What types of stuffed animals are there?
Stuffed animals come in all shapes and sizes. They are usually classified based on their appearance, as they tend to be shaped like well-known creatures or objects. The most common stuffed animal is the bear: known as “teddy bears”, these plushie bears range in design from brown bears and panda bears to koala bears and gummy bears. Though they come in the form of tiny key chains as well as giant teddy bears the size of large armchairs, they are generally about 20 centimeters high.
Aside from the teddy bear, common stuffed animals are dogs and cats, or easily recognizable animals such as the inhabitants of the African savannah: the giraffe, the lion, or the elephant.
Though the term “stuffed animal” indicates all plushies resemble animals, this is untrue. While most of them do resemble real animals, many of them are shaped in different ways. Common plushie variations are ones that are shaped like spirits or mythological creatures, or fictional characters from books, films, and pop culture franchises. In addition, there are plushies that resemble real individuals, such as Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Rosie O’Donnell, and there are plushies shaped like foods, plants, body parts, landmarks, and inanimate objects, ranging from croissants and sushi rolls to vehicles and mobile phones.
What materials are used to produce stuffed animals?
One of the key aspects of what makes stuffed animals so attractive is that they are flexible and soft. Together with their often cute and exaggerated features, this makes them very suitable as objects of comfort. The softness of a stuffed animal largely depends on the materials used to make it. Most plushies are made from soft fabrics on the outside, to give make them gentle to touch. The fabrics used are similar those used in the production of clothing.
Just how malleable a stuffed animal is depends on its insides. Cotton and wood wool are two of the most common types of stuffing, as the are soft, natural materials. Stuffed animals containing wool can be bend thousands of times before they ever start losing form. The problem with wool, however, is that the material can’t be machine washed or dried without losing its form. Good quality cotton on the other hand will have been preshrunk before used as a stuffing, which is why plushies made with cotton are more easy to wash. Plushies filled with polyester fiberfill are also very common, as polyester is relatively cheap and won’t cause allergic reactions.
Stuffed animals which are firmer and heavier are usually made with foam, or with mohair fiber – the same material used to create the world’s first teddy bears. Other types of stuffing are bamboo fiber, corn fiber, and plastic, foam, steel or glass pellets. Plushies filled with pellets are extremely malleable and are held into shape only by their coating. Pellet-filled stuffed animals are not intended for children under the age of 3, as they contain small parts.
Finally, homemade plushies are often filled with fabric scraps or felt.
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