Baby toys cleaning ideas

Rossangela

Hi guys
How do you people clean your baby toys? I usually clean them with plain water, but I feel that there is no much use in cleaning like that so I am looking for cleaning tips online.

pwurple

Didn't clean them a whole pile to be honest... but when we got used toys from elsewhere I used milton sterilisation solution.

lazygal

Depends on the toys. Anything with batteries etc I use hot water, drop of bleach and a cloth and wipe over. I soak the Lego in a plastic box with bleach and hot water. Soft toys in the washing machine when needed. Dolls I wipe over with a damp cloth.

Anne_cordelia

Milton. The only place for bleach is down the toilet.

bp

Milton and water but only when there has been a bug in the house such as the vomiting bug or hand, foot and mouth. Or a quick wipe with detail wipes. I rarely wash the toys - germs are good etc.

mirrorwall14

I've washed all soft toys in the washing machine including Lamaze (not electronics). Soaked bricks etc in Milton but generally only if something sticky got on them or infection in the house

Moonbeam

i only cleaned them when they needed it and I put most things through the dishwasher or washing machine.
Warm soapy water works well too.

BeardySi

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

Milton. The only place for bleach is down the toilet.

Milton IS bleach - 2% sodium hypochlorite (thick bleach is 4% and thin is usually 1.5-2%)

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I spritz some dettol spray on a damp j cloth or baby wipe, give the toys a quick wipe and let them dry. It's non bleach and safe on highchairs so I presume it's ok (never had any issues anyway!)

I give all the toys a good clean like this once a month, or after there's been an illness.

Dettol spray is my saviour

Anne_cordelia

Treadhead wrote: »

Milton IS bleach - 2% sodium hypochlorite (thick bleach is 4% and thin is usually 1.5-2%)

Really? You should write to tell the manufacturers who advertise it as bleach free.

Bleach is toxic if ingested whereas Milton doesn't even have to be rinsed off.

http://www.milton-tm.com/en/consumer/faqs

pwurple

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

Really? You should write to tell the manufacturers who advertise it as bleach free.

Bleach is toxic if ingested whereas Milton doesn't even have to be rinsed off.

http://www.milton-tm.com/en/consumer/faqs

Where do they advertise it as beach-free?

It is a very dilute bleach, with salt. That's how it kills ze germs.

Toxicity is about dose.

Mountainsandh

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

Bleach is toxic if ingested whereas Milton doesn't even have to be rinsed off.

http://www.milton-tm.com/en/consumer/faqs

Speaking of which, I always rinsed Milton sterilized teats, bottles and soothers. I wasn't convinced by the instructions, and a taste of a soother with Milton residue was off putting enough never to look back.

OP I used Milton tablets mostly, with final water rinse, also, dishwasher is great for hard plastics.

Good old fairy liquid too.

BeardySi

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

Bleach is toxic if ingested whereas Milton doesn't even have to be rinsed off.

http://www.milton-tm.com/en/consumer/faqs

Really? Ever swallow any water in a swimming pool they use sodium hypochlorite in that too - guess you're dead so.

Concentrated bleach is toxic if ingested. The great thing about bleach is that it can be highly diluted and still be effective in killing germs.

Incidentally I'd never use milton on my homebrew bottles as it leaves a taste that taints the beer. Instead I use highly dilute bleach and vinegar solution. It doesn't need rinsing, has less chlorine than a milton solution and still sanitises with a 30second contact.

lazygal

I never used Milton because I never had it in the house, no bottles needed to be sterilised with it as we boiled them the old fashioned way. Dilute bleach is perfectly safe to clean with.

Mountainsandh

Back in France my sister, for her last one 7 years ago, was told not to ever boil, or chemically sterilize anything. The doctor's advice was to fire it all into the dishwasher and that was enough sterilization (60 degrees or so I guess). They were just moving away from "serious" sterilization altogether.

There was never any difference between the last little guy and the older ones, health wise.

lazygal

Makes sense as its the formula that needs to be sterilised not the bottles.

shesty

Yeesh, I'm a bad parent.:eek: Only clean if there's been an illness or a lot of sticky food like chocolate, and at that, it's in a basin of boiling water and maybe a smidge of fairy liquid or dettol spray (in the water). Soft toys I run through the washing machine. Honestly, I've too much else to be doing to be constantly cleaning toys.

As for Milton, we've never had it. Steam steriliser for bottles - just throw in 90ml of cold water and off you go. My mum thinks it's the best invention ever, she's completely in awe of it (she had four kids and a few hundred litres of Milton through the house!!!)

jlm29

shesty wrote: »

Yeesh, I'm a bad parent.:eek: Only clean if there's been an illness or a lot of sticky food like chocolate, and at that, it's in a basin of boiling water and maybe a smidge of fairy liquid or dettol spray (in the water). Soft toys I run through the washing machine. Honestly, I've too much else to be doing to be constantly cleaning toys.

As for Milton, we've never had it. Steam steriliser for bottles - just throw in 90ml of cold water and off you go. My mum thinks it's the best invention ever, she's completely in awe of it (she had four kids and a few hundred litres of Milton through the house!!!)

If that makes you a bad parent, mine could phone childline, coz I'm way worse!

Rossangela

Thank you guys!! I finally saw this article, some tips for cleaning baby toys. But I really wonder how to clean the electronic toys.

pwurple

Yeah, I got milton for the floors, after someone with a tummy upset threw up on our kitchen floor... and we had a crawling baby at the time. It's one of the cheaper disinfectants... cheaper than flash etc. 
Electronic toys, just give them a wipe if they get actually dirty. 
This a first world problem, but my children have too much stuff for any of it to be played with enough to ever get dirty. It gets put away in cupboards, so there isn't even really dust, The only things I hose down routinely are wellies, bikes and the stuff in the garden that gets caked in mud.