I have lingerie bags and use those for anything I don't want to come apart in the washer or dryer. I purchased a couple really good ones at Walmart that look like pillow cases with zippers. I use my bags for my dog's collars also. You still want to read directions if they're still available and legible.

Be careful putting "stuffies" in the dryer. Some of the fake fur will become hard and brittle from being heated.

I've seen on TV someone cleaning them with a child using a bowl of warm water soap and a tooth brush scrubbing them. Rinsing in another bowl and hanging up on the line to dry. The animals were never completely soaked.

It might also be a good idea to first place them in a freezer for a day or two, which would kill any unwelcome critters like mites and bed bugs. You don't want to let anything like that loose in your home.

I wash & dry them too, even the ones with little plastic pebbles in the feet. They turn out just fine. Don't get your dryer super hot tho. Permanente press is ok.

Ok, the Doggy on the left has been washed & dryed about 50 times (and he is the replacement of an identical doggie purchased several years earlier that was washed 100 times.....replacing an animal is harder than finding identical fabric years later.....anyway, I digress....) The Lamby on the right has been washed and dryied about 5 times. My kids dragged around animals rather than blankets when they were toddlers. This were my pre quilting days. The washer/dryer was hard on the long eyelashes of the Doggie, but everything else survived.

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...psss2fzglk.jpg

You can kill dust mites by putting the stuffed animals into a plastic bag and then in your freezer for several hours. Look it up on google. I bet there are ideas on washing them online too.

Good for you.

I have always put them right in the washer and dryer, but be careful if some are stuffed with bean pellets....those are not machine washable.

Old pillowcases with hair ties, hang to dry or dryer