Ask ten suppliers what is inside their plush toys and most will say “PP cotton”. Ask what that means and the answers diverge. The filling is invisible in the finished product, which makes it the easiest specification to leave vague — and one of the few where a hygiene standard applies specifically to the material rather than the toy.
Why filling is regulated separately
Toy safety standards test the toy as a whole. They do not say much about what is inside it, beyond flammability and the migration of heavy metals. That leaves open questions the standards do not cover: is the fibre clean, is it free of pathogens, is it free of industrial residue.
China addresses this with GB 18383-2007, General Technical Requirements for Filling Fibre Products. It governs the hygiene of the filling material itself. For a plush toy exported to markets with their own requirements, GB 18383 compliance is the baseline, not the ceiling — but it is the standard that most directly addresses what a parent would worry about.
The four filling types
Polyester fibre (PP cotton). The default for soft toys. Short, crimped polyester staple fibre, carded and blown into the shell. It is soft, light, washable, and holds shape well when packed at the right density. Nearly all soft plush uses it, and the wording “100% polyester fibre” on a label is describing exactly this.
Foam beads / EPS pellets. Small expanded polystyrene spheres. Used where the toy needs to hold a shape rather than be squashed — the classic beanbag plush, some cushion-style products. They give a distinctive weighted, shifting hand-feel.
Weighted pellets. Dense material, usually plastic or steel beads, sewn into an inner bag. Used in weighted plush, some therapy products, and in the base of toys that must stand upright. This is where the “weighted beanbag” style sits.
Mixed construction. Many products use more than one: fibre for the body, beads in the base for stability, a weighted bag in the seat. This is normal and worth specifying explicitly, because “filled with PP cotton” does not describe a toy that stands up.
What the density changes
Fill density is specified as a weight of fibre per toy, and it is the variable buyers notice most without being able to name:
- Under-filled — the toy looks deflated after a week, seams pucker, and it will not sit upright.
- Correctly filled — holds its silhouette, feels substantial, recovers after squeezing.
- Over-filled — seams are under tension, the plush feels hard, and the risk of seam failure under the pull test goes up.
For display and collector pieces, density is usually pushed higher than for cuddle toys. For infant products, softer. Neither is “better” — they are different briefs, and the sample is where you confirm which one you asked for.
Washability
If the end user will machine-wash the toy, the filling choice matters:
- Polyester fibre survives washing well and dries reasonably.
- Foam beads survive, but the shell must be sewn to tolerate the added stress.
- Weighted pellets require the inner bag to be secure — a split inner bag means pellets working loose inside the shell.
State the intended wash regime in the enquiry. A toy designed for spot-cleaning only and one designed for a 40 °C machine cycle are not built the same way.
What to ask a supplier
- What exactly is the filling material, and what is the fibre specification?
- Is the filling GB 18383 compliant, and under whose test report?
- What is the fill weight per toy, not just “soft” or “firm”?
- Is anything other than fibre used — beads, pellets, an inner weighted bag?
- What is the intended wash regime the construction was designed for?
Question four is the one most often skipped. A buyer who specifies “soft plush with PP cotton” and receives a weighted keychain has not been misled — they described a soft toy and got a product with a different interior construction. Both are valid; they are not the same specification.
Our own baseline
Every design in our catalogue uses 100% polyester fibre filling, produced to GB 18383-2007 alongside the GB 6675 series and GB/T 9832-2007. Weighted styles add an internal bead bag, which is called out on the product page rather than left implicit.
If you are specifying a fill weight for a new design and are not sure where to start, send the intended use — infant comfort object, retail display piece, weighted desk item — and we will propose a density range before sampling begins.