The benefits of an alpaca fur stuffed animal

The benefits of an alpaca fur stuffed animal come from two things: the natural fur itself, and what holding something that soft means to a person. The fur is real, fine and light, and the toy is something to stroke, hug and keep close.

• Soft to the touch. Alpaca fibre is fine, and the fur of a Tubi alpaca is brushed by hand so it stays loose and full.
• Light and warm. Alpaca fibre is known for how well it holds warmth, so the toy feels warm in the arms without being heavy.
• No lanolin. Alpaca fur has none of the wax found in sheep's wool, so it does not feel greasy and suits people who find wool irritating.
• Natural, not synthetic. Each alpaca is real fur on a natural hide, so no two look or feel exactly the same.
• Something to hold. Studies of touch and of comfort objects suggest why a soft toy can feel reassuring, which this guide covers below.

Alpaca stuffed animals are soft because alpaca fibre is fine: a 2024 study in Archives Animal Breeding gives a thickness of 15 to 30 micrometres and describes the fibre as extremely delicate. Fine fibres bend easily against the skin, which is what the hand feels as softness.

The same study notes that alpaca fibre is valued for its excellent thermal insulation, which is why a large alpaca toy feels warm when it is held. Clothing made from it is seen as a luxury, and the toy is made from that same animal.

Softness also depends on the grade of fur. Tubi's Baby Alpaca collection uses the finest grade of alpaca fur, Mini to Medium, for a customer who wants the softest piece. Every other collection uses natural alpaca fur, brushed by hand in the workshop before the alpacas are boxed, so they leave Peru with the fur open rather than flattened.

Because alpaca fur has no lanolin, there is no waxy layer on the fibre. The fur feels dry and clean in the hand, and needs only a damp cloth and a soft brush to stay that way.

Natural alpaca fur is real animal fibre on a hide, while synthetic plush is a manufactured fabric made from a fibre such as polyester. Both can be soft, but they are different materials, and a customer notices it the moment they pick one up.

• Every piece is different. Plush is woven to the same pile and colour by the metre. Natural fur varies a little in length, wave and shade from one hide to the next, so each alpaca looks and feels slightly different.
• Made by hand. A Tubi alpaca is sewn and finished by hand in Peru, from Mini to Large (15 to 48 cm), so the shape and the face carry the hand of the artisan.
• The fur moves. Loose fibres open and settle as they are stroked, which gives the toy its depth.
• A natural material. For a customer who prefers natural materials at home, real fur on a natural hide is a clear choice over a synthetic fabric.

We know of no study that compares how people feel when they stroke natural fur rather than synthetic plush, so we do not claim one is better for a person than the other. What is certain is that they are different materials, and that alpaca fur is the natural one.

Touching something soft is pleasant for a reason that researchers can measure: the skin has nerve fibres, called C-tactile afferents, that respond most to slow, gentle stroking. In a 2009 study in Nature Neuroscience, Löken and colleagues recorded these fibres while a soft brush was stroked over people's skin. The fibres fired most at speeds of about 1 to 10 centimetres a second, the same speeds people rated as most pleasant.

A 2025 review in The Journal of Physiology describes these fibres as tuned to slow, gentle stroking at skin temperature and as part of the touch involved in social bonding and comfort. They are found mainly in hairy skin, such as the arm and the cheek, rather than in the palm of the hand.

This research is about touch on the skin, not about stuffed animals, so it proves nothing about any one toy. It does explain why softness matters to people, and why a soft toy is so often held against the cheek, the neck or the arm.

An alpaca stuffed animal is not a treatment for stress, but research links pleasant, gentle touch to the release of oxytocin and to lower levels of cortisol, a hormone the body releases under stress. A 2015 review in Frontiers in Psychology describes how low intensity stimulation of the skin, such as touch, stroking and warmth, releases oxytocin, and how oxytocin works against the stress response.

A few studies have looked at soft objects directly. In a small 2013 study in Scientific Reports, 18 women in their sixties held a 15 minute phone conversation; those who hugged a soft, human shaped cushion while talking showed a larger fall in cortisol than those who used a phone alone. The authors themselves ask for caution until the result is repeated.

The evidence also shows the limits. In a 2012 study of boys under stress, a friendly real dog lowered cortisol more than a friendly adult or a toy dog did, and stroking the real dog mattered while stroking the toy did not. A stuffed animal is a comfort, not a replacement for people or animals.

Children get attached to a stuffed animal or a blanket because it gives them a sense of security when a parent is not right there, and it is very common. A Leiden University paper from 1983 cites an American survey of 690 mothers in which about 60% of young children were attached to a soft object, and a Dutch survey of 352 mothers in which the figure was 57%.

The same paper notes that children want their favourite object most when going to sleep, in stressful moments, when tired or ill, and on long trips away from home. The psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott called it a "transitional object" in 1953: something of the child's own that stands in for the comfort of a parent while the child learns to be apart.

The Leiden researchers found no difference between securely and anxiously attached children in how often they had such an object, so a favourite soft toy is a normal part of growing up, not a sign that something is wrong.

For a baby under one year, the Safe to Sleep campaign of the US National Institutes of Health advises keeping soft objects and stuffed toys out of the sleep area. A soft toy is for holding while awake, and for the bed once a child is older.

Yes, research suggests that adults can find comfort in a soft object too, especially when they feel left out or uncertain. In a 2011 study in Social Psychological and Personality Science, Tai, Zheng and Narayanan made some students feel socially excluded. Those who then held a large teddy bear acted more generously afterwards than those who only looked at it, while touching the bear made no difference to students who had not been excluded.

In a 2013 study in Psychological Science, Koole and colleagues found that people with low self-esteem valued a teddy bear more after being reminded of death, and that holding a teddy bear rather than a cardboard box changed how they responded. A 2012 study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that people who were led to see close others as unreliable became more attached to their own belongings.

These are laboratory studies with students, and they show an effect in particular moments rather than a cure for loneliness. Together they suggest that the pull of a soft object does not end in childhood.

An alpaca stuffed animal asks nothing back: it needs no feeding, no walks and no answer, and it is there whenever someone reaches for it. The Leiden paper puts it in the language of attachment research, describing a child's favourite object as always present and always within reach, in a way that no person can be.

That is also why a soft toy fits the moments when nothing else does: a night away from home, a stay in hospital, a first room at university, a home where a pet is not allowed. It can be held as long or as briefly as someone likes, and it stays the same.

A comfort object adds to the people and animals in someone's life; it does not replace them. Its value is simple: it is soft, it is there, and it is theirs.

For a shop, the benefits of an alpaca fur stuffed animal are a reason to buy that customers understand at once: a natural, soft gift that comforts, for children and for adults. It suits a new baby, a birthday, a get well visit, a student leaving home, a grandparent, or someone who simply wants something soft of their own.

• Let customers touch it. Softness is felt, not read. Keep at least one alpaca out of its packaging on the shelf, at hand height.
• Say what is true. Natural alpaca fur, made by hand in Peru, no lanolin, soft and warm to hold. That needs no medical claim, and none should be made.
• Show the age label. Tubi puts the age label on every alpaca, and every alpaca passes the same tests by an independent accredited laboratory for mechanical safety, flammability and metals. The details are on our safety and compliance page.
• Offer a size for every moment. From the Mini that fits a pocket or a hospital bag to the Large that is held with both arms.

See every colour and size in the collection, the softest grade in Baby Alpaca, and how to order on how to order.