Starbucks Bearista Bear Care

As a Bearista collector I have sought out advice and counsel on how to handle everything from cleaning to storing my collection. Since I have gepiled this information I thought it would be good to share what I have found with fellow collectors. I am not and expert so please use your own best judgment when caring for your Bearista bears.
STORING:
If you are notdisplaying yourbears or have extra bears, DO NOT store them in zip lock type bags. The bags collect moisture and your bears could mold, that would be terrible. If you have them in bags, open them to allow the bears to breath until youcan change your storage method. As a better option, you can store them inpillow cases,white is best. The cases allow them to breathe and keeps the dust out.Moth balls or cedar in the area to keep bugs away from your bears is also a good idea,donotput them on the bears as close to them is good enough.
GENERAL CARE:
Keep your Bearista bears away from direct sunlight or high wattage bulbs, bears should notbe put in direct flow of air conditioners or heaters. Do not put your bears in the washing machine..
At least once a month clean the area where the bears are stored or displayed, do not clean the area with the bears in it as the cleaners can harm the bears, also be careful to wipe the surface dry to remove any residual residue from cleaners prior toputting bears back.
Vacuum the bears a couple of times a year witha round softbristle brush or through a screen to keep them clean without harming the bears or costumes.
Ok, this one is a little strange but once a year place your Bearista in the freezerfor 15 minutes. This action will kill any little mites or bugs that can make a home in your bears.
Toreduce the effect of moisture in the home from harming the bears you should keep some silica or something that controls moisture, this is very important if you live in a humid climate or have your bearsin a closed display. A little glass filled with the silica works well. To help keep odors off the bears you can keep baking soda in your display case.The shakers you findin a pizza parlor work well, they let the odors in but keep the soda contained.
CLEANING YOUR BEARS:
While you shouldn't need to do any major cleaning if you take good care of your Bearistabears, however occasionally something may happen or you might acquire a bear that needs some help. Here are some tips thathave been known to workwell.
A popular bear general cleaner is called Your Lovable Teddy Bear Cleaner, it is made by Seige. It can be found through mail order, okay stores as well as some craft supply stores. Spray a little on and wipe off with a clean white cloth.
For tougher stains you can try OxiClean powder. Take a 4oz cup, (plastic is best so you can throw it away when you are done) put one scoop of the cleaner in the cup and add warm (not boiling) and stir. While the mixture is fizzing put some on thespot and blot right away.If the spot is small use a Q-Tip to keep the cleaneron only what you need to clean. DO NOT make a paste and let it sit, use the wet and blot method to cleanthe bear and be sure to blot well enough to remove all the cleaner from the bearorcostume.
BE AWARE some Bearista bear costumes are not color fast andif they get wet the colors will bleed and ruin the entire costume so take care to test the smallest possible area prior to tryingany cleaning method. The baseball bears seem to be the most sensitive to cleaning.
Sometimes bears can pick up odors, you can give it a little Febreeze sprayto try and remove the odor.Do not spray it on any of the costume that may get damaged.You can wrap the bear in a white dishtowel lightly sprayed and that will do thetrick.With this method of freshening your bears be careful, do not get them to wet with the spray as it could causecolor bleed on the costumes, in addition some generic fresheners have been known to leave a sticky residue so again test a small area firstbefore doing a major freshen up job.

Enjoy your bears!!!!