Its Important to do regular maintenance on your suit to extend its "life" and keep it looking brand new!
What to wear
It’s highly recommended that you invest in a couple sets of under armour tops and bottoms to wear under your costume. It not only helps wick away sweat and keep you cooler, but also keeps your suit dry and clean longer. You can also purchase something to wear on your head as well. Sweat will very likely drip down into your eyes and your hair will fall down into your face if you don’t wear something on your head. A bandana, skull cap, or balaclava are some examples. Just make sure they are all rated for summer and cooling, not winter. It’s definitely worth the investment to extend the life of your suit and keep you comfortable while in it!
African Wild Dog. Made in 2017
Storage
How you store your suit is a very important part of overall costume care. Keep it somewhere that isn't too hot, cold or damp. A dry, room temperature place is ideal. Hanging your bodysuit up can prevent the fur from getting permanent creases or crimps like it would if stuffed into a container. If you do prefer to keep your suit in a container, please make sure to gently fold it and don’t force it in too tight as its more likely the fur will crimp. Make sure your suit is always completely dry before storing to prevent it from growing mold.
Transportation
A hard plastic suitcase is suggested for transporting your suit to and from events. Having it in a sturdy case will keep it safe from the elements and getting damaged. Always take extra care when packing your suit up. Don't squish any parts just to make them fit, they could potentially get stuck that way. Some clients even write notes to advise TSA to handle their costumes with care. I do not recommend vacuum sealing any part of your suit as it can cause permanent creasing or crimping. If you are traveling on a plane, taking the head as a carry on is your best bet. Keep it in a loose bag at your feet that way you can make sure it doesn’t get damaged in transport.
Cleaning Body and Paws
If you feel your suit only needs a light cleaning, you can put it directly into the washing machine on gentle with COLD water. However if it needs a deep cleaning, you can fill up a bathtub with cold water and place the bodysuit and paws in. Add laundry detergent to the water and use your fingers to scrub it into the fur. Don’t use bleach! Pay particular attention to areas that are the dirtiest. You want to work the soap in and the dirt out, but don't scrub so hard that you’re damaging the fur! Carefully flip the bodysuit inside out and do the same. Once satisfied with scrubbing, drain the water and fill the tub up with water again to give the suit a light rinse. Drain the tub and make sure you squish as much water out of the suit as possible, but don’t wring the suit out as that can cause stretching.
Before and after cleaning feet paws
Once your suit is drained of water and turned inside out, evenly distribute it inside the washer and set it to a COLD gentle rinse, just a rinse and spin. Having it spin will rid the suit of a lot of water and help make sure all the detergent gets rinsed out. Once done, turn your suit right side out again. It should be dry/light enough to hang up. Hang it on a hanger and give the suit a good, but gentle, brushing. Use a fan to help with the drying process. Brush it again every couple of hours as it dries to insure the fur stays nice.
Feet paws may take days to dry so be 100% positive they are dry before storing. Place them directly in front of a fan so the air blows inside the ankles.
Head Cleaning
To clean the inside of your head you will use a mixture of two parts water, one part rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle. Be sure not to spray on the eyes. You can crumple up paper towel in the eye sockets to protect them during cleaning. The mixture will help sanitize your suit without the chemical affects that Frebreze and other deodorizers have. The outside can be spot cleaned with Folex (a carpet cleaning spray). Do not attempt to machine wash your head. There is a new method of deep cleaning fursuit heads with a hand held carpet shampooer. If you decide to try that, just make sure you keep water out of the eyes, rise well, and be gentle! The fur on your costume will not grow back! Place your head on a fan to make sure it gets completely dry before storing. Brush the fur as it dries to keep it looking pristine.
Other Tips
-Do not use any form of heat such as a dyer, hair dryer, or iron. These could melt the fur which in most cases is not reversible.
-Always be cautious of your surroundings when suiting and avoid dirty/messy areas, it will help keep your suit cleaner longer.
-Folex spray cleaner is highly recommended for spot cleaning your suit in a pinch.
-Brush your suit between wears to keep the fur from matting, this includes the face, fingers and toes!