Cleaning and Storing Your Puppets

DO NOT PUT IN WASHER OR DRYER. This will destroy your puppet. Furry plush puppets are surface-washable only. Do not submerge the puppet in water. Use lukewarm water and sponge with shampoo or mild laundry detergent to wet and lather fur. Rinse surface with sponge. Be careful not to wring or twist the puppet, or you may end up with lumpy stuffing. Dry by gently squeezing between towels, or hanging from clothesline to drip-dry. After it’s dry, brush with toothbrush to fluff. When brushing face, be careful to avoid scratching the eyes or pulling out the threads in ears, nose, or mouth areas.

Velour (Velvet like) Plush Puppets (Ladybug, Dragon, Large Pig,Full/Half Body Puppets,Fairytale puppets etc.)

DO NOT PUT IN WASHER OR DRYER. With the larger velour puppets, surface-wash with a sponge, mild detergent and lukewarm water. Everyday shampoo can be  very effective and is easy on the material. Smaller velour glove puppets can actually be submerged in lukewarm water to wash. Do not wring or twist puppet. To dry the puppet, gently squeeze between towels or drip-dry from clothesline. Do not brush the
velour puppets.

Storing Your puppets

You can store your puppets in several ways. To keep your puppets looking thier best you should have a special place to put them when the children or puppet team is done using them. For children, plastic bins work great. There are some tabletop display racks and or wooden puppet stands available that can make your playroom more decorative as well as keeping your puppets in clean and wrinkle-free condition. These small puppet stands are also great for the classrom!

For the more serious puppetry groups and puppet ministries we recommend things like sturdy, large, plastic containers with lids. This has saved many groups who have had tragedies like flooding in thier facilities from loosing all thier beautiful puppets. The bins also protect the puppets from dust and dirt. If dust in your area is not an issue and if you will be keeping your puppets in one location for the majority of the time, he highly recommend the Standing Floor Puppet Display Racks.They turn and have three to four drums that hold puppets and keep them from being crushed, wrinkled, or dirty. Another benifit is that they are kept in a organized fashion for easy access during a show behind your stage. When you are done with your puppet practice or performance, you can simply hang them back up on the rack. To protect them from  dust on the racks you can keep them covered with a sheet. 

We hope these tips were helpful, and with this is mind, we wish you happy puppeting!