Before Wearing

Before you wear your suit, make sure you and your clothes are clean. Personal hygiene goes a long way in ensuring your suit stays as clean as possible over time. You should wear a spandex or thin cotton underlayer, like Under Armor, and it should be full sleeve and leg length. 

During Wear

While wearing your suit, especially outside or in public, it’s best to have someone with you to help you spot hazards or suit dangers like puddles and mud. If you have suit sandals, wear them! When it’s time to eat or drink you should take your head off, unless you’re drinking water from a straw, to prevent spills or drips on your suit. You should consider a napkin in your lap depending on what you’re eating.

After Wearing

After taking off your suit check it over from tip to tail for any dirt or damage. Small bits of dirt can be spot washed, but after a few wears you may want to give your suit a whole wash. If your suit is visibly clean, turn it inside out and give it a once over spray with rubbing alcohol diluted to around 30% ( this is 1 part 91% alcohol to 3 parts water), and give extra attention to the parts wherever you sweat the most.

Foot paws, hand paws, and your fursuit head should have their insides sprayed with the same alcohol solution.

Washing

Spot Washing

You can spot wash using a wet warm rag and diluted laundry soap, or Folex carpet cleaner. Wet the dirty area by dabbing at it with only warm water first to remove as much as you can. Gently rub soap into the area and let it sit. Wipe off with a clean rag and repeat as necessary.

Bathtub washing

Fill the tub with cold or cool water and add a mild detergent. Add your suit parts and scrub by hand any visible dirt and any sweaty areas. Agitate your suit around in the water and then let it sit for at least a few minutes. Drain the tub and run the water to rinse your parts, use a detachable showerhead if you have one. Squeeze out any excess water, and transfer somewhere to dry, following drying instructions below.

Washing Machine

Wash with cold water and a mild liquid detergent on the gentle or delicate cycle, and put small parts like hand paws into a delicates bag. Run the spin cycle at least one extra time to get out as much water as you can, you may need to rearrange the parts in the washer. Once washed, transfer somewhere to dry, following drying instructions below.

Drying

Lay your parts out flat on towels on a table or the floor. You can also drape suits over the backs of two chairs facing opposite of each other. Point any fans you have at your parts as they dry to help speed things along. Brush the parts while they are drying to keep the fur in good condition. 

Storing

Make sure you store everything away from the sun and any strong sources of UV light. Keep your suits as temperature controlled as you can, but remember heat is more damaging. Suits can be hung on wide hangers or folded flat, but note sometimes fur creases are difficult to remove. How you store your parts can deform the foam, so try and keep heads sitting out or at least keep the ears from being squished.

Tips

Use a metal comb, natural bristle brush, or a slicker brush to reduce static and keep your fur looking smooth.

Purex crystals can be used while washing to add a nice scent to your suit. Other alcohol based scents are okay too.

If you end up using bleach on white fur, use it sparingly as it weakens fibers over time.

Avoid the following

• Don’t be aggressive with any kinds of brushes, you will rip out fur.
• Don’t Use Febreze, Woolite, fabric softeners, or aerosol products. All of these weaken fabric fibers over time.
• Don’t use hot water when washing, or a blowdryer on high heat, as you can damage the fur.
• Don’t leave your suit anywhere that gets too hot, like a sunny room, or even in the car for long periods of time as this can damage the fur and even cause glue to melt.