch, prickle or make the skin feel itchy, unlike certain wool products. But, just like wool clothing and garments, it can’t be washed with your regular laundry.
What NOT to do:
- Do not machine wash
- Avoid dry cleaning or washing stuffed animals with soap. However, you can dry clean throws and pillow cases if needed.
- Don’t soak or wet to clean
- Don’t tumble dry
- Don’t iron
Another recommendation to clean any alpaca fur products is that if the garment or toy is wet or dry, you need to allow it to air dry by itself or under the sun. Don’t place it near a direct heat source (like a radiator or fireplace) as this will crisp and ruin the fur. Also, don’t store the garment or item while it’s still damp.
How To Clean Alpaca Products
Now it’s time to learn how to clean your alpaca fur product. We’ve divided this into three main product types, since they have different cleaning processes for optimal results.
Alpaca Fur Toys or Stuffed Animals
You will need a wire brush, a dry towel, and your dirty alpaca fur toy.
Step 1
Grab the dry damp towel and rub it over the area you wish to clean, trying to remove as much of the excess dirt and grime as possible.
Step 2
Once the item is dry, Use the wire brush to brush out the remaining dirt slowly and carefully. In case you’re wondering, this brush is basically the same one you would use to brush out your dog’s hair. Be very gentle and try not to pull the strands of alpaca fur. The dirt will start coming off by itself, so don’t worry, you won’t need to spend too much time here!
Step 3
Repeat both steps as necessary until the toy is clean.
Alpaca Fur Pillow
To clean your alpaca fur pillow, you will follow the same process as with the alpaca stuffed toy. You will need a wire brush, a dry towel, and your dirty alpaca fur pillow.
Step 1
Grab the dry towel and rub it over the area you wish to clean, trying to remove as much of the excess dirt and grime as possible.
Step 2
Use the wire brush to brush out the remaining dirt slowly and carefully. In case you’re wondering, this brush is basically the same one you would use to brush out your dog’s hair. Be very gentle and try not to pull the strands of alpaca fur. The dirt will start coming off by itself, so don’t worry, you won’t need to spend too much time here!
Step 3
Repeat both steps as necessary until the pillow is clean.
Alpaca Fur Blanket
To clean an alpaca fur blanket, you will follow a slightly different process. You will need a clean, damp cloth, a steamer, and the alpaca fur throw blanket you want to clean.
Step 1
Press the damp cloth against the dirty spot to remove it. Allow it to dry.
Step 2
Use the steamer and direct the steam over the dirty spot.
Step 3
Allow to air dry and repeat as necessary until the blanket is clean.
Alpaca Fur Slippers
To clean your alpaca fur slippers, you will follow a similar process as with the alpaca stuffed toy. You will need a wire brush, a dry towel, to clean your dirty alpaca fur slippers.
Step 1
Try to shake off as much of the dirty off the alpaca slipper after that grab a dry towel and rub it over the area you wish to clean, trying to remove as much of the excess dirt and grime as possible.
Step 2
Use the wire brush to brush out any remaining dirt slowly and carefully. Be very gentle and try not to pull the strands of alpaca fur. The dirt will start coming off by itself, so don’t worry, you won’t need to spend too much time here.
Step 3
Using a dry towel remove any remaining dirt of dark spots from the alpaca slipper.
Step 4
Repeat both steps as necessary until the alpaca slipper is clean.
By following these simple steps, your alpaca fur products will remain cleaner and last longer! If you want more alpaca fur products made by Peruvian artisans, you can browse our collections of alpaca stuffed animals, decor pillows, alpaca throws, or our full winter wear collection.