Cleaning Bath Toys - Santa Monica,CA

Here's what I always did:
Fill a bucket with Tide and bleach. Wear gloves. Scrub them in the bucket with a brush. In my experience, it's the INSIDES that get the most disgusting so squeeze water in, shake the toy, then squirt water out til no more gross stuff squirts out.

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I periodically fill the tub with hot water and bleach and let the bath toys soak, then use a scrub brush on them. Cleans the toys & the tub at the same time.

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I put them in a basket made for tubs that hang over the side so things in it can drip dry...not sure what its called...anyhoo, I used an attached sprayer and rinse them w/hot water every time while in the basket, turning over the toys that doesn't easily drain out water. Then, about once a month or every 2 months, I soak them in the kitchen sink in water and a little bit of bleach.

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I Washed them in the dishwasher.

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I just threw them in the dishwasher every week or so.

As far as washing them in the tub with soap after every bath...no, I didn't. I rinsed them and put them in a plastic basket to dry...the basket suction-cupped onto the tub wall.

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My husband does bath, so you know what that can mean!! I soak them in the tub with water and bleach, but not often enough. I've gotten rid of all toys that squirt. You can never clean those and they just harbor mold/germs. I have to admit that I don't keep on top of cleaning bath tub toys, but my boys are alive and thriving despite whatever goes on while daddy is in there with them!

Once a week I mix hot water and white vinegar in the kitchen sink and soak all of my DD's bath toys for about 20 minutes. This gets all the soap scum off, freshens the toys, and is a mild sanitizer. This works great as it doesn't harm the toys or fade the colors like bleach.

I throw them in a lingerie bag in the clothes washer with baking soda.

I also don't let my kids sit in soapy water. I put them in a waterless tub, wash them, rinse them and then fill the tub with clean water. Too many chemicals in soaps and bubble bath to have them marinate in it.

have you tried the gentle cycle in the washing machine w/ a couple towels?

I don't use bath toys for this reason. They harbor mold, soap scum.... The ones that float you have to squeeze out and you can even clean them with a water/bleach/vinegar solution then let them air dry. I let my boys bring in toy cars or big leggos, but they never stay in the bath... then I will sometimes put them in the dishwasher.

Every once in a while I wash them in the washing machines. Some of them (the once that squirt water that can stay inside and get really germy) I throw out.

This may sound odd, but I have actually put mine through the dishwasher (top shelf). When I worked for a day care, every evening we would put them in a net, put the toy-filled net in the sink and spray them with a bleach/water mixture, then rinse off. However, the bleach/water mix was more for germs. Depending on the toys, I'd try the first suggestion (dishwasher).

L.

I used Shaklee's Basic G. It is much safer than bleach and kills more germs/viruses. I also use their cleansers so there is never soap scum.
These products are very concentrated so the cost per use is very low.

Always remove toys from bath as soon as bath is finished, and clean all small toys in bleech water, then let aitr dry on a dish towel. The longer they sit in soapy bath water the harder they are to clean. J.