My daughter has a stuffed toy who is the centre of her universe - obviously I am a very bad mother. Anyway, it has one of those "surface wash only" labels, so I was afraid to put it in the washing machine. However, in desperation due to extreme grubbiness and whiffiness, I stuck it in a pillowcase and put it on a gentle cool wash, followed by a gentle tumble drying. Results - perfect. I think you just need to be careful about too much heat because of the stuffing.