I just washed my body too, same exact method!

Don't forget the Baking Soda

Never heard of adding that, but it can't hurt.

Baking soda, just by adding 1 cup, helps remove more human oils from the fur, dirt and stuff that soap can't get and it makes the suit smell that much fresher.

You've ruined the magics! Now you won't smell like your fursona.

i always do this too! back when i was my high school mascot, i wore a shaggy badger suit. it had been used for 12 years before me, and the cheer coach said it had never been washed, only dry cleaned. eeeeeeeeehhhh!! when i took it home before going to my first game in it, my mom was repulsed and said "of COURSE this can be washed! we will turn it inside out, use Woolite, and cold water with a gentle cycle" bahaa my mom knew how to care for fursuits way before fursuits were a thing. 15 years later i start making/owning fursuits and have always washed them this way! works like a charmy charm!

Does it matter if it's a high efficiency vs a normal washer? I heard that normal washer is a lot easier on fabric in general, but i don't know if that's really true or not.

Not sure. I've heard the HE front loaders are easier on fabric.

Heeey! I do that tooo! HIGH FIVE...or paw..or hoove. whatever.

Oh lord, why. >_<

Because I don’t want to smell like ass when suiting or have crusty nasty fur on my suits. Also the fact that hand washing would not work as well, over saturate the suit, and machine washing has a spin cycle that rings out most of the water making for a shorter drying time. Machine washing also softens the backing, making the suit more comfortable.

Hmmm I was always afraid of machine washing my fursuit. I'll try it and see how much of a difference it is than hand washing.
Also do you use just regular bleach free detergent with the woolite or just woolite?

Just Woolite.

Heck, as long as your suit can handle the machine, go for it. I'm just not confident enough to put mine in the wash, but then mine are gently used for about 4 hours every 4 months... and they're partials, so most of the stink goes into my clothes and spandex.

The only thing that goes in the machine is the body suit.

How do you clean your the head ?

The head just gets surface cleaned as needed. The inside gets sprayed with enbac or lysol which kills any bacteria and put a fan blowing in. I wear a balaclava under it, so that gets most of the dirt.

thanks that helps out I've been trying to figure out how to clean my head it has air brushing wasn't really sure if I needed to use wet cloth or what

I tend to think that Trigger Happy Squirrel came up with a great idea with his Forced Air Trees, which are a bunch of plastic pipes with a powerful blower at the base. Just place your wet head on the end of one branch and in a few minutes, it'll be dry.

Erm...as for cleaning the outside...yea. Probably with gentle elbow grease and wet towels.

Don't wet wash a fursuit head with airbrushing, it will fade if not wash out. Keep the inside clean and dry, the outside...if it gets dirty enough you'll have to have it re-airbrushed after cleaning. Heavy wear fursuits shouldn't have much to any airbrushing just to avoid this issue.