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6 Safety Precautions for Coronavirus and Mascot Cleaning
- April 15, 2020
- By Admin : Hogtown Mascots
- Views : 1552 views

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining proper hygiene has become a constant routine. Hands are being vigorously washed, clothes are being cleaned on a frequent basis, and personal items are being disinfected with an alarming urgency. As you exercise vigilance against the coronavirus, there’s one safety precaution that requires your full attention: cleaning your mascot costume.
Mascot cleaning is a priority under normal circumstances, but this task is especially important now, during the coronavirus pandemic. As we know, bacteria and viruses can spread easily and survive for various lengths of time on different surfaces, so your mascot costume could easily be exposed to these types of germs as well. By keeping your mascot costume clean and sanitized, these safety precautions may help to decrease the threat level of COVID-19.
To ensure your mascot costume is cleaned thoroughly, you will need to follow a set of safety precautions. These following instructions will teach you how to clean a mascot properly:
1. Proper hand hygiene is essential

Your hands are the main culprits of spreading germs and bacteria. Every time you touch your mascot costume, you are at risk of contaminating the entire garment with your unwashed hands. One of the best ways to prevent the spread of the coronavirus is to maintain proper hand hygiene. This means washing your hands frequently at regular intervals with soap and warm water.
Your hands should always be washed before touching the mascot costume. This is a safety precaution to avoid transferring any harmful bacteria onto the costume material. To wash your hands properly, follow these best practices:
First, wet your hands with warm water. Then, apply a reasonable amount of soap on both sides of your hands.
Next, wash the hands for at least twenty seconds. This should include your palms, the back of the hand, between fingers, and under the nails.
Finally, rinse well and dry your hands with a paper towel. You should also use the paper towel to turn off the tap.
2. Disinfect key areas of the mascot costume
While coronavirus is a dangerous disease, its threat level can be substantially reduced with the appropriate disinfectant. In order to sanitize the mascot, the best practice is to disinfect areas of the costume that come into contact with your skin. You should disinfect any part of the costume that was touched by your hands, but keep in mind there may be additional sections that require cleansing.
You can use a variety of disinfectant spray or wipes. Apply these disinfectants on wherever the costume material will touch your skin. As a bonus, doing this will ensure your costume stays free of foul odours!
3. Clean with a wet & dry vacuum
A wet/dry vacuum is a helpful tool for mascot cleaning. This vacuum is commonly used to remove dirt from the mascot costume, but it can cleanse germs and bacteria from the material as well. To use the vacuum, start by preparing two spray bottles. One bottle should contain warm water and a teaspoon of detergent. The other bottle should contain cool or room temperature water, which will be used as a rinse.
After the two bottles are prepared, spray the soapy water on dirty areas and scrub gently. Vacuum up the soapy water and spray the area with the clean water. Continue spraying and vacuuming until all the soapy water is removed.
4. Machine wash your mascot costume

If you want to use your washing machine, there are parts of your mascot costume that can be machine washed. These include the jumpsuit, gloves, and an assortment of loose clothing. It’s important to note that the coronavirus can live for hours on clothing, but it can be killed by washing with regular laundry detergent.
When you clean a mascot costume, only wash one layer of the costume at a time. Use cold water in a gentle cycle setting, but don’t apply an excessive amount of detergent. If your mascot has hand-sewn details, the washing machine may exert too much force and potentially damage the garment. Instead, it would be safer to wash the costume by hand.
For the best mascot cleaning results, try using a front-loading machine, preferably without an agitator. A washing machine with agitators can be hard on costume fabrics and handsewn components, so avoid using this type of machinery if possible.
5. Clean plastic parts properly
Your mascot costume may contain plastic parts that can’t go into the washing machine, such as the eyes. However, the plastic components can still get scuffed and dirty over time. It’s important that you don’t neglect these sections during your mascot cleaning.
To clean the mascot, you can first try a cloth dampened with water and a mild soap. If that doesn’t seem to do the trick, you can try rubbing the costume with alcohol wipes. These wipes have the added bonus of being able to disinfect. Just make sure to test on a small area first, since the alcohol may remove paint.
6. Let your mascot dry after use
The final step of mascot cleaning is to let your costume fully dry after each use. Don’t just stuff the mascot costume immediately into a confined space, like a car trunk. After all, it can get pretty hot wearing a mascot, so the costume might be drenched in sweat after a while. When a damp mascot costume doesn’t have air circulation, this creates a breeding ground for bacteria and odours.
After each use, the mascot should be laid out to dry, allowing air to circulate and dry the costume completely. Once the costume is fully dry, keep the mascot in a storage space where it has plenty of air circulation. This is an important safety precaution to maintain the mascot’s upkeep in the long term.
As we take extra safety precautions during COVID-19, it’s important that mascot costumes are cleaned on a regular basis. Contact Hogtown Mascots to learn more about our professional mascot cleaning services!