How to Bathe The Bath Toys

I was giving Holden a bath the other night, he's splashing around, laughing and playing with his toys.  Then my super duper mom goggles came into play....I saw something floating in the water.  **insert Jaws theme music** 

Based on a previous experience I wish upon no parent, I in fact thought Holden had pooped in the tub, again.  So I quickly grabbed him out, then realized upon closer inspection, if in fact was not poo, but a big ol' nasty piece of MOLD!  Groody!!

I was a bit perplexed, he only has one small whale toy that has a hole in the bottom and can squirt water, the rest are letters/numbers and some little people.  So I don't know if the mold had floated out of the one and only squirt toy we had or what, but I saw a problem that needed to be fixed.

So the next day while I was on my cleaning spree of the guest room and Hubby/Holden's bathroom, I cleaned all his bath toys.  Here is what I did, pretty simple and easy to remember.

1.  Fill up tub with 3-4 gallons of water
2.  Add 1-2 cups of bleach
3.  Let soak for 45-60 minutes
4.  Give a good swirl in the water every 15 minutes
5.  Scrub EACH INDIVIDUAL TOY down with a toothbrush or scrub brush
6.  Let them air dry/or dry with towel
7.  Repeat every other week

toys soaking in bleach/water mixture

I let the big toys air dry in the tub.  I washed the cloth duck in the washer later that day.

toys drying on bath mat.  flipped them half once to dry evenly.

If you’re concerned about the same thing happening with your kids’ bath toys, here are a few tips I’ve learned:

 

-If in doubt, throw it out!

-Plug up any toys that are able to hold water with hot glue.

-Look for toys that have screw off caps, like these toys we have

-Clean and disinfect bath toys on a regular basis.  Even ones that don't collect water.

-Clean and disinfect the toy holder as well.

yay!  clean toys!  :)