Dear Home-Ec 101,
What is the best way to clean infant toys?
Signed,
Stink, Rattle & Roll
Ivy says:
When cleaning toys that are going to go into a baby’s mouth (which is everything baby gets her hands on), you want to go with cleaning products that are both natural and safe. I have two recommendations.
For toys that need a good scrubbing, use baking soda. It has very mild abrasive power and is great for removing odors as well. Just mix it with water to make a very thin paste and scrub away!
For a cleanser with antiseptic properties, use 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil to 2 cups of water and put into a spray bottle. Spray onto the toys and wipe clean. Tea tree oil has well known antiseptic properties and is safe to use. Make sure you keep any undiluted tea tree oil away from children as undiluted tea tree oil can cause skin irritation.
Thanks for a great question!
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Hard plastic toys can be cleaned in your dishwasher as long as you don’t have an exposed heating element.
Put them into a mesh delicates bag meant for laundry and place on the top rack. They can share a load with all your other dishes. I’ve done it several times! I bought toddler lego at a garage sale and used this method to clean them. Don’t use the dry cycle, let them air dry spread out on a towel.
Drop of Dawn antibac dish soap in a big bucket of warm water. Scrub. Changing the water 2x. Rinse really good. Once in a great while I use a drop of bleach with cold water to really sanitize the toys. But I wash and rinse them a ton. I know you’re looking for more natural answers, but nasty germs really bug me out.