Cleaning toys

[fab01]

@jwd Is it safe for both hard and soft toys?

 

[jwd]

@fab01 I use it on everything but I do tend to put soft toys in the washer instead. It won’t bleach your clothes at that concentration but it will fade the colours. It will also rust metal over time.

Edit: fade colours

 

[fab01]

@jwd We have some soft stuff that can’t go in the wash technically so we probably just have to deal with the fading

 

[jwd]

@fab01 Yeah I slowly got rid of anything soft that couldn’t go in the washer.

 

[fab01]

@jwd That’s my goal with the next round of toys lol. Or to at least balance it

 

[janitrol]

@jwd And make sure you put it in a opaque spray bottle! It’ll lose its efficacy if stored in a clear bottle/exposed to light.

 

[onefreespirit]

@fab01 I usually feel pretty ok with Seventh Generation’s cleaners, I use their wipes on my babe’s high chair tray after meals (after wiping up the mess with a wet cloth, I wipe it down with one of these.) Says you don’t need to rinse before using whatever you cleaned, even if you eat food off of it; same thing with their general disinfecting sprays. Target pick up order for one of their sprays?

https://www.target.com/p/seventh-ge...cting-multi-surface-cleaner-26oz/-/A-13249006

https://www.target.com/p/seventh-ge...y-eucalyptus-38-spearmint-13-9oz/-/A-50906212

 

[yannickayuk]

@fab01 Get a few of those net bags made for washing delicate laundry. Put small plastic toys in the bags and run them through your dishwasher!

 

[keikomom]

@yannickayuk Do not do this with Legos. They will melt.

 

[jhoney]

@keikomom If you've got the option to turn off the heated dry do that. Anytime I've got a lot of plastic stuff to run I turn off heated try and towel it or set it out to dry

 

[danagirl]

@jhoney ...you guys have heated drying in your dishwasher? TIL there is such a thing!

 

[jimcarter]

@danagirl How else is the dishwasher supposed to dry the stuff? Letting it air dry?

 

[jhoney]

@danagirl If the dishes are hot when you take them out it's just turned off, you have it. It's a fairly standard function as far as I know. Not sure where you are but it's at least standard in the US

 

[yannickayuk]

@jhoney Yes! This is what we did in a preschool setting! Our kiddos were too little for legos, but the Duplos made it through just fine!

 

[katrina2017]

@yannickayuk Or clothes washer.

 

[dojusnider]

@fab01 This might be too much considering you’re recovering from surgery, but I’m considering doing a bath soak w some toys since we’ve gone through some nasty boogers in the past few days as well. I plan to let the kids play in the bubble bath, dump duplo legos/plastic food/animal figures in…and boom - entertainment for the kids, and you end up with clean kids and toys in one go. I’ll just shower off the bubbles off the toys and let them air dry in the tub over night. Might have some water collected in any upside down pieces but as long as they’re not stored in an airtight container they should continue to dry out…or you could shake around in a towel-lined basket to expedite the process.

 

[dbaileys]

@fab01 Look into Force of Nature (electrolyzed water) you might not have time to get it for today but it is strong like bleach but safe enough to use on food/toys. They usually run a good Black Friday sale too.

 

[mark433]

@fab01 My mom is a preschool teacher and during Covid, her school started using a product called Vital Oxide. Mixed at the right concentration, its food safe for surfaces and does not need to be rinsed! It's apparently quite environmentally friendly, you don't need gloves to handle it, and it has no odor.

 

[keyslammer]

@fab01 What is your goal? Clean, sanitize, or disinfect? Because those are 3 very different things and need different approaches.

If you are looking to clean washing in soapy water and rinsing will do the trick. If you are wanting to sanitize or disinfect you need to boil, steam, or apply a chemical for a set period of time (about 2 minutes to sanitize and about 10 minutes to disinfect - depending on the product in question and its concentration, always read product label for detailed instructions)

My recommendation would be diluted bleach. But you'll have to follow the instructions to properly sanitize or disinfect if that's the goal. It dissolves into salt and water (which evaporates) making it safe for use. A few problems: it may discolour toys, it can leave behind a white powder (salt residue). Bleach is also rendered inactive by organic material (visibly dirty objects) so in cases where you wish to sanitize or disinfect the first step would be to clean and remove any visible debris.

A quick spraying the toys down with whatever you ultimately end up choosing isn't likely to achieve any of these goals: you won't scrub enough to clean and contact time won't likely be long enough to sanitize or disinfect. You can always test how long the product stays wet to determine if it achieves the proper contact time based on the amount you sprayed.

Basically when it comes to cleaning (but especially sanitizing or disinfecting) one needs to do it the right way.

 

[fab01]

@keyslammer Understood. I Guess I’ll need to wait until my hands heal up enough (carpal tunnel surgery) so I can handle the toys. Ideally it would be a mix of cleaning and sanitizing