Sun:
Obviously, a bright and sunny day is a perfect opportunity for your mascot to be out in the world. However, one thing to always consider is the temperature. It can get quite warm inside a mascot costume, and your performer can easily become overheated. This can happen even on days considered cold. Take a look at our mascot cooling blog for more information on how to cool your mascot performer.
No matter the weather we always recommend wiping down the inside of the costume with cleaning solution after each time the mascot gets used. Mascot performers will sweat no matter what, and sweat contains salt. Salt causes rust and stains. Avoid this problem by giving the inside of your mascot some post-performance care. Even if all you have at your disposal is some anti-bacterial wipes; consistent use will have a huge impact on the longevity of your mascot costume.
For more information, on mascot cleaning, see our blog!
The final thing we want to mention in this section is sun bleaching. How much the sun bleaches a mascot depends on your climate, your fabric/fur, and the time you spend outdoors. Outdoor Mascots that come to us from places like Texas, are much more susceptible to bleaching than those from up here in Wisconsin. On the extreme side of things, we have some clients that run their mascots outdoors in the sun every day of the week. Their fur is noticeably faded after a year. But we also have some clients that only have a few outdoor showings a year, and their fur’s color lasts over 8-10 years. To show you the variance of sun bleaching, we’ve assembled some samples. All of these are from the same client, but their mascots are based all over the United States: