How do I wash a doll filled with ABSORBENT cotton?

So I have a doll filled with absorbent cotton, can I wash it normally like any other doll, or will washing it destroy its form?





It's a doll in the shape of a person, much like a plushie, only filled with absorbent cotton.|||That could depend on how tightly the cotton is packed, how large a space the cotton takes up in each "cell" it's stuffed into, how bit the doll actually is, whether any other parts of the doll would be damaged by washing, and whether you really need to clean the interior of the doll as well as the exterior.



If the cotton is tightly packed into every cell, and you really want to wash the whole doll, it's probably possible in the machine on gentle or in a mesh bag in the machine or just in a sink or tub, but the drying will be the biggest problem. It will take a long time to get really dry all the way to the center of the inside, but you could make sure it gets lots of air circulation and warmth until it's totally done or at least close.



Otherwise, just clean the exterior of the doll by scrubbing with cleaning fluid or alcohol, or with water or with soap and water, or with some of that spray stuff used to clean upholstery.

Some of those will dry fairly quickly, but even if you use water and it gets down into the surface of the doll while cleaning at least it won't disturb the stuffing as much and will dry much more quickly once you're done.



If you do wash it and the cotton bunches in areas, you can rearrange the cotton to some degree by pushing a long stiff needle into the doll and moving the cotton to one side or the other with the needle a bit...might have to do that repeatedly.



You could also just make a slit down the back of the doll and remove the cotton stuffing. Then replace with polyester stuffing, or whatever you want. Sew the slit back together (probably by hand) or glue it...might need to overlap the sides or use a new strip of fabic or interfacing (even the iron-on kind) over the join, etc.|||I myself would try alcohol {not the drinking kind}on a small portion of the doll that cannot be seen.