A Guide to Cleaning and Fixing Toys

When Ted E. Bear takes a tumble or falls prey to a pooch, he needs medical care—stat! Real Simple asked toy-repair experts for cleaning tips and patch-up strategies so your child’s buddies can get back into play.

For These Serious Cases, Seek Out a Specialist

• If a stuffed animal has been maimed. Hanna Hach of Hanna Bruce Bears & Teddy Hospital, in Lititz, Pennsylvania, recently healed a rabbit melted by a lamp, then overnighted it back to its relieved owner, vacationing at Walt Disney World.
• If an eye or some other critical part is missing. “I just fixed an American Girl doll who had been injured when two brothers pulled off her arms and a leg,” says Cheryl DuFresne of Cheryl’s Doll Hospital, in Almont, Michigan.
• To restore an heirloom, like a Madame Alexander doll.

For a directory of doll hospitals, check out DollDoctorsAssociation.com. Visit AmericanGirl.com for the American Girl hospital.

For plush creatures, Google “stuffed-animal hospitals.” Some hospitals can diagnose patients by mail. E-mail a photo and the hospital will send you an estimate. (Toy fixes start at about $30.)