I have cartons of adorable stuffies that I want to give to my grandniece, but they’ve been gathering dust for years. I was thinking throwing them in with machine grade Woolite, but even that has soapy chemicals that may irritate her skin. I welcome all suggestions
What is a “stuffie?”
stuffed animals etc
AKA, ‘plush toys’.
Delicate cycle, dreft detergent, several times through on “air dry” in the dryer, until the outside only feels damp. Then give them a cycle on the hot setting. It’s the steam that usually melts the fluff, so once you’ve got them mostly dry, it’s safe to run them through on hot to kill any dust mites etc. still hiding inside.
The one problem is really old toys with cotton stuffing. Those will get lumpy and lopsided int he washer.
are there alternatives to machine washing that are all or mostly chemical-free?
How to clean stuffed animals gets a lot of interesting hits on google. At least one of the links suggests vacumming them.
thank you!
In New England (especially Rhode Island), “stuffies” only refer to one thing, and that is stuffed clams.
…Which makes the OP rather confusing. 
If you’re just worried about the outside being dusty/dirty. Maybe you could just rinse them in the sink and then toss them in the dryer. At least that way the entire thing won’t be soaked.
It seems to me that a dryer will only heat an item to a given temperature, based on the dryer setting, regardless of whether or not water vapor is present, so I don’t think that your drying suggestion makes much sense. The fluff is either going to melt at a given setting or not, I would think.
We wash my dog’s favorite toy - a large stuffed ball - all the time in the washing machine, then put it in the dryer. If you’re looking for delicate washing detergent, use Dreft.
I have a stuffed animal that I still sleep with (shut up!) and he gets washed in the washing machine, inside a pillow case, then hung out on the line to dry. I’ve been led to believe that drying stuff in the sun is good for killing nasties as well.
My mother used to do the pillow method as well. And if the stuffing DOES get matted, you can always buy the stuffing at Joann’s or another craft store, and re-stuff!
I’m going by experience here, not sure why it works that way. I do know that steam hurts more than dry air at the same temperature though. I’d imagine it has to do with heat conductivity. . .
You never read Calvin & Hobbes if you have to ask 
no, I read it years ago in first run, and didn’t memorize it 
I’ve dealt with every single stuffed toy my kids ever owned the same way:
*Bung 'em in the washing machine with ordinary detergent
*Rinse well
*Hang 'em by the ears until they’re dry. May take a couple of days for big things.
And believe me, some of those “favourite” toys get REALLY feral.
If you’re worried about chemicals in the washing powder (I always washed our kids stuff in the same powder we use and never had a problem, but some kids do have sensitive skin) just ask the niece’s parents what they use and use that. Problem solved. I never yet met a stuffed animal that could be destroyed by an ordinary wash cycle, and air drying is Good Stuff.
I’ve heard that putting them in the freezer for 24 hours can kill bugs and mites inside the toy, so that might be worth trying if you have the space?
I also saw on one of those green cleaning programmes a suggestion to toss the toys in a bag containing wheatbran and a little vinegar - it’s meant to clean them without having to soak in water. I have to confess I tried this and then had to comb a lot of the wheatbran out of the long hairs on the stuffed animals I have - but perhaps I did it wrong. Might be worth googling this if you want to avoid the washing machine.
I’ve seen suggestions to put the stuffed animals into a big bag with a bunch of baking soda. Shake liberally, then shake out the baking soda. If they’re just dusty and not actually dirty, cleaning them with water may not be necessary.
ah! that sounds like the method best suited for my plushies. Thank you.