#beegee

Here are there before pictures!! They didn't smell bad which was a pleasant surprise; Winter did have a bit of an "old basement" smell but that came off in the wash so they both smelled a bit like soap

As you can see they're not in bad shape, just well loved over the last 17-20 years

First order of business was to unstuff them so they didn't get waterlogged in the wash! I used my seam ripper on their back stitches and found their original hearts, find a friend ID tags, and Elmo had a sound chip in him!

I wish I had a way to restore the sound chip, but since it's literally 20 years old I'll settle for keeping it as a memento

Ta da! Fluffless!

As for the washing process, I did a gentle cycle with a deep fill and All Free and Clear detergent

Insert the funny spin cycle photo

The drying process had a bit of trial and error: I eventually put them on the shoe rack so they wouldn't bang around in the wash (Elmo has big plastic eyes so this posed a very loud issue)

I set it to a 50 minute timed dry on the lowest heat setting and checked on them every ten minutes or so. I also found that you have to rotate them on the shoe rack so they dry evenly

Winter was dryer than Elmo a lot quicker, but after they were both only a little damp I took them out and got to brushing

I cleaned a wire dog brush and went against the grain until they were super fluffy again!

As you can see Elmo had a lot more debris than Winter!

After this I hung them up on hangers so they could dry the rest of the way overnight

The next day it was off to build a bear! I actually work there so my experience/process will likely be a bit different than the average person, but I'll still let you know both what I did and what you would likely do!

I added a sound chip to Winter and placed both their original hearts and a new one in them so they could be extra loved!

After they were stuffed (I like mine pretty firm), I closed them up with a ladder stitch and a kiss!

And there they are!! Fully restored build a bear friends. This was such a fun process and I'd honestly love to try it again with new friends sometime!